## Implementing noise prediction standards in software, a team effort.

Erwin hartog van Banda

Division director Software and IT

DGMR Software bv

www.dgmr.nl

Email: ha@dgmr.nl

Most noise prediction standards are too complicated to put into a general purpose spreadsheet application. For this reason many prediction standards have been implemented in special purpose software. As legislation became more strict from the start of the 80’s commercial noise consultants with some software knowledge have been addressing this growing market. Although most calculation standards still originate from the 80’s there is a growing demand for additional functionality on the field of user friendliness, use of GIS data, data management, web enabled use, reporting options etc. The new harmonized calculation method for Europe will also have a big impact on the software development. At the start of the 80’s the software could be written by a single acoustician with some software knowledge. Nowadays the development of such specialized software requires a team of specialists consisting of Acousticians, GIS specialists, Mathematicians, Help writers, Translators and Software developers. One of the many challenges of the team is the unclear paper documentation of a prediction standard. Another issue is the absence of software certification procedures as well as software implementation guidelines by official assigned national or international committees. The software development team will therefore also have to interpret the calculation standard themselves and make choices for implementation.

This paper gives insight in the tools, the process, disciplines and the skills needed for implementation of noise prediction standards into software.