Using the HUD Tools for Noise Assessment

HUD noise studies are environmental noise studies that must follow the procedures described by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for multi-family housing developments. These studies are sometimes a critical part of securing HUD support for a new development.

Although the calculations and criteria for HUD noise studies have not been updated for decades, it is possible to apply modern tools to produce more meaningful analysis results and to develop the most cost-effective recommendations.

Colorado Analytics specializes in applying modern tools where possible to perform HUD studies. Rather than applying a single acceptability classification to an entire site, which tends to be a very unrealistic perspective, we analyze the noise exposure of each individual unit. Rather than recommend building-shell improvements for entire buildings or entire sites, we recommend building elements on a per-room basis. The benefit of our detailed procedure is substantial cost savings through applying noise mitigation only where it is needed.