AIRPORT COMMISSIONERS APPROVE LAST CONTRACT TO COMPLETE RESIDENTIAL SOUND INSULATION NEAR VAN NUYS AIRPORT

(Los Angeles, California – August 15, 2011)  The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners today awarded a $1,030,000 contract to Karabuild Development, Inc., of Encino for soundproofing 53 dwelling units as part of the Van Nuys Airport (VNY) Residential Soundproofing Program.  Completion of this contract will fulfill the airport’s obligation under the current agreement. 

            “We’re very pleased to reach this milestone fulfilling this program’s residential sound-insulation obligation,” said Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director or Los Angeles World Airports, the city department that owns and operates VNY, Los Angeles International and LA/Ontario International airports.  “Over the years the Residential Soundproofing Program has been a particularly tangible expression of LAWA’s commitment to our airport neighbors.”

Including the residences covered by this new contract, the VNY Soundproofing Program, which began in 2000, will have soundproofed 779 total units of the 1,049 eligible.  The owners of the remaining 270 units have either formally declined to participate in the program, have not responded to multiple notifications, or are no longer eligible due to new construction.

The VNY Residential Soundproofing Program was designed to bring all neighboring residential properties with a recorded Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL) of 65 decibels or higher into compliance with California state interior noise standards.

Contractors typically install double-paned windows, solid-core doors, fireplace doors and dampers, attic baffles, insulation and heating-ventilation-air conditioning (HVAC) to achieve a noise-level reduction of approximately one-half in a home’s interior.