Fantastic INMD - the past and the future

Like other metropolises, as the developable land for housing development becomes more limited in Hong Kong, more housing sites are inevitably situated closer to busy roads. With the concerted efforts by practitioners, Innovative Noise Mitigation Designs (INMD) which can effectively reduce noise entering the residential units while allowing sufficient natural ventilation have been developed and implemented across the districts. With INMD and other active planning efforts, the general compliance rate against traffic noise in new residential developments boosted from about 80% to over 99%, benefitting over 130k citizens and increasing the housing supply by releasing those constrained lands. This also reduces the necessity of air-conditioning, and thus helps achieve carbon neutrality. The effectiveness of INMD was reviewed and results of post completion measurements showed good agreement. Residents' surveys were also conducted to evaluate satisfaction towards INMD. Generally, the performance of the INMD were acceptable. Resources and efforts have been and will be continuingly engaged to further enhance and develop the INMD. Cutting edge innovations such as metamaterials are being researched on. This paper outlines the latest development of INMDs, their applications and paints for the future.