Meeting Could Produce Final Solutions to Reducing Noise of Lake Bluff Middle School Chillers

took a step closer to resolving a noise pollution complaint from a group of Lake Bluff residents, whose houses border the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning compressors behind

Interim Superintendent Ben Martindale has initiated scheduling a meeting within the next two weeks involving parties representing the school district, school board, environmental noise experts, and residents from the area impacted.

Specifically the meeting will include two District 65 board of education members, Mark Barry and Leigh Ann Charlot, plus Martindale; two members of the Middle School Noise Abatement (MSNA) committee, which represents the residences impacted by the noise;  Dr. Paul Schomer, a noted environmental noise expert from the University of Illinois who conducted noise level tests on the chillers; Marc Rubino from Industrial Noise Control in Aurora, which was initially contacted by the district about the issue;  Steve Miller, the district’s maintenance supervisor; a representative from Trane, the manufacturer of the chiller units, and an information technology staff member from the district.

From that meeting, Martindale is hoping the group can come to a consensus on what needs to be done to muffle the noise coming from the chillers, and present the recommendation to the board for action.

"We would like to implement the recommendation as soon as possible,” Martindale said. “Hopefully in the first part of November.”

'Step in Right Direction'

Bob Clifford, spokesman for MSNA and , was happy with bringing these parties together to hash out a solution.

“That’s a very positive step in the right direction,” said Clifford, who represents more than 70 residents. “This will bring us closer to what suggestions make sense so we can move forward.”

Clifford also liked the timetable Matindale set, noting the residents have endured three summers of the noise and don’t want a fourth. “We can’t let this drag on,” he said. “We can’t wait and try one thing, and then wait and try another.”

Potential Solutions

One of those solutions may come from Wednesday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting where District 65 board of education members and some residents representing MSNA listened to Shomer present a list of recommendations based on data of the noise levels emitted by the chillers. Shomer conducted two separate tests on the chillers in August and September.

Based on his data, Shomer said the chiller units are not noisier than they are supposed to be.

“I know that’s not what you want to hear,” Shomer said looking at the residents. “They are actually quieter than other units.”

Shomer showed data indicating the noise levels fell below the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency limits. He said the units don’t make as much noise at full power as they do when they are operating with little power. “They are optimized to run at full power,” he said.

Clifford said they had heard this analysis before. “We’ve been told the unit is operating the way it was designed to operate it, so there was no great revelation there,” he said.

However, Shomer proceeded to introduce a list of recommendations to quell the noise coming from the chillers, including:

• Shutting the chillers off at night between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

• Wrapping more of the exposed chiller parts with sound absorbing material.

• Adding sound absorption materials to the rear and side walls surrounding the chillers.

• Increase the height of the walled enclosure and possibly add sound absorbing panels inside the enclosure and sound splitters to act as a roof over the unit.

Noise Level Could Drop 50 Percent or More

Martindale asked how much of the noise would be reduced if all of these recommendations were followed, and Shomer said between 12 to 16 decibels with 20 as the maximum. “Ten decibels would mean the chillers are half as loud,” Shomer said. “Twenty decibels would be the same as getting rid of 99 percent of the energy.”

The chillers are run during the summer when classes are not in session and the number of staff in the building is greatly reduced. A primary reason is the district’s computer servers are situated on the second floor of the middle school library, and need to be maintained in a temperature-controlled environment. Business Manager Jane Lair indicated the highest temperature the servers could operate in was 85 degrees.

“There are alternative things the school district can do during the summer when there are maybe a handful of people in the (middle school) building with industrial-sized chillers going, and not run it as much the bulk of the time when it impacts us,” Clifford said.