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by phaserphile 1128 days ago
The developed nations have known exactly how to build structures that ACTUALLY reduce noise for 70+ years, but they didn’t care enough to mandate such construction techniques into the building codes at our own peril.
1 comments

Improved standards for thermal insulation (important for reducing energy consumption from heating and cooling) will have a side effect of improving the acoustic insulation of structures. Not quite to the same extent as dedicated acoustic insulation, but better than nothing.
Ditto fire safety. High-rise apartments where I live tend to have concrete floors and sturdy walls between units for this reason, and it helps greatly with noise reduction.
Yes, air tightness is part of the problem, but if that's the only tool used, sound is still going to get through. Double walls help dramatically.