Noise is unwanted sound. The damaging effect of excessive noise on health, productivity and social cohesion is seriously underestimated. World Health Organisation research shows that environmental noise pollution affects mental and physical health and is now second only to air pollution as the world’s largest killer pollutant. In ourfast-paced lives, vibrancy is exciting and necessary. But this heightened state can only be valued if there is also the opportunity to choose the alternatives of calm, quiet and the chance to switch off. Quiet Mark helps consumers refine their aural environment as Soundscape becomes the new design priority to support a vital health balance. If a sound is perceived as too loud or has an irritating quality or is unable to be stopped, there will be both a physiological and psychological reactions which could be extremely detrimental to health and wellbeing. Noise annoyance has been linked to depression and anxiety Hypertension, increased secretion of stress hormones, thickening of the blood and cardiovascular disease are resultant conditions experienced from a distressed reaction to excessive and unwanted noise.

Currently sound is commonly measured in the linear logarithmic decibel system. Measurements are taken from the products sound source to determine the sound pressure level, the difference in pressure between a soundwave and the ambient air pressure. This system is complex because every three decibel increase equates to a doubling of sound intensity or acoustic power therefore the level of declared decibels is often not easily interpreted as to how loud something will be actually be experienced. Also, sound is context driven and the same sound may be perceived differently in different places, at different times, and often dependent on an individual's emotional response to that particular sound. Beyond this the tone and frequencies of sound add another layer of analytical complexity in the evaluation process.