San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has announced the start of work to replace residential noise insulation that has exceeded its useful lifespan.

Under the Airport’s Noise Insulation Program Replacement Initiative, the only one of its kind in the United States, SFO will fully fund work on local homes that received noise insulation in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Construction will begin in the City of South San Francisco, and the airport expects to upgrade and replace insulation for approximately 200 homes over the next few years.

“For over 40 years, SFO has been leading the airport industry in efforts to mitigate community noise issues,” said airport director Ivar C. Satero. “With the start of this construction, we are proud to lead the way once again, by upgrading the homes most impacted by aircraft noise from SFO. We hope this will serve as a model for a nationwide programme to support noise insulation improvement and replacement.”

Under the SFO Noise Insulation Program, which began in 1983, SFO has helped fund the installation of noise insulation in over 15,000 dwellings and other eligible structures which fell within the 65-decibel Noise Exposure Map. SFO announced the Noise Insulation Program Replacement Initiative in 2017 and began accepting applications from homeowners still residing inside the Noise Exposure Map whose previously installed insulation could benefit from improvement or replacement.