The last two years have seen significant progress on the prevention of bird mortality caused by collisions with buildings. Courts, lawmakers, planners, the USGBC, and even the AIA have recognized the magnitude of the problem and are taking steps to address it.
(See Ilana Judah's related
blog post for background information and the scope of issue.)
This February, a significant
legal precedent was set in Canada to protect birds from hazardous glass. An office complex with a high bird collision rate was found to have violated Canada's Species at Risk Act and the Ontario Environmental Protection Act by emitting a "contaminant" in the form of radiation (ie: reflections) from its windows. The building owners were later acquitted after retrofitting windows with a bird-safe pattern film during the course of the lawsuit, however, the ruling is nonetheless significant for architects and building owners in Canada. As the prosecution
summarized: "The law is now clear that owners and managers of buildings with reflective windows that kill or injure birds must take action", and relevant government agencies "will now be obliged to regulate buildings whose reflective windows are killing birds."
Years prior to February's suit, Toronto became the first major city to formally address bird-safety by including mandatory requirements in their 2010
Toronto Green Standard. The requirement, entitled "Glass and Other Design Features for Migratory Birds" focused on the first few floors of buildings and facades above green roofs.
Although many may view this legislation as burdensome, it is encouraging to hear that a building owner involved in a similar lawsuit does not consider these outcomes as a threat to business (hear the interview on
CBC/Radio Canada).
While there is currently no equivalent legal precedent in the US, efforts to shape this sort of regulation are already underway. Both the city of San Francisco and the USGBC, among others, have independently implemented various types of requirements.
San Francisco passed a city ordinance in late 2011 requiring bird-safety as part of zoning requirements. This
San Francisco Planning Department: Standards for Bird-Safe Buildings predominantly applies to buildings that face parks.
LEED Pilot Credit 55: Bird Collision Deterrence was released in late 2011 as an important milestone for the bird safe building effort as the credit attempts to quantify threats through variable metrics. The credit included requirements for building facades, interior lighting, exterior lighting and post-construction monitoring, utilizing a "Bird Collision Threat Rating" calculation, which quantifies the threat of facades to birds based on tested "Material Threat Factors".
Architects can rest assured that there are a variety of effective collision mitigation strategies available. Sun shading devices, patterns on glass, mesh screens and other common design elements can be executed with bird-friendly parameter. Many of these strategies are often synergistic with efforts to decrease energy consumption, glare, excessive lighting and other common sustainability goals. See the American Bird Conservancy
website and downloadable
Bird Friendly Building Design guideline for the most current information and case studies.
This summer, the AIA Convention in Denver will include an event on bird-safety to help get the word out, and have asked FXFOWLE's own Bruce Fowle to participate as one of three panelists. FXFOWLE has long been recognized as an industry leader on bird-safety, having addressed the issue on projects such as the Center for Global Conservation at the Bronx Zoo, the New York Times building, and the Jacob K. Javits Center Renovation and Expansion.
