BIRDS AND 
BUILDINGS
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Bird-Safe Design

Information and Resources

 


BIRD-SAFE DESIGN GUIDELINES

-Written by and for design professionals --- Easy to understand by all

ABC Bird Friendly Design Guide (.PDF - 4MB)

 

City and County of San Francisco guide for Bird-Safe Building Standards

 

City of Chicago Bird-Safe Building Design Guide (.PDF - 45KB)

Bird-Friendly Development Guidelines (City of Toronto Lights Out Program) [46 pages] (.PDF - 8.2MB)

Bird-Safe Building Guidelines (NYC Audubon Program) [59 pg.] (.PDF - 39MB)

San Francisco Standards for Bird-Safe Buildings

Audubon Minnesota Bird-Safe Building Guidelines (.PDF - 4MB)


GENERAL INFORMATION

American Bird Conservancy's Collision website - ABC is the lead organization in the US collision prevention efforts

4BIRD protection glass now available from the Eckelt Glass subsidiary of Saint-Gobain

Ornilux Bird Protection Glass is a multi-functional architectural glass that has a patterned, UV reflective coating to prevent bird window strikes.  The pattern is visible to birds but remains virtually transparent to the human eye.  ORNILUX can be supplied as laminated glass or in a double glazed, insulated unit with the high energy efficiency performance attributes of a low-E or solar protective coating.

United States Green Building Council LEED Pilot Credit applies to:

 New Construction
 Core & Shell
 Schools
 Retail: New Construction
 Healthcare
 Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance

Chicago Park District includes bird-safe design practices in their RFP process (.PDF format - 907KB)

Cook County, IL, (Chicago) adopts bird-safe ordinance

City of Toronto announces Bird-Friendly Rating System and Acknowledgement Program

European Website with window collisions examples

City of Toronto Resolution to prevent bird collisions with buildings (.PDF format - 27KB)

Toronto City Council Action - Preventing Migratory Bird Deaths Resulting from Collisions with Buildings.(.PDF format - 73KB)


BIRD-SAFE DESIGN TUTORIALS

- Training presentation given to Indianapolis USGBC members; very understandable even without the commentary from Lights Out Indy program director Don Gorney.  (.PPT - 4.0 MB)

 

For birds flying down the Chicago River, this is what they see when it is time to leave the area.

Birds fly toward clouds and over building tops. While people recognize the difference between reflections and reality, birds do not.

And remember that birds are not rocket ships. They have to flap their way out of an area - horizontally. Thus, they will fly into the faux sky and hit the buildings.

This same situation applies in urban areas everywhere there are birds and buildings.


SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Prof. Daniel Klem's research at the Acopian Center of Ornithology

Avian Window Strike Mortality at a Suburban Office Park - Timothy J. O'Connell (.PDF - 1.55MB)
   + Photo of suburban office building site.

The Role of Windows & Vegetation in Manhattan Bird Collisions -
    Yigal Gelb & Nicole Delacretaz, NYC Audubon 
(.PDF - 160KB)

Bird-window Collisions and Factors Influencing Their Frequency - David Horn & Kathleen Collins, Millikin University, Decatur, IL (.PDF - 7.58MB)

Building Bird Strike Minimization: Analysis of Applicable Technologies - Roderick Bates, KieranTimberlake Associates. This is an excellent overview of materials and techniques ask about while making a structure bird-safe. The article was published in the March 2008 newsletter of Building Envelope Forum (.com). (.PDF - 125KB)


FORD CALUMET ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER

DESIGN COMPETITION

In 2003-2004 the City of Chicago held an international design competition for a new environmental center being developed by the City and the State of Illinois. The designs of these finalists reflect a recognition of bird-safe design practices:

 

Jeanne Gang and Mark Schendel - Studio Gang Architects (competition winner)  (.PDF - 403KB)

Carol Ross Barney - Ross Barney + Jankowski Architects  (.PDF - 149KB)

Martin Felsen and Sarah Dunn - UrbanLab  (.PDF - 127KB)

Brian Strawn and Karla Sierralta - Strawn/Sierralta  (.PDF - 120KB)

 

Note:  All documents and photos are the property of the associated architects / firms.


For more information contact the Birds & Buildings Forum

Randi Doeker - rbdoeker @ yahoo.com

 

Thanks to the Chicago Ornithological Society for web support.


 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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