Bird-Friendly Building Design Bird-Friendly Building Design

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Issues of cost prompted Hariri Pontarini Architects, in a joint venture with Robbie/Young + Wright Architects, to revise a planned glass and limestone façade on theSchool of Pharmacy building at the University of Waterloo, Canada. The new designincorporates watercolors of medicinal plants as photo murals. Photo: Anne H. Cheung41 Cooper Square in New York City, by Morphosis Architects, features a skin of perforated steel panelsfronting a glass/aluminum window wall. The panels reduce heat gain in summer and add insulationin winter while also making the building safer for birds. Photo: Christine Sheppard, ABC4 Bird-Friendly Building Design
Executive SummaryCollision with glass is the single biggest known killer of birds in the United States, claiming hundreds of millions or more liveseach year. Unlike some sources of mortality that predominantly kill weaker individuals, there is no distinction among victimsof glass. Because glass is equally dangerous for strong, healthy, breeding adults, it can have a particularly serious impact onpopulations.Bird kills at buildings occur across the United States. We know more about mortality patterns in cities, because that is wheremost monitoring takes place, but virtually any building with glass poses a threat wherever it is. The dead birds documented bymonitoring programs or turned in to museums are only a fraction of the birds actually killed. The magnitude of this problemcan be discouraging, but there are solutions if people can be convinced to adopt them.In recent decades, advances in glass technology and production have made it possible to construct buildings with all-glasscurtain walls, and we have seen a general increase in the amount of glass used in construction. Constructing bird-friendlybuildings and eliminating the worst existing threats requires imaginative design and recognition that not only do birds have aright to exist, but their continued existence is a value to humanity.New construction can incorporate bird-friendly design strategies from the beginning. However, there are many ways toreduce mortality from existing buildings, with more solutions being developed all the time. Because the science is constantlyevolving, and because we will always wish for more information than we have, the temptation is to postpone action inthe hope that a panacea is just round the corner, but we can’t wait to act. We have the tools and the strategies to make adifference now. Architects, designers, city planners, and legislators are key to solving this problem. They not only have accessto the latest building construction materials and concepts, they are also thought leaders and trend setters in the way we buildour communities and prioritize building design issues.A bird, probably a dove, hit the window of an Indianahome hard enough to leave this ghostly image on theglass. Photo: David FancherThis publication, originally produced by the NYC Audubon Society, and reconceived by American Bird Conservancy (ABC),aims to provide planners, aims to provide planners, architects, designers, bird advocates, local authorities, and the generalpublic with a clear understanding of the nature and magnitude of the threat glass poses to birds. This edition includes a reviewof the science behind available solutions, examples of how those solutions can be applied to new construction and existingbuildings, and an explanation of what information is still needed. We hope it will spur individuals, businesses, communities,and governments to address this issue and make their buildings safe for birds.ABC’s Collisions Program works at the national level to reduce bird mortality by coordinating with local organizations,developing educational programs and tools, conducting research, developing centralized resources, and generatingawareness of the problem.Bird-Friendly Building Design5
Page 1: Bird-FriendlyBuildingDesign
Page 6 and 7: Introduction
Page 8 and 9: architects to mark the beginning of
Page 10 and 11: Problem: GlassThe glass in this Was
Page 12 and 13: Large facing panes of glass can app
Page 14 and 15: Plantings on setbacks and rooftops
Page 16 and 17: Solutions: Glass
Page 18 and 19: FOA made extensive use of bamboo in
Page 20 and 21: Awnings and OverhangsOverhangs have
Page 22 and 23: Patterns on GlassPatterns are often
Page 24 and 25: Opaque and Translucent GlassOpaque,
Page 27 and 28: This window at the Philadelphia Zoo
Page 29 and 30: Artificial light is increasingly re
Page 31 and 32: Reducing exterior building and site
Page 33 and 34: Downtown Houston during Lights Out.
Page 35 and 36: Changing human behavior is generall
Page 37 and 38: APPENDIX I: THE SCIENCE OF BIRD COL
Page 39 and 40: species - is still being investigat
Page 41 and 42: Both increased height of trees and
Page 43 and 44: argument that patterns applied to t
Page 45 and 46: APPENDIX II: BIRD MIGRATIONBird col
Page 47: Night-migrating songbirds, already
Page 50 and 51: The white stripes on this glass wal
Page 52 and 53: Madrid’s Vallecas 51, designed by
Page 54 and 55:
REFERENCESAvery, M.L., P.F. Springe
Page 56 and 57:
External shades, as shown here on t
Page 59:
The Orange Cube, a commercial and c
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Bird-Friendly Building Design Bird-Friendly Building Design

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