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Review by V. Guy Maxwell, AIA
There are silent killers in our midst—buildings.
Considering current estimates, between 100 million to one billion
birds are killed every year in the United States due to fatal
collisions with buildings, affecting both resident and migratory
species. This is a problem of colossal proportion. To put it in
context, the only greater cause of declining bird populations is
habitat loss.
The source of the problem is somewhat obvious—on certain
buildings, birds are unable to perceive conventional glass as a
barrier, and in turn, cannot avoid usually fatal collisions with
windows. Though any window can be a killer, there are certain
factors that make some buildings extremely problematic. It is by
understanding these factors that architects can begin to design new
buildings, and retrofit existing buildings, to be safer for
birds.
The Bird-Safe Building Guidelines, published by
the New York City Audubon Society, is an excellent primer that
addresses this important conservation issue by outlining a range of
building planning, design, and operations measures to protect
birdlife.
In the guide we learn that daytime collisions most often result due
to the “mirror effect,” in which glass reflects
surrounding habitat where birds want to fly, and also due to window
configurations that create visual “fly-throughs.”
Mitigation strategies for these conditions include a range of ways
to make glass more visible to birds, predominantly by creating
“visual noise,” with differentiations of material,
texture, pattern, or opacity.
At night, illuminated buildings can create a fatal “beacon
effect,” which is exacerbated by certain weather conditions.
Here the solution is fairly simple—just turn off the lights,
particularly during migration seasons. The Lights Out programs in
major cities like Chicago, New York, and Toronto are doing just
that.
The Bird-Safe Building Guidelines brings together in a clear,
concise way a wealth of information about all aspects of avian
collisions with buildings. It also does an excellent job of
presenting case study examples and practical approaches for
designers to make buildings more friendly to birds, stressing ways
to integrate bird-safe measures with other sustainable design
strategies, particularly LEED. At the same time, the guide brings
to light the need for more research to further understand the
underlying dynamics of avian collisions with glass, in order to
sponsor the development of new innovative bird-safe glazing
technologies.
Armed with the knowledge in this guide, any architect can take
meaningful steps to avoid inadvertently designing a
“bird-killer.”
V. Guy Maxwell, AIA, LEED AP, is an Associate Partner at
Polshek Partnership Architects in New York, NY. He is a member of
the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Audubon Society and is a
Trustee of the Bird-Safe Glass Foundation.
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