An estimated 1 billion birds die annually in the United States as a result of striking buildings, bridges, and other manmade structures. Many factors play a role, including lights, vegetation, and water. But glass is the main culprit, according to bird-safe design guidelines released in 2007 by the New York City Audubon Society, the Chicago Birds & Buildings Forum, and the City of Toronto. Because birds do not perceive conventionally formulated glass as a solid barrier, they fly into it. They may mistake reflections as continuous space and be attracted to trees or other objects in, or visible through, a glassed-in space.
This credit is largely an appeal to enlightened self-interest, saving birds while reaping the financial benefits of green building. A number of cities are pushing “bird-safe” design, although mostly as a recommendation. Toronto may adopt green building requirements that include bird safety criteria, and in Manhattan the environmental impact statement for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center addresses bird safety. A handful of top designers have made it a priority, but advocates note that it’s far from a mainstream design consideration.
The credit emphasizes creating “visual noise”- i.e., patterns that birds can register. Strat- egies to create patterns on glass include using color, texture, opacity, or ultraviolet materials that are visible to birds. Keeping openings small and reducing the quantity of glass on each façade will correspondingly lower the incidence of bird strikes.
Credit Submittals
General
- Register for Pilot Credit(s) here.
- Register a username at LEEDuser.com, and participate in online forum
- Submit the feedback survey using the link on the USGBC.org credit page; supply PDF of your survey/confirmation of completion with credit documentation
Credit Specific
NC, CS, Schools, Retail, Healthcare
Building Facade
If all materials on the building have a Threat Factor of 15 or below and the project did not perform the calculations, submit a narrative describing why the materials, and building in general, are “bird-friendly.” This includes a material list and supporting data.
A completed Bird Collision Threat Rating spreadsheet.
Plan(s) and/or elevation(s) depicting the location of all materials and shading/screening devices used to comply with this credit
Applicable specification details on all materials and shading/screening devices used to comply with this credit
Exterior Lighting
Option 1:
A photometric report of those luminaires demonstrating that no light is emitted above 90 degrees from straight down in their final installed position(s).
Narrative, and drawings showing control locations, describing the lighting controls used on the exterior lighting, the sequence of operation and how these controls comply with this credit.
Option 2:
All submittals required for the LEED for New Construction SS Credit, Light Pollution Reduction.
Post-Construction Monitoring Plan
A copy of the post-construction monitoring plan
EBOM
Exterior Lighting
Option 1:
Provide all Submittals listed under Exterior Lighting, Option 1 in NC, CS, Schools, Retail, Healthcare above.
Option 2:
Provide all Submittals listed under Exterior Lighting, Option 2 in NC, CS, Schools, Retail, Healthcare above.
Post-Construction Monitoring Plan
Provide all Submittals listed under Post-Construction Monitoring Plan in NC, CS, Schools, Retail, Healthcare above. Provide records of all collisions during the Performance Period. Include the location, date, and approximate time of day for each collision.
Plan(s) and/or elevation(s) depicting the location of all temporary and permanent materials and shading/screening devices used to retrofit the building facade in response to the results of the monitoring plan.
Applicable specification details on all temporary and permanent materials and shading/screening devices used to retrofit the building facade in response to the results of the monitoring plan.
Additional Questions
- The goal is to prevent, as much as possible, bird collisions with building glazing and therefore reduce bird mortality or injury. Do you believe that these require- ments achieve this goal? Why or why not?
- What obstacles make bird-safe building difficult? Obstacles may or may not be specific to the proposed credit requirements.
- Do you feel that the Total Building BCTR thresholds are appropriate? If not, should they be lower or higher?
- Was the Monitoring Plan easy to develop and implement? Who was involved in collecting the data for the plan? What trends were noted?
Additional Information
A building design that deters bird collisions will allow for most any type of site landscape design. Although the proximity and height of landscape material have shown to influence the number of bird collisions, if the building facade is designed to be “bird-friendly”, the landscape material will not reflect and cause confusion to birds.
The monitoring should include a plan to routinely monitor the effectiveness of the building design in preventing bird collisions. Monitoring (which includes walking the perimeter before normal business hours or at night, geotagging photographs of dead or injured birds, or other similar strategies) should occur twice a week at minimum. It is advisable that the monitoring be done prior to 8 or 9 am, and that it occurs daily during peak migration seasons. Monitoring works best if the building is divided into easily identifiable segments, facades, or portions of facades so that the relevant location of the collision can be easily identified. Monitoring should be linked to standard building maintenance as much aspossible, thereby becoming routine and requiring minimal extra effort and cost. The more data collected, the better the resulting retrofits (if any) will be. Teams can use their own monitoring plan, or an “out-of-the-box” solution, whichever is more appropriate. See the Resources section for more information on developing a monitoring plan.
For a general outline of applicable building materials and their threat factors, see this Summary of Material Threat Factors. Teams can find the necessary, detailed data (mate- rials that comply with the requirements and associated threat factors to use in the BCTR calculations) from ABC’s website and the Resources section of this document. Below is an example Bird Collision Threat Rating calculation that meets the Building Facade Requirements.
Facade Zone 1
3 floors
Calculate the Facade Zone 1 BCTR
[((Material Type 1 Threat Factor) x (Material Type Area)) + ((Material Type 2 Threat Fac- tor) x (Material Type Area))...] / [Total Facade Zone Area] = Facade Zone BCTR
[100 x 560) + (20 x 816) + (0 x 11940)] / 13316 = 5.43 (Facade Zone 1 BCTR)
Facade Zone 2
9 floors
Calculate the Facade Zone 2 BCTR
[((Material Type 1 Threat Factor) x (Material Type Area)) + ((Material Type 2 Threat Factor) x (Material Type Area))...] / [Total Facade Zone Area] = Facade Zone BCTR [(100 x 0) + (20 x 7209) + (0 x 23645)] / 30854 = 4.67 (Facade Zone 2 BCTR)
Determine the total building BCTR
[((Zone 1 BCTR) x 2) + (Zone 2 BCTR) ] / 3 = Total Building BCTR
[(5.43 x 2) + 4.67] / 3 = 5.18 (Total Building BCTR)
EBOM projects differ from new construction projects in that the building facade characteristics are already in place when projects begin. Therefore, there are fewer opportunities to design new building facade elements that deter bird collisions. The EBOM requirements recognize the unique nature of existing buildings, and stipulate that a monitoring plan should be created to first observe and document bird collisions, then take corrective action to mitigate any collisions that occur. Along with the monitoring plan, exterior lighting requirements should be met.
