Bird-friendly glass panel reviews options, designs, standards at FGIA Summer Conference
Posted on June 15th, 2023
All four took on a different facet of the topic, covering the following:
• The Vancouver Bird Friendly City project
• Bird-friendly codes and requirements
• Bird-friendly glass design considerations
• The bird-friendly glass fabricating process, offerings and challenges
• Multi-functional solutions that can be achieved with bird-friendly glazing
Codes and Requirements
Design Considerations
“Birds mistake reflections on glass for extensions of their environment,” said Shellard. “It's hard for them to determine the outside environment from the inside.” He described how interior and exterior lighting, especially at night, can attract and confuse birds. New York's Freedom Tower cycles through lighting at night every few minutes and this helps, he noted. “You can also add vertical lines out of UV coating, which are hard for humans to see, but is easy for birds to see and differentiate,” said Shellard. “There are also etched glass products with patterns that meet the 2 inches by 4 inches rule.”
Ward offered some advice for those considering bird-friendly glass for large applications. “Pattern alignment is difficult, and not really practical from an installation standpoint,” he said. “Do dots or random patterns instead.”
Glass Fabrication
Brummet noted several challenges fabricators face, including balancing aesthetics and energy efficiency with bird safety, cost, durability, maintenance, compliance and effectiveness.
Multi-functional Solutions
At the end of the session, Brummet suggested learning more about bird-friendly glass sooner rather than later. “Awareness has grown in the last 10 years, especially,” she said. “More products are constantly being tested.”
For more information about FGIA and its activities, visit FGIAonline.org.
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Filed under: Events, FGIA, Products