Product development from several glass and glazing manufacturers has received insight from agencies such as:
- American Bird Conservancy (ABC), United States
- Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP), Canada
- Collabs, Austria
- Wiener Umweltanwaltschaft (WUA), Europe
In the United States, the ABC has two tunnel test sites. The Powdermill Avian Research Center (PARC) in Rector, Pennsylvania, is part of the Carnegie Museum and is located on the 891-ha (2200-acre) Powdermill Nature Reserve. Earlier this year, the ABC joined forces with Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, to double its capacity to test and rate glass and other materials and their ability to deter bird collisions.2 The move is already helping in meeting the high demand for testing from glass manufacturers, while allowing the science and knowledge around bird-friendly glazing to develop and evolve. ABC also collaborates with its European counterpart, the Biologische Station Hohenau-Ringelsdorf in Austria.
A third U.S.-based option for testing is at the Acopian Center for Ornithology at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Field testing, which is a different methodology than tunnel testing, is conducted here. This facility also provides hands-on training in natural science through specialized classes and collection-based research opportunities for the college’s biology students.
Canada uses a different, prescriptive approach for bird safety. The CSA Group (CSA) created the standard, A460:19 Bird-friendly building design, to establish best practices for industry professionals and government agencies to use to deter bird collisions. This standard covers bird-friendly building designs in new construction and existing buildings and are intended to reduce bird collisions with buildings. It also provides bird-friendly design requirements for glazing, building-integrated structures, and overall building and site design.
As it is a prescriptive document, it is based on knowledge and testing available at the time of writing. With the rapid evolution of techniques to create highly effective glazing products, the standard is subjected to change.
In the United States, the National Glass Association (NGA) has developed a “Best Practices for Bird-Friendly Glazing Design Guide,” which offers prescriptive recommendations to implement bird-friendly glazing constructions which reflect the current developments and guidance available within the glazing and bird conservancy industries. The design guide is also noted as a point of reference for all architectural projects.3
