by Mark Southerland, Ph.D., TetraTech, Inc. and Safe Skies Maryland

The Edith Green / Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in Portland. Photo courtesy of M.O. Stevens 

The Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, one of the country’s busiest, was expanded in 2016 to accommodate more than 2 million annual attendees. At the same time, the Javits became a leader in sustainability, setting a new standard for convention centers throughout the country. How did they do it? The latest science, the best technology, and an awareness of the two biggest challenges to humanity—climate change and loss of biodiversity (Climate change and loss of biodiversity “… are two sides of the same coin and we must address both crises aggressively,” according to Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, CEO of Global Environmental Facility). 

Bruce Fowle of the lead design firm, FX Fowle Architects, recognized that the current way buildings are using glass is not environmentally sustainable—both wasting energy (and generating more greenhouse gas emissions) because glass is a poor insulator and killing up to 1 billion birds a year through collisions with glass facades. 

Glass Buildings as Energy Sinks. Recent decades have seen exponential growth of buildings with extensive glass facades. These majority glass buildings are an energy sink and erode the energy conservation gains from green building policies. While the extensive use of glass was originally considered environmentally friendly, because it reduced the need for artificial lighting, technological advances in LED lighting mean that the heat gain from windows and the need for additional air conditioning far outweighs the lighting benefits. Specifically, there are no energy benefits with window-to-wall ratios over 60 percent, and in most cases an area of 25-40 percent is optimum, i.e., lowest energy consumption. If future buildings are dominated by extensive glass facades, then we are setting up society for decades more of increasing energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Glass Buildings as Killers of Birds. In September 2019, two independent lines of evidence, evaluated by seven institutions and published in Science, determined that there are 29% fewer birds in North America, compared to 1970, and that collisions with glass are a primary factor in this decline. Just as people don’t see transparent or reflective glass and will walk into it when they don’t see the frame, birds never recognize a frame and nearly always die when they collide. Death by glass is an equal opportunity killer—nearly all species are affected; even the best and brightest birds collide and die, putting greater stress on populations. Most affected are migratory songbirds whose populations have been declining precipitously in recent decades. In addition to their intrinsic value, birds provide vital pest control and pollinator services in the billions of dollars annually. Birding tourism is estimated to bring an economic benefit to the U.S. of $41 billion, with more than 20 million Americans taking birding-focused trips. Maryland alone receives $333 million in revenue from bird watching each year. 

Fortunately, building design and treated glass are a ready solution to both problems, a solution that can be applied with current technology and no increase in cost at the design stage:

• Flight tunnel tests have demonstrated the degree of safety provided by different kinds of glass
• Glass treated with visible ceramic dots, fritted lines, or other patterns in a 2×4-inch arrangement, as well as UV webs invisible to human eyes, reduce bird collisions by 90%
• Building façades, screens, and shades also work to limit collisions
• Bird-friendly designs and glass are energy efficient and save dollars over time
• Green Business Council LEED program has codified a bird-friendly building pilot credit 55 that provides specific standards that virtually eliminate bird collisions 

Because these solutions work, more and more jurisdictions are mandating bird safe standards in new construction and major renovations:

• Mandatory laws have been in place for years in Minnesota, San Francisco CA, Oakland CA, Palo Alto CA, Highland Park IL, Cook County IL, Ontario Province, Toronto, and Markham, Canada, with voluntary laws in other places
• In December of last year, New York City incorporated the most comprehensive bird safe standards in the nation into its building codes for both public and private buildings
• In Maryland, a bill requiring majority state-funded buildings to be bird safe passed both houses, and was on course to be enacted in 2020 before COVId-19 suspended the General Assembly session 
• On July 6 of this year, the Howard County (MD) Council passed a bill requiring most public and private buildings meet LEED pilot credit 55, and Montgomery, Baltimore, and Anne Arundel Counties in Maryland are considering similar laws
• Currently, the US Congress is considering an infrastructure bill that includes the bi-partisan Bird Safe Building bill sponsored by Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL). 

Even outside of these new mandates, bird safe solutions are being implemented,

• Many buildings are using less glass, but even 100% glass buildings are being built bird friendly, such as Anchorage Museum and the Inuit Headquarters in Mountainview CA
• In Maryland, the Department of Natural Resources Tawes Building, National Aquarium, Howard County Conservancy, Robinson Nature Center, Howard County Government Gateway Building, Howard Community College, plus some private buildings, are now retrofitting their glass to be bird friendly

Jacob Javits Center. Photos by Ajay Suresh (left) and Susan Elbin (right)

Which takes us back to the Javits, where one of the deadliest buildings for birds in New York City became one of the safest. Because the building was expanding and adding even more glass, 15 types of glass were studied and tiny dots in a 2×4-inch pattern were selected. The size of the dots was increased from that needed for bird safety to further reduce glare and energy gain, but they are still not visible to the naked eye without close examination. Even with a new green roof that attracts foraging and nesting birds, at least 11 species so far, the renovation has reduced bird deaths by 90% and energy consumption by 25%. The best news is that the newly sustainable Javits is about to be joined by many more energy conserving and bird safe buildings in New York City, Maryland, and other areas of the country, as this easy first step to more sustainable construction becomes better known.

About the Author

Mark Southerland is a professional ecologist at Tetra Tech and legislative director of Safe Skies Maryland. He was previously chair of the Maryland Water Monitoring Council and Howard County Environmental Sustainability Board. He lives on a wooded lot in Columbia, MD, where the windows have been retrofitted to be bird safe.