The bird Safe buildings Act Audubon is legislation that aims to reduce bird collisions with buildings. Collisions with glass kill up to 1 billion birds annually in the United States, making it one of the leading causes of bird mortality. This act proposes requirements for bird-safe building materials and design strategies to help prevent deadly collisions.
What does the Act aim to achieve?
The overarching goal of the bird Safe buildings Act is to reduce bird fatalities from building collisions. More specifically, it aims to:
- Encourage the use of bird-friendly design and materials in new construction and renovations of existing buildings
- Promote greater awareness and education about bird-building collisions and solutions
- Establish nationwide standards for bird-safe buildings
- Fund research and innovation into advanced bird-safe building materials and technologies
By promoting these aims across the building and construction industry, the Act strives to significantly reduce the estimated 365-988 million bird fatalities that occur in the US each year due to building collisions.
What are the key requirements in the Act?
The Act sets out a number of requirements for new and existing buildings to reduce bird collisions. Some of the key requirements include:
- Using bird-friendly glazing treatments on glass façades and windows. This includes fritted, etched, or patterned glass, exterior screens, louvres, or netting.
- Turning off or dimming decorative lighting during nighttime migratory seasons.
- Ensuring transparent building corners or passageways have visible markings for birds.
- Minimizing glass façades in the lower 60 feet of buildings.
- Replacing reflective glass with less reflective materials.
The Act also requires all new buildings and renovations meeting size thresholds to incorporate these and other bird collision deterrent materials and strategies. It recommends additional voluntary steps building owners can take to achieve its goals.
How will the Act be implemented and enforced?
The Act empowers a newly established Office of Bird-Safe Buildings to oversee and implement the legislation. This office sits within the Department of the Interior.
The Office of Bird-Safe Buildings will:
- Develop national standards and a Bird-Safe Buildings certification program.
- Manage education and technical assistance for architects, builders, and building owners on bird-safe design.
- Oversee and fund research into advanced bird-safe building materials and technologies.
- Establish a nationwide database to collect data on building collisions and identify high risk areas.
At the state and local level, the Act instructs building code agencies to adopt the national standards into their building codes within 2 years. This will make the bird-safe requirements mandatory for all new building permits.
For federal buildings, all construction and major renovations will need to meet the national bird-safe standards within 1 year of the Act’s passage.
What are the penalties for non-compliance?
The Act empowers state and local building code agencies to enforce compliance through standard permit approval processes. Buildings that fail to meet the mandatory design standards will not be granted construction permits.
For existing buildings, the Act establishes fines for non-compliance based on the size of the building:
Building Size | First Offense Penalty | Second Offense Penalty |
---|---|---|
Under 25,000 sq ft | $1,000 | $2,500 |
25,000 – 100,000 sq ft | $5,000 | $7,500 |
Over 100,000 sq ft | $10,000 | $15,000 |
Fines double for each additional repeat offense. Revenue from fines funds the Office of Bird-Safe Buildings to carry out its work.
What types of buildings are covered by the Act?
The Act covers all new construction and renovation of commercial, multi-family residential, institutional, and municipal buildings meeting the following criteria:
- New buildings ≥ 5,000 sq ft
- Building renovations if the project affects ≥ 50% of the façade or increases glazing by ≥ 50%
The Act expressly covers office towers, arenas, stadiums, college campuses, multi-unit residences, transportation terminals, museums, and more. Single family homes are exempt.
When will the Act take effect?
The Act takes effect one year after passage into law. This grace period allows state and local building code agencies time to update codes with the national bird-safe building standards. It also gives the building industry time to learn about the changes.
The Office of Bird-Safe Buildings will be established within 60 days of passage to start development of the national standards and certification program.
How will the Act benefit birds?
Bird conservation experts estimate the Act could reduce nationwide bird mortality from building collisions by up to 90% once fully implemented. This would equate to over 350 million saved birds per year.
In addition to saving hundreds of millions of birds, the Act will benefit threatened and endangered species, as well as migratory songbirds already in decline from other threats like habitat loss. Preventing bird-building collisions helps preserve biodiversity and ecosystem health.
How will the Act benefit the economy and society?
Beyond protecting bird populations, the bird Safe buildings Act offers several benefits to society:
- Energy savings – Many bird-friendly designs, like exterior screens, reduce heat loss and save energy.
- Jobs – Retrofitting buildings and developing new materials will create new jobs and industries.
- Ecotourism – Bird and nature tourism relies on healthy bird populations and generates billions in revenue.
- Quality of life – Studies show encounters with nature like birds boost human physical and mental health.
The Department of the Interior estimates the Act will generate $15-20 billion per year from these benefits once fully implemented.
What are potential criticisms and challenges?
While the bird Safe buildings Act promises substantial benefits, some groups have criticized aspects of the proposal:
- Costs – Retrofitting existing buildings with bird-safe materials will entail significant upfront costs for owners.
- Aesthetics – Some architects argue bird-friendly treatments will limit design creativity and degrade views.
- Federal role – Critics contend bird collision policy should be left to states rather than dictated federally.
There are also implementation challenges to overcome:
- Developing affordable bird-safe materials that don’t degrade energy performance.
- Training architects, contractors and building managers on the new standards.
- Enforcing compliance across millions of existing buildings nationwide.
What alternatives are being proposed?
To address some of the Act’s potential drawbacks, lawmakers are exploring alternatives such as:
- Narrowing the scope to only larger buildings over 25,000 sq ft.
- Phasing in requirements over 5-10 years to spread out costs.
- Tax incentives to offset upgrade costs for retrofits.
- Focusing on only most dangerous glass features like corners or atria.
- Allowing exceptions if meeting standards is technically infeasible.
Compromise measures like these could help garner broader support for the Act’s goals while reducing burdens.
Conclusion
The proposed bird Safe buildings Act aims to substantially reduce deadly bird collisions with buildings using a combination of standards, incentives, education and research. While challenges remain in implementing such sweeping change across the building industry, the expected benefits to birds, ecosystems, and society show great promise. With some compromise and creativity, the Act could usher in a new era of bird-friendly buildings across the country.