It's amazing how you can go three years closely connected to all the dynamics, all the moving parts and components that underpin the consolidated brownfields/urban renewal/green building/energy resources industry and—until now—discover a new relvelation: That bird conservation/bird mortality control is a new industry concern.
Seemingly, the dots don't connect easily or at all on this--until one takes a closer look. The bird conservation coalition has begun to reach out to industry affiliates in an effort to find practical solutions to bird mortality. The American Bird Conservancy (ABC), a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to conserve native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas, announced a new program carried out in cooperation with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and Bird-safe Glass Foundation.
This new program enables architects, designers, developers, and building owners pursuing Leadership in Environment and Energy Design (LEED) green building certification to earn credit for incorporating design strategies that reduce bird collisions.
USGBC's LEED green building rating system is the preeminent program for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings worldwide.
Building collision is among the leading causes of bird mortality in the U.S. ABC believes that a foundation needs to be cast that will reduce the threats that buildings pose to avian populations. “We are delighted that, with the creation of this pilot credit, architects across the country will now have the chance to be recognized for making buildings truly green," said ABC Bird Collisions Program Director Dr. Christine Sheppard.
“Incorporating design strategies that reduce the impact our built environment has on wildlife is a logical extension of the philosophy upon which we've built the LEED rating system for the past decade,” said Brendan Owens, Vice President, LEED Technical Development, USGBC. “The LEED Pilot Credit Library allows us to expand the range of issues LEED addresses while staying true to our mission.”
The credit was developed by USGBC committees and working group members, and is currently being tested in the LEED Pilot Credit Library—a rating system development tool designed to encourage testing of new and revised LEED credit language, alternative compliance paths, and new or innovative green building technologies and concepts.
ABC recently partnered with Golden Gate Audubon to help the city of San Francisco’s board of governors pass bird safe building standards, which were approved in October by Mayor Edwin Lee. At the national level, Illinois Congressman Mike Quigley (D-IL) has introduced legislation that calls for each public building constructed, acquired, or altered by the General Services Administration (GSA) to incorporate, to the maximum extent possible, bird-safe building materials and design features. The legislation would require GSA to take similar actions on existing buildings, where practicable.
Want more bird conservation examples tied to this industry? In this case, it's renewable energy, namely wind farming. Earlier this year, the deaths of nearly 500 birds at the Laurel Mountain wind facility in West Virginia stemmed from collisions birds had with wind turbines, placing pressure on sponsors and practitioners of wind farms to find solutions and prevent mortality. Three of the four wind farms operating in West Virginia have now experienced large bird fatality events, according to ABC.
“Wind energy has the potential to be a green energy source, but the industry still needs to embrace simple, bird-smart principles that would dramatically reduce incidents across the country, such as those that have occurred in West Virginia,” said Kelly Fuller, ABC’s Wind Campaign Coordinator.
There were three critical circumstances that in each of the three West Virginia events led to the birds' demise. Each occurred during bird migration season, during low visibility weather conditions, and with the addition of a deadly triggering element—an artificial light source. Steady-burning lights have been shown to attract and disorient birds, particularly night-migrating songbirds that navigate by starlight, and especially during nights where visibility is low such as in fog or inclement weather, according to ABC.
Our industry stakeholders have a lot of moving parts on their plate to ensure best-practices redevelopments. Add one more that they must be ever-mindful of, as ABC has now flown onto their radar screens. Who knew? Well, now industry stakeholders that strive to have all their bases covered in the name of redevelopment excellence know...and not a day too soon.
