F i e l d N o t e s

ne tall building. One dark and stormy night.

95 dead birds.” If this May 5, 2017 Washington

Post story doesn’t embolden us to take whatever

corrective action is required to reduce bird kill,

we’re going to end up somewhere we don’t like.

The problem is many-fold, but I’d like to pose a

possible driver for helping all involved with the

glazing industry. Solving this problem does not

fall just to the glazing subs and related suppliers—

the building owners, architects and glass fabrica-

tors play a key role, too.

Environmental groups are trying to get us to

change how we glaze buildings to protect birds:

We saw some of the first fledging steps out of

that nest with the construction of the new US

Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The environmen-

tal groups came a bit late to the design and con-

struction process, asking for bird-friendly glazing

given the vast elevations of glass in the design,

but weren’t able to affect much change. As they

spread their wings in this area, that may not be

the case in the future.

To help effect change, the first question for the

design community: Are you aware this problem

will not go away? So, what can be done on the

front end of projects to start addressing bird kill?

When selecting materials, are you asking the glass

suppliers of the specified products what they offer

to reduce these incidents?

The bigger issue may be convincing building

Chuck Knickerbocker is the curtainwall

manager for Technical Glass Products, a supplier

of fire-rated glass and framing systems, along

with specialty architectural glazing products. He

has more than 35 years of curtainwall experience.

Check out his regular blog for Archite_T_Mcts’ Guide to

Glass’ sister publication USGNN.com at

www.usglassmag.com/fieldnotes.

www.glassguides.com

Architects’ Guide to Glass & Metal

Dynamic Color

Can Glass

Stop It?

by Chuck Knickerbocker

owners and developers (after all, they’ll be paying

both the architect’s design fees and for the glass

that gets installed) that bird kill is a cost they’ll

have to start paying for. If nothing else, could the

cost of bird-friendly glass be offset by the build-

ing’s maintenance staff not needing to clean up

dead birds on a regular basis? The ROI may be

long, but is it worth the cost beyond the environ-

mental advantages? I hope we can agree that it is.

The purpose in asking for the design commu-

nity’s help is that, by the time the glazing subcon-

tractor gets involved, all the material selection is

usually fait accompli. I have a pretty good idea

that, as competitive as just winning a bid is these

days, the glazing subs are not going to put their

head on the chopping block by suggesting a more

expensive bird-friendly product. Hopefully, it’s

not too much more expensive—something along

the costs for ceramic frits or silk screen patterns,

but not the same as just “ordinary glass.”

Sharpsburg Library, Sharpsburg, PA

Architect: Front Studio Architects

General Contractor: Franjo Construction

Distributor: Brock Associates LLC

Profiles: PAC-CLAD 7/8” Corrugated in .032 aluminum

Colors: Silver, Copper Penny, Cardinal Red, Award Blue, Patina Green

“As soon as we knew we wanted it to be colorful,

metal became the obvious choice for the exterior.

PAC-CLAD corrugated metal would be the most

economical, long-lasting material.”

PAC-CLAD

Corrugated

-Art Lubetz, principal, Front Studio Architects

45 Colors - 31 ENERGYSTAR®

CASE STUDY

Another reason for asking the design community

to drive this change: demand and aesthetics. Don’t

you think the glass fabricators will start responding

to the market demand if the design community

continues to inquire, specify and design buildings

with bird-friendly glass? That demand will drive the

availability of supply, eventually lowering the cost of

the products over the long term?

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The designers also are going to want to know

VE’d out. Altruistically, that’s not value-engineer-

how bird-friendly glass affects a building’s aesthet- ing; it’s value-eradication!

ics, and how to change the percentage of glass

on exterior walls in response to daylighting and

As for the glaziers, they’ll install the glass that’s

specified, as long as someone is willing to pay

energy issues. If designers go back to the glass fab- the bill. Let us (the glaziers, glass fabricators and

ricators and manufacturers and work with them

on what’s wanted in the way of bird-friendly

glass, these products are more likely to meet the

aesthetic goals of a given project.

And just as important, none of us who are

downstream from the owner control a project’s

purse strings: Don’t let the bird-friendly glass get

manufacturers) help you, the architects, convince

the owner that this change is worth the effort.

Together, we can and MUST beat this. When

we do it with new buildings, then we also can

fix the existing stock if and when that glass gets

replaced or buildings get updated. But we have to

start, and today is the time to get going. AGG

Fall 2017

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