However, these benefits so highly rated in architecture are often dangerous for birds:
- Due to the transparency of glass birds are often unable to discern it as an object or try to reach targets behind it.
- Due to the reflection birds are tempted to fly in its direction and are unable to distinguish the reflection from reality.
According to Glass for Europe, experts estimate that in Europe alone approximately one million birds suffer collisions with glass. In the USA this number is estimated at between 365 million and one billion.
In the EU this problem is receiving varying degrees of attention. In Germany there is no official standard or statutory limit and it is up to nature conservation authorities to rate the bird-strike risk of new buildings. In Helsinki, Finland, there is a new regional guideline for the use of bird-friendly glass in building, which will form part of building regulations from 2027.
It is all the more positive to note that the glass industry – including flat glass producers and associations – are addressing this problem through research and development in close cooperation with ornithologists; by means of high-performance markings on the glass, for example, which are visible for birds but do not impact the thermal and solar protection properties of the glass.
The other options available in this area will be introduced by Jochen Grönegräs, Managing Director of
Bundesverband Flachglas e.V. (German Flat Glass Manufacturers’ Association) and Matthias Haller, Technical Service Marketing at
Eastman Chemical Company and spokesperson of the
Bird Protection working group at Bundesverband Flachglas e.V., during the “
bird protection forum” entitled
“Bird strike on glass surfaces - we are part of the problem, but also part of the solution” at glasstec 2024.
