City of Evanston
Home MenuBird Friendly Building Design Ordinance
The City’s Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (CARP) goals include implementation of building codes that reduce threats to vulnerable wildlife species, particularly migratory and local birds. The Smithsonian estimates that up to 1 billion birds die in the United States each year from collisions with buildings. In 2019, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology identified Chicago as top of the list of U.S. cities that pose the greatest potential danger to migrating birds due to its geography and light pollution. The City of Evanston shares those features and is uniquely positioned in the heart of North America’s most trafficked aerial corridors, posing a serious threat to the passage of migrant birds. Migratory birds are a critical part of a healthy environment and their protection has local and global importance.
In September, 2022, the Evanston City Council adopted the Bird Friendly Building Design ordinance to require the inclusion of bird friendly design strategies into development projects to reduce bird collisions and death. These practices include consideration of the overall architectural design to reduce hazards, the use of bird friendly materials, especially glass, exterior and interior lighting provisions and consideration of site planning and landscape design to reduce potentially hazardous situations.
Bird Friendly Requirements and Design
Design requirements are located in the Bird Friendly Building Design Guide. The guide modifies a set of criteria originally developed by the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, in conjunction with Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, Chicago Audubon Society, and Chicago Ornithological Society, and includes sections that were written and designed by Claire Halpin. Representatives from the City of Evanston’s Building & Inspection Services Division and the Office of Sustainability, along with Bird Friendly Evanston, reviewed and modified the guide for use by the City of Evanston.
The Bird Friendly Building Design ordinance is applicable to all planned developments, new city-owned or financed buildings and additions, new commercial, multifamily and industrial construction buildings and additions and renovation projects of an existing building that includes the replacement of the building’s exterior glazing.
Bird Friendly Building Design Worksheet with Building Data and BCTR Tables
The Bird Friendly Building Design Worksheet should be submitted with the project’s construction drawings. Construction drawings should include a bird friendly compliance statement, dimensioned elevations showing façade zones, high risk features and façade materials with key plan, BCTR tables and exterior lighting.
See pages 11 and 12 of the Bird Friendly Building Design Guide for additional information on submittal requirements and worksheet examples.
Design Resources
American Bird Conservancy Glass Collisions: Preventing Bird Window Strikes
American Bird Conservancy Products & Solutions Database
Useful Links