The Problem: Pest Birds cause Millions of Dollars worth of damage to buildings and structures each year. Cleaning up the messes left by pest birds is no easy task. It requires risk to workers' health and use of significant water to properly wash and sterilize the areas affected. Accumulations of bird waste wind up bagged and transported to landfills. 

If left untreated, the buildup of droppings has potential to lead to sick building syndrome or to degrade materials such that they are in need of replacement far sooner than originally planned for. There is slip and fall risk on pathways and sidewalks littered by droppings every time it rains.

Having seen the damage to buildings caused by pest birds, analyzed costs associated with such, and become aware of the health hazards caused by problematic urban species, it is sound and prudent to encourage and promote the use of bird mitigation strategies in the architectural, construction, and facilities operation stages of a building's life cycle.

The Case: The US Green Buildings Council already has a LEED Pilot Credit for Bird Collision Deterrence; protection of birds from the potential negative effects of buildings. There is also an existing credit in place for Integrated Pest Management of Existing Buildings. Applying foresight to the operations and maintenance portion of the building's life cycle by incorporating IPM concepts into design is surely worthy of its own credit.

A building's design could lead to expansion of pest bird populations in urban areas. Conversely, design could also prevent infestations and therefore growing populations as well. The resources associated with remediation of pest birds are a drain on building owners. Most importantly, the pest birds present a potential health and safety risk to building occupants and workers.

Therefore, the USGBC should be encouraging mitigation of this environmental threat to relevant buildings in humane fashion through issuance of a LEED Credit for Bird Mitigation Strategy Development & Implementation as an appropriate reward for Architects and Owners who have the foresight to address this concern.

In an age of long-term value of the products and systems we are installing on buildings, the uric acid in bird droppings that eats away at substrates should be a genuine concern. 

One could consider the carbon footprint increase and resource wastefulness in a remediation project. Where does bird waste go when it is removed from a site? A landfill?

What about the health and safety of the workers who operate the building systems being soiled by the bird droppings?

What about the indoor air quality issues associated with contaminated fecal matter dust making its way into a building's air handling system? 

What about the slip and fall risk of wet droppings as the rain washes them down onto sidewalks into a storm?

After speaking with a LEED Fellow yesterday about this initiative, I have been asked to demonstrate consideration for the issue of Habitat Displacement that may be perceived by a LEED credit targeting pest bird mitigation.

The targeted species of this initiatives are pigeons, starlings, sparrows, and gulls. These are labeled as PEST BIRDS, the equivalent of mice or rats in urban environments. On new construction, there is no displacement as a result of design measures or protective systems, as no birds are already living or roosting on the building. 

Putting a building up in an empty plot  in a city or suburban tract does not displace these species of pest birds, as these birds do not reside on the ground of open space. 

Perhaps we should be considerate of displacement as a part of a renovation/rehabilitation. However, it could be argued first that these are pest birds and do not provide sufficient environmental value to offset the risks they pose to health and safety. 

To Be Clear: The goal of this petition is not aimed at getting a lot of spikes, wires, and netting all over buildings. In fact, the opposite is true. The goal is to be considerate of design measures that would lead to the risk of urban pest bird population increases that are detrimental to a building. 

PLEASE HELP!

You should sign this petition and share with your friends and colleagues on LinkedIn, Twitter, or even Facebook that you have.

But, even if you're not ready to sign the petition, please help by offering your feedback on the initiative. If the message needs tweaking to gain your support, please identify what it is that you want to see added to the discussion. 

Thank you!