Local Codes Taking Flight – Schober Joins City of Austin Team to Develop Bird-Friendly Building Guidelines

According to a new study published in 2024, approximately 1 billion birds die annually due to building collisions across the U.S. and, in Texas, all species of birds that live in or migrate through the state are in decline, with grassland and songbirds experiencing the highest population loss of 30% – 50% since the 1970s².

“This is not a trend that humanity and our Built Environment can sustain,” says Stefanie Schober, Lerch Bates Building Enclosures Director of Operations in Texas and resident bird safety expert.

Earlier this year, Schober joined the Austin Environmental Commission’s Bird-Friendly Working Group alongside representatives from Audubon Texas, Austin Energy Green Building, local architects and developers, and Environmental Commission members to combine various expertise and interests to develop a solution for Austin.

Schober’s expertise in architectural glass manufacturing and treatment options available, as well as her experience with successful bird-friendly applications across her vast portfolio of enclosures projects, brought technical insights that enabled the working group to develop a thorough understanding of solutions and potential hurdles, and laid the groundwork for a shift in new construction glazing in Austin.

“Treating glass to make it visible for birds does impact both the budget and architectural design of buildings,” Schober said. “But why wouldn’t we want to create a more bird-friendly city?”

“The Edwards Uplift that rises out of the Blackland Prairies of eastern Travis County, along with the Colorado River, are considered superhighways for migrating birds,” Schober said. “Unfortunately, we continue to clutter those ancient flyways with buildings, brightly lit billboards, transmission lines and other hazards. As Austin continues to build along the river and press deeper into critical nesting habitat for species of concern, it is time to construct buildings with bird-friendly best practices.”

There are approximately 4.4 million bird watchers in Texas with resident and visiting bird watchers pumping more than $1.8 billion into the economy of the state each year. Birders specifically visit the hills of western Travis County to search for the endanger Golden-cheeked Warbler and threatened Black-capped Vireo along with 400 plus other species of birds.

Regardless of her great enthusiasm for the natural environment (she can only identify a few types of birds), Schober was eager to share her knowledge with the Audubon team. Schober even took the time to create a glass sample library for the Audubon Texas Headquarters, which will be used as reference point and resource as they work to protect bird populations state-wide.

On Thursday, November 21, the City Council of Austin unanimously passed the “Bird-Friendly Building Design” resolution.

The resolution directs the Austin City Manager and staff to “return to Council with updates regarding the City’s implementation efforts of Lights Out Austin, a City-wide initiative that aims to raise awareness of the risk of light pollution for migrating birds, explore bird-friendly building techniques including the impacts on cost and time on developments, and develop recommendations for amendments to City Code or guidelines to incorporate bird-friendly building standards for construction of new buildings.”

Next, Schober and the working group will support city staff in developing the code to implement bird-friendly standards.