Full Proposal
Designing a Bird Friendly Campus (phase 2)
Executive Summary:
While bird-building collisions are ubiquitous and happen daily across campus, contributing to a loss of at least 10,000 birds yearly, five of the 24 buildings studied Summer 22 – Spring 24 account for over 50% of found collision victims. The top five buildings are the connected Paccar and Dempsey Halls, the Life Sciences Building, Wink Forest Sciences Lab, and Bloedel Hall. By applying vinyl patterns to the glass surface areas of these buildings where collisions are most prevalent, design "hot spots," a large number of collisions will be prevented. Additionally, to preserve the aesthetics and materials at the historically significant buildings Wink Forest Sciences Lab and Bloedel Hall, removable external vertical cords or thin wood slats will prevent collisions with these deadly buildings.
These design hot spots are clearly indicated from our two years of data collection at these sites. We would treat the following hot spots in order of urgency: transparent railing at Paccar, two transparent sky bridges at Paccar and Dempsey, two curtain walls facing habitat space at Paccar and the Life Sciences Building, three transparent corners two at Paccar and one at the Life Sciences Building, then transparent corners at Bloedel and Wink Forest Sciences Lab.
Except for Bloedel and Wink Forest Sciences Lab, Feather Friendly customizable vinyl patterns will be applied to the glass surface, costing an average of $5 a square foot if installed locally; with Feather Friendly installation, the cost is, on average, $7 a square foot. For external vertical cords or thin wood slats to cover the transparent corners at Bloedel and Wink Forest Sciences Lab, the average cost is $10 per square foot if ordered from Acopian Bird Savers; however, to ensure we are treating as many buildings as possible within the budget, these modifications can be made through an independent study course in the College of the Built Environments fabrication lab.
The exact square footage needed to cover all the hot spots depends on the project budget and whether we will use UW to install the products or Feather Friendly. Feather Friendly has also agreed to work with our budget.
This project's success relies on the building managers' collective effort for the five listed buildings, faculty advisor Alex Anderson, architecture student Erik Rayas, and PhD student Judy Bowes. Two architectural historians will be consulted in the Bloedel and Wink Forest Sciences Lab retrofits. The departments and companies involved are the College of the Built Environments and their fabrication lab, Feather Friendly, and possibly Acopian Bird Savers. Each member's contribution is crucial to the project's success, making them an integral part of our team.
Student Involvement:
The project will have one lead, four research assistants, and 14 volunteer students.
Lead: Judy Bowes
Judy's responsibilities are to lead the project and will spend the summer working with building managers, architects, and key stakeholders, such as the colleges housed in the buildings to be treated to ensure the timeline for the 24/25 academic year is successful. Additionally, during the summer, Judy will treat at least two hot spots, starting with the transparent railing and sky bridges at Paccar/Dempsy Hall. Erik Rayas has already designed these patterns in his case study work for the independent study course.
Summer Delahanty – Lead App, Aesthetics, and Marketing Designer (Human Centered Design Major)
Summer is a talented artist and designer who specializes in human-centered design and usability. She will lead the app team in designing new screens and user experiences and evaluate custom vinyl designs for aesthetics and impact on the occupants.
Erik Rayas – Bird Friendly Designer and Consultant (Architecture Major)
Erik's duties will be to customize vinyl designs
to treat the collision hot spots based on client requests and Summer's evaluations of the impact on the occupants.
Kenna Daily – Field Research Lead (Environmental Studies Major)
While monitoring will be a smaller task during this phase, a field researcher must ensure that the volunteers follow the proper protocol and that the monitoring runs smoothly. Kenna has worked on numerous research projects for the College of the Built Environment, College of Environmental Sciences, and NOAA.
Parshvi Balu – Lead App Developer (Informatics Major)
Parshvi will lead the app development team of four volunteer developers. The team will work on incorporating EH&S guidelines for spotting dead birds on campus, adding screens to track live birds and screens that introduce the use of bird bird-safe glass and patterns they can "try on" buildings through filters.
Four Volunteer Developers – Four students are needed to complete the development team. We have three students training and a waiting list for the fourth position.
Ten student volunteers will actively monitor the treated buildings. These volunteers, who are likely to be part of the independent study course that will continue next year, will play a crucial role in ensuring the effectiveness of our bird collision prevention measures. They will receive credits for their work, making this a valuable learning experience.
Education & Outreach:
The project would continue outreach through our website, campus tours, class visits, sustainability fairs, and marketing with flyers and stickers. Our project had 118 students contribute to the project for at least one quarter, and we've watched our engagement grow each quarter. Additionally, student volunteers and students in our independent study course are primarily female-presenting or non-binary and identify as part of an underrepresented group, LGBTQIA+, or a first gen student. Our project will continue with these efforts for the next year, including our independent study course.
The app is a great educational resource, and by adding two more features, tracking live birds on campus and interactive bird-safe designs, the UW community will be further engaged with birds and design on campus. Tracking live birds connects people to nature, allows the community to track common or rare species, and even gives insight into which species are more vulnerable to collisions or in decline. Adding screens with information about bird-safe glass and filters that allow the user to "try on" the patterns engages everyone with the project and allows current and future campus designers to view patterns on glass surfaces or building plans. By treating the app as a three-in-one tool, the UW community and any university campus can track collisions, track live birds, and learn how to treat buildings for collisions in one place. Additionally, all users can download their data (which can remain private if desired) without inference from the founders or app team. No collision monitoring projects allow their participants access to the data they collect without a lengthy vetting process and weeks of wait time. Our project wants to change this and enable citizen scientists and community members to control their collision data, downloading it instantly.
- Living Systems and Biodiversity
- Environmental Justice
The maintenance of vinyl bird-safe patterns is minimal. They are guaranteed for 25 years, though they have been tested to withstand extreme conditions for 50 years. I do not expect the vinyl to need any maintenance during the life cycle of the buildings.
The app will be led and owned by the founder (Judy Bowes) and accessible to the UW community and the public as student developers are eager to code the app. Additionally, external fundraising will continue after the project to ensure the app is a resource for the UW community and the public.
The resources, publications, and data sets acquired by the project will be publicly available for free on the project's website after publication.
Environmental Problem:
LEED Certified or pending certified buildings account for 53% of collisions recorded at 24 monitored buildings over the last two years. Four of the six deadliest campus buildings are certified LEED Gold or Platinum. Buildings celebrated as sustainable should not passively kill thousands of birds each year, contributing to a loss of biodiversity and negatively impacting the local ecosystem and human health and well-being. Our study identified 29 species among found collision victims, with 17 of these species, over half, in decline. Knowing the large number of birds lost on campus each year, over half of found species are in decline, and simple designs can prevent this loss; it's not only our responsibility to create a more sustainable campus, but it is ethically imperative to prevent bird building collisions.
Explain how the impacts will be measured:
The impacts will be measured by monitoring the treated buildings for collisions and comparing the collision data to the previous two years. This is typical for this field's case studies; however, this project will be the largest completed to date. Additionally, the app can be used by anyone at any location, so after the project ends, the success of the treatment can be monitored for any length of time and after the project ends.
This funding request is a: Grant
If this is a loan, what is the estimated payback period?:
Budget:
| п»ї Project Budget | Summer 2024 | Autumn 2024 | Winter 2025 | Spring 2025 | Summer 2023** | Autumn 20232 | Winter 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fringe Benefits (Graduate Student) | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | ||
| Total Graduate Wages (up to 10 hours a week each at $22 an hour) | $- | $- | $- | $- | $- | $- | |||
| Total Before Fringe | $3,200.00 | $9,200.00 | $9,200.00 | $9,200.00 | $- | $- | $- | ||
| Fringe Benefits (Hourly) | 18.2% | 21.2% | 23.0% | 23.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | ||
| Total Hourly Wages | $3,782.40 | $11,150.40 | $11,316.00 | $11,316.00 | $- | $- | $- | $37,564.80 | |
| $3,782.40 | $11,150.40 | $11,316.00 | $11,316.00 | $- | $- | $- | $37,564.80 | ||
| Phase 2 Total | $69,014.80 | ||||||||
| Bird Friendly Retrofitting Patterns and Signage | $31,000.00 | ||||||||
| Total Wages | $37,564.80 | ||||||||
| Monitoring and Marketing Supplies (Total for all quarters) | $450.00 | ||||||||
| Lead: Judy Bowes (Summer Prep: $32/Hour; 10hr/Wk; Volunteer AU 24 - SP 25) | $3,200.00 | $- | $- | $- | $- | $- | $- | ||
| Erik Rayas – Bird Safe Vinyl Designer and Consultant ($22/Hr; 10hr/Wk) | $- | $2,200.00 | $2,200.00 | $2,200.00 | $- | $- | $- | ||
| Parshvi Balu – Lead App Developer ($24/Hr; 10hr/Wk) | $- | $2,400.00 | $2,400.00 | $2,400.00 | $- | $- | $- | ||
| Summer Delahanty – Lead App, Aesthetics, and Marketing Designer ($24/Hr; 10hr/Wk) | $- | $2,400.00 | $2,400.00 | $2,400.00 | $- | $- | $- | ||
| Kenna Daily – Field Researcher ($22/Hr; 10hr/Wk) | $- | $2,200.00 | $2,200.00 | $2,200.00 | $- | $- | $- | ||
Non-CSF Sources:
Timeline:
| Task | Timeframe | Estimated Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-Retrofitting Tass | 10 Weeks | Week 10 of Summer 24 |
| Site 1: Design and Permissions | 5 Weeks | Week 5 of SU 24 |
| Site 1: Install/Retrofit | 5 weeks | Week 10 of SU 24 |
| Site 2: Design and Permissions | 5 weeks | Week 5 of AU 24 |
| Site 2: Install/Retrofit | 5 weeks | Week 10 of AU 24 |
| Site 3: Design and Permissions | 5 weeks | Week 5 of WI 25 |
| Site 3: Install/Retrofit | 5 weeks | Week 10 of WI 25 |
| Site 4: Design and Permissions | 5 weeks | Week 10 of WI 25 |
| Site 4: Install/Retrofit | 5 weeks | Week 5 of SP 25 |
| Site 5: Design and Permissions | 5 weeks | Week 10 of WI 25 |
| Site 5: Install/Retrofit | 5 weeks | Week 5 of SP 25 |
| App Live Bird Screens | 10 Weeks | Week 10 of AU |
| App Bird Safe Designs Screens | 5 Weeks | Week 5 of WI 25 |
| App Bird Friendly Filters | 5 Weeks | Week 10 of WI 25 |
| App Lifetime Set up | 5 weeks | Week 5 of SP 25 |
