Bird-safe glass requirements in Minnesota
Bird-friendly glazing gets onto a project one of three ways: a code or guideline requires it, a rating system rewards it, or the owner asks for it. Here is how each one works in this state, and where Flyway™ lands against it.
Does Minnesota require bird-safe glass?
On state-funded work, yes. Minnesota requires bird-safe design on state-owned and state-funded building projects through the B3 (Buildings, Benchmarks and Beyond) Guidelines, specifically Guideline S.5 (Animal Habitat Support), whose bird-safety requirements S.5A–S.5F cover a whole-building Threat Factor limit, a Threat Factor cap for traps, and a Lights Out program. (Earlier B3 editions numbered this guideline SS.14; you will still see that citation in older project manuals.) The guidelines are developed by the University of Minnesota Center for Sustainable Building Research. There is no single statewide mandate covering all private construction. For private projects the requirement comes from the municipality, the owner's own standards, or a rating system the project is chasing.
Does Minneapolis require bird-safe glass?
Minneapolis adopted an ordinance in 2016 requiring bird-safe glass on new skyways. Beyond that, most Twin Cities bird-safe glazing is driven by B3 on state-funded work, by institutional and corporate owner standards, or by LEED Pilot Credit 55.
What Threat Factor™ do I need?
It depends on the requirement. ABC's material threshold is a Threat Factor™ of 30 or lower, and all five Flyway patterns fall at 20 or 25. But B3 and LEED do not stop at the material. They score the whole building. B3 requires a Whole Building Threat Factor of 45 or lower (15 on critical sites), calculated from every facade material weighted by area, and it bars any glazing above Threat Factor 25 in a trap: skyways, transparent railings, glass corners. Every Flyway pattern qualifies for trap conditions. Where the building number is tight, patterns A, C and E at 20 give the most margin.
The three drivers, one at a time
B3 Guideline S.5: state-funded projects
Minnesota's sustainable building guidelines require a Whole Building Threat Factor of 45 or lower (15 on critical sites), cap trap glazing at Threat Factor 25, limit high-risk surfaces, and mandate a Lights Out program during spring and fall migration.
If your project takes state money, this applies.
LEED Pilot Credit 55
Bird Collision Deterrence. Awards points based on a whole-building Bird Collision Threat Rating calculated from facade material Threat Factors and their areas.
Lower TF glazing improves the building's score.
Owner & institutional standards
Universities, museums, nature centers, hospitals and corporate campuses increasingly write bird-safe glazing into their own design standards regardless of code.
No ordinance needed, just an owner who cares.
How Threat Factor feeds a LEED score
Pilot Credit 55 does not ask "is this glass bird-friendly, yes or no." It builds a weighted average across the whole facade.
- Every facade material is assigned a Threat Factor™. Plain glass scores high, treated glass scores low, solid wall scores zero.
- Each material's Threat Factor is multiplied by its area on the qualifying portion of the facade.
- Those products are summed and divided by total facade area to give the building's Bird Collision Threat Rating.
- The lower the resulting rating, the better the credit outcome.
Confirm current Pilot Credit 55 requirements with USGBC, since pilot credits are periodically revised.
Where treatment is usually required
Most requirements concentrate on the part of the building birds hit most often. Typically:
- The lower facade, commonly the first 36 to 100 feet above grade
- Glass adjacent to vegetation, courtyards or green roofs
- Skyways and glazed connectors
- Glass railings, wind screens and free-standing glass
- Glass corners and inside corners that create a see-through condition
- Atria and any glazing with visible interior vegetation
Confirm the specific thresholds against your governing document. They vary between B3, LEED and individual municipal ordinances.
What we need from you to quote
- Elevations with glazed areas identified
- The governing requirement (B3, LEED PC55, ordinance, owner standard)
- Glass makeup: substrate, tint, coating, monolithic or IG
- Whether IGCC certification is required on the IG unit
- Lite sizes and quantities, or a takeoff if you have one
- Schedule: when glass needs to be on site
Flyway™ against the threshold
| Pattern | Description | Threat Factor™ | ABC threshold (≤30) | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 6 mm dots, 2″×2″ grid | 20 | Meets | 10 below |
| C | 3 mm vertical lines, 2″ o.c. | 20 | Meets | 10 below |
| E | 3 mm horizontal lines, 2″ o.c. | 20 | Meets | 10 below |
| B | 6 mm dots, 2″×4″ grid | 25 | Meets | 5 below |
| D | 3 mm vertical lines, 4″ o.c. | 25 | Meets | 5 below |
Not sure what your project requires?
Send us the governing document and the elevations. We'll tell you which pattern satisfies it, or tell you that you don't need us at all.