department are far more detailed and thoughtful than ordinances and guidelines that i have seen from other cities. i'll let anmarie tell you more about that. >> thank you to both of our guests iffer sharing some of the -- for sharing some of the science behind the issue. we have reviewed the research available and today we're giving to you the draft recommendations on how this research could be applied locally. the document summarizes proven successful remedies such as window treatments, lighting design, and lighting operation. the draft presents a three-prong approach to the problem. first t establishment of requirements for the most hazardous conditions and we think we can identify those. second, the use of an educational checklist to educate project sponsors and the tenants about the hazards.

and the creation of voluntary programs to encourage more bird friendly design. for these reasons, the draft proposal would place controls on buildings in three discrete -- wait a second. i am missing a whole summary. this is describing a situation in manhattan. this is a summary that some research that is a summary of 10 years' worth of data of bird-building collisions. they have been watching bird-building collisions in manhattan for a very long time. and this research found that some things we understand and know like the amount of glass as the amount of glass increases, in number of bird-buildings increase and that is common sense and something we expect, but also showed us things we did not expect such as that more important than the height of the building may be the location of the building to it surroundings. and this is the morgan mall in manhattan and it has a facade of glass that is next to a one

hectare park and that building has the most bird-building deaths per year, hundreds per year, much more than the 10 per year of average buildings. based on this study man other studies, we are recommending the control be placed on these three discrete circumstances. first, if the facade has more than 35% glazing and is located on, in, or adjacent to green open space and then number two, again, if the building has a large glass facade, more than 35% glass and located on the pier or adjacent to water and three, if the project contains a bird trap. let's look at some of the bird traps. bird traps include things such as clear corners on buildings, clear glass passage waist and glass wind break on the top of buildings. these present bird within aapparently clear flight path that is literally a dead end.

under the proposal, bird traps facing the water or open space would require bird safe treatment and the proposal would require treatment such that the amount of untreated glass is reduced toless than 35% for facing the bird hazard or 100% of the glass would require treatment in this case. there are a litany of potential treatments that would satisfy the requirement including frosted glass, and frizz led glass which is small little dots. screens like this building in san francisco, or other screens that are tightly patterned. beyond the treating and glazing of patterns and other techniques such as angled glass and awnings than effective in limited applications but less effective as a general application. while they are effective in certain areas, these treatments would not be reliable enough to

mitigate the potential hazard for the high risk areas next to water and open space. how far, the draft standards as they are currently written do provide for flexibility and will allow them to allow alternative treatments when recommended by qualified biologists. in these areas that are determined high risk for birds, the proposal would seek to minimize lighting and use wind generators that present a solid appearance. that summarizes the requirements, decreasing the amount of untreated glass in high risk areas to less than 35% and treating 100% of the glass and bird traps. now let's talk about the second tier of the three-tier proposal. outside of the requirements the draft proposal would be primarily advisory and education on pages 32 and 33, the proposal. you is bird safe building checklist. the checklist identifies conditions where the requirements would apply and also help project sponsors

understand the features of the project that may create risk to birds. completing the checklist would be required for buildings with a substantial glass facade of 35%. and if the building is not situated in a high risk area and doesn't prevent a bird trap t only obligation for the buildings would be for building owners to consent to provide future occupants with information on how to keep their buildings bird safe. this is important in that there are many building features that contribute to a bird safe building that are beyond the control of the designer or architect. things such as keeping interior plants away from windows and minimizing light usage. over time as building designers and of course wants become more aware of the hazards, we hope they choose to reduce the risk of buildings and birds and educating tenants can help mold building occupants into allies. finally let's look at the third

tier of the proposal, voluntary programs. and along the lines there and the draft proposal and the rating system for project sponsors. and this system is modelled after a system that's already in place in toronto that enables marketers to market the buildings as bird safe and provides certificates and bird-related art for such buildings. the voluntary certification program outlined in the proposal contains three category of buildings. first, the minimum level and the bird safe building. and this would apply to my building that meets the conditions for bird safety. at this level bird hazards and bird traps are not created or remedied with the treatment. bird safe flying design is used and future tenants would be educated in how to keep the building safe. the higher level bird safe flight buildings would meet the minnium requirements and in addition reduce the total glazing to less than 35% and the

building owners would also commit to the lights out practices during the migratory season. the highest level proposed in the plan would exemplify the features and reduce the amount of glazing. if the commission is interested in offing this certification, staff would research grant programs to support this work and work with architectural and orbing rthological communities to insure these are set at reasonable markers. there is another voluntary program currently in place, lights out san francisco, that is in collaboration with pg&e and certain downtown buildings owners. this effort is currently being re-examined by board president chiu and he will be giving us more information in the future on that. commissioners, that summarizes the proposal. you. to establish requirements for certain limited but most

hazardous conditions and the use of the educational checklist to educate project sponsorses and the future tenants about the hazards and the creation of voluntary programs to encourage bird friendly design. i would like to thank the american bird conservancy and the golden gate audubon society for sharing their expertise and this draft document benefitted from the submission of dozen of photographs from local photographers such as this image. you. in conclusion, over 30 years of research has resulted in a great deal of data on bird-building clinton-gores and we are confident we can help san francisco protect it own birds as well as passing migrants without comprising the high quality design. we are available for questions.

president miguel: a number of cards for public comment. >> good afternoon, again, commissioners. rose pilsen. i have been worried about certain birds in town and anmar anmarie's document mentions the doors of the city and -- which way do i put this? and it takes a while for parents even though they are smart to learn the environment and they have slammed into windows in that area. and this came from wikipedia and this is judy irving's poster.

and one thing i want to say is in addition to anmarie's chart that addresses building for specific bird traps, i had suggested a couple of other things such as keeping lights on all night with the might m.i.a. grastory season with these here. >> i am not usually happy with planning, but i am today with the research that has been done and many of those like myself never thought much about the

birds until a few months ago. it did come up about 222 washington street and at that time it was even found amusing to several decision makers who will not be named here. i think that the human species has a duty to look out for the other species as long as it's feasible. so thank you very much and keep up the good work. president miguel: thank you. >> hello, commissioners. i am judy i have beening and i made the wild parrots of telegraph hill. and since the birds can't be here to speak to you, i brought a couple. i was able to borrow this hat so that the birds would have a say as well at this hearing. i wanted to congratulate the

planning department for this launch of this wonderful new ordinance and i am looking forward to working with you and planning staff on making sure that the ordinance is as strong as we can possibly make it. i would be in favor of having the ordinance extend beyond buildings that are just fronting parks or water because as you know, most of the new construction which will be mostly glass won't be on water and won't be next to parks. so let's think about broadening and strengthening these original conceptions that you have been presented with. and also it's really important to do the education and the certification program is great.

and ecological consciousness and more developers will want this kind of certification. and i think it's a very good organize really strong. in addition to being a filmmaker, i am working on a film now about birds that fly not necessarily in downtown but around our city coastline, pelicans, and i am also chair of the parks, trees, and birds committee for telegraph hill dwellers, so i'm going to be involved. you'll see me again. maybe i'll have a different hat. and congratulations and thank you very much for making sure that san francisco maintains it cutting edge as a green city. thank you.

>> i am dave doggin and a long-time san francisco resident and the founder of the online smart citizens and very much in favor of the proposed bird safe building standards and want to commend the planning department and staff and their efforts with this project so far. and as you may know, san francisco sufficients from severe increasing light pollution and thick, unsightly sky glow, garish clutter and high levels of glare that reduce safety and visibility. the adoption of the standards and addressing the problem. and with the well being of the

birds and with the nighttime standards and i thank you very much for your support. president miguel: thank you. is there additional public comment on this item? if not, public comment is closed. commissioner antonini. commissioner antonini: thank you and maybe some obvious questions and often times a low wide building than a tall, thin building and the example in new york and the morgan mall which was the worst. and it was said these tall, thin buildings are a threat and maybe it's more a question of the glazing than it is the form of

the glazing and the idea of no lighting at all when it's foggy would be more of a hazard if something is completely black and if there is some light t bird might stay away from it. i certainly would walking in a bedroom and it's pitch dark, and you run into it and at least if there's a shadow or dim lighting you have a clue there might be an object there. so i think that some of these problems with the light have more to do with the types of buildings and with the glazing and the types of glazing we do and less with the light itself. and paris is the city of lights and they have had lighting as much as you can for a century or more. i don't know that we had a lot of problems with bird crashes into some of the structures, but many of those were more traditional, probably not as much glazing and for that reason

it's becoming more of a problem and i am happy about frosting and flitting the glass or changing the angles a little. and i hope this is not an excuse for uglier building in the future and we can build something aesthetic and bird friendly. also, there was a little mention of some of there and they are attracted to that and that is sort of bird psychology and may be going too far, but i would be against restrictions on the to improve the quality of the lighting and less glare and more efficient lighting that uses less energy and that would meet

both goals i think. and i am really happy with a lot of the things you are doing here. it's very interesting. thank you. president miguel: commissioner moore. commissioner moore: i believe the standards are definitely moving in the right direction. i wish there would be ultimately one lead standard that people have to consider and it depends on what points they get for it, but it would be really adapted nationally for the performance. and for san francisco it is highly appropriate since we are striving and wanting to maintain the status of being a green city and i would ask we spend some attention to the strong presence of mid block open spaces that obviously our many parks, having one in the middle of the block i live in and every possible bird

including the frequent visit of the parrots who fly over from telegraph hill and swoop through the mid block open space with their unmistakable noise so i know when they are there. that make me think we need to spend attention on the roof decks, roof deck railing design and take it to the level where we are not too overly restrictive and do indeed as best as we can to create the balance on residential buildings including birds who fly in mid block spaces. president miguel: commissioner sugaya? commissioner sugaya: i would like to follow up on commissioner moore's comments and i think national would be great, but we should move ahead anyway. and it is part of the problem now anyway according to the presenter. so more work there would be

great. the attention to regulations is god and making leed a requirement brought a lot of people along because they had to do something in order to get faster permitting or whatever or various cities are using in addition to the regulations incentives and we should continue to take a look at that. and then with respect to light i ing, i haven't participated in a lot of organizations and the one gentleman testified that are concerned about lighting at night and pollution and light pollution in the evenings and whatever we can do to strengthen that and lights out san francisco would be a good thing.

i know in my apartment i look out on a building that has lights that light up the small tower that is sitting on top and i have absolutely no reason, can't fathom why the homeowners association would want to light up their -- it's more than utility tower. but i guess they want to have it known all over the city where they are. and that is the kind of thing where you can go and just turns out and isn't like an off building that you are trying to advertise. next time we have a bird ordinance or whatever you want to bring before us is that personally when i was younger i experienced a lot of times birds striking windows and the house i grew up in had floor to ceiling windows in the hallway on two sides. and both sides were gardens.

so obviously they were trying to fly from one thinking through another and thinking they were going to the other open space. i would think -- didn't ever make a count, but at least two or three times a year that would happen. president miguel: commissioner moore. commissioner moore: i strongly encourage the department to talk with the e.i.a. and with the design architects and i think taking leadership in that subject mater is a great thing to do and we should not leave any path unchallenged to find out how we can have this discussion. president miguel: commissioner antonini? commissioner antonini: one fl low up to the architects out there, i mean, there is increase in the amount of glazing we have

seen and sometimes it's practical and sometimes for the aesthetics and the type of architecture they are trying to design and although particularly in residential areas we might achieve more bird friendly or the glazing doesn't have to go down foot level and nobody can look out through their knees and a wainscoting of nonglazed surfaces would help the situation and might improve the aesthetics of the building so just an idea in smaller residential projects and so many plans coming through with heavy amounts of glazing and particularly in neighborhoods where it's not what the buildings have. that might be something to think about. president miguel: commissioner sugaya? commissioner sugaya: i forgot one point. mentioning the education program and getting ohm owners and

building and architects on board and a number of months ago i don't know if we discussed it on the commission, but maybe it was some of us talking and pointed out among public agencies and planning department there is a lack of knowing how to market this stuff to the public and thinking about not only this program but the mission streetscape plan we were just presented with ellier and i see mr. rossi is in the audience, so he might have ideas about how to better present and market these kind of things to the public. i just volunteered him and i'm sure he'll be glad to do that. president miguel: commissioner moore. commissioner moore: i volunteer director williams to talk to mr. farmer who was here yesterday giving us an award.

e.p.a. should talk about this and advertising what we do on that level is obviously just to get another award. president miguel: i really like to thank you, anmarie, and the department on moving this this far and like to remind everyone that as you menninged and keeping open until the end of the year and the questions into you and more and more for san francisco the concept of roof decks which have been around the city for a long time and the concept is increasing and we have a situation where people do not wish it to look like another floor by solid wall so the suggestion of a glass wall obviously all ties into this. we're al as a mission

streetscape plan and better streets plan and everything is that the idea of greening in that sense, actual greens, the city with trees and planted streetscape so when you are talking about the fact the buildings facing parks in effect we are doing medians with trees and greens and bushes and creating mini parks in a way that would fall within these descriptions. and there has to be some coordination in the very plans of the departments putting out in that regard. and the other thing i was pleased to see in there is your comment on the possibility of alternative treatments being available because of all the technology that's been coming through as far as buildings are concerned and perhaps glass

technology has evolved more and is evolving faster than anything else in building materials that i have seen. and that will continue to do so and will affect what we're talking about here. so just to put something down as an absolute doesn't all work until there is that out for new technology coming forward so we don't have to revise this every six months. but i really appreciate the work that's been done and the people that have been interfacing with you on. commissioner moore? commissioner moore: i need to acknowledge the hat miss irving was wearing. that hat actually last night won second prize in environmental innovative and creative and it is not designed by her, but we borrowed it so she could indeed show it off today. >> if i could for a minute, commissioners, you made some really good comments and i took

note of all them and would like to respond to a few points. number one, the most important one that was mentioned is marketing this to the public and i will admit this is a very tough sell when i was first asked to take on the project, i said, what, are you kidding me? it is not intuitive to something that's part of the everyday life and windows and has been for a while that could be such a big problem. i was approached the topic with a great deal of skepticism, but i think the research is following me there that this is an issue that warrants our response. and i think it's something that we can do smartly and effectively so that we don't lose all the other good design we're looking for. we might have o find a comprise where we're not asking for buildings to be 100% bird safe but looking at situations that are proven to be most dangerous and addressing those and figure if we can cut down a majority of deaths that are predictable, then that is a really good step. the other point about the aia,

we did work with them an it will built before the draft is release and look forward to working with them and i will add the e.p.a. to the list in the outreach. and miss shepherd noted that leed is moving and recognized this is an issue and they are working with the american bird conservancy and other groups to address it in the future. there are other options -- and there is a little problem in the way this item is calendared. it is listed as an informational item and there is a resolution but the action is to direct staff to continue