Glazing for new buildings must now meet bird-friendly standards in Montreal’s Saint-Laurent borough. Clear glass is also now banned for exterior railings.
The new regulation, adopted on June 25, targets certain types of buildings whose exterior walls are fenestrated or glazed by more than 50%. The glazing of these buildings – including greenhouses and guardrails located less than 16 m from the ground – must now be subject to anti-collision treatment.
Additional construction and siting standards are also planned for new constructions near natural environments. An awareness campaign will also be launched among the population in 2025.
These measures are part of the biodiversity protection policy of Saint-Laurent, the first municipality in 2019 to obtain the “Bee-Friendly City” certification, says the borough’s mayor, Alan DeSousa.
According to studies reported in The Press As of last March, nearly 42 million birds would die each year in Canada following an impact with a building1Glass surfaces are believed to be the main cause of these fatal collisions.
Made up of 70% industrial parks, the borough of Saint-Laurent also has a good number of parks and large natural spaces, underlines Mayor Alan DeSousa. “These environments serve as habitat for more than 200 species of migratory and native birds,” he adds.
In addition, the intensive planting of trees over the past 15 years to counter heat islands throughout the borough has attracted new wildlife that the borough wants to protect, says Kenza Diboune, planning advisor in Saint-Laurent.
Some two years of consultations were necessary to establish these “affordable and easily applicable” standards, according to Mr.me Diboune.
“We hope to inspire other municipalities to follow suit, but also to improve these measures for the protection of birds,” concludes Alan DeSousa.
1. Read our article “Thousands of birds to save”