Project Report HAVERKAMP birdsafe^® Bird deterrent for windows Freiburg

The object

The Tunibergschule in the district of Freiburg Opfingen is a two-form entry elementary school with a supplementary Werkrealschule. The focus of the educational institution is social learning as well as the promotion of reading. Much emphasis is also placed on environmental projects in order to introduce students to environmental protection at a young age. Cooperation with the city of Freiburg and the Förderverein Bachpatenschaften (sponsorships of the brook) sharpen the children's awareness of the need for a conscious approach to the environment and motivate them to make an active contribution. The school itself is located close to nature on the Tuniberg, also the destination of many vineyard hikers and nature lovers.

The requirement

The gym of the Tuniberg School has been spun off into a separate building. In order to take advantage of as much daylight as possible, floor-to-ceiling windows were installed. After only a short time, it became clear that the large window areas in the near-natural location posed a particular risk to birds. Birds do not perceive glass panes as an obstacle and fly in front of them. Several million birds die every year from this so-called bird strike. Particularly against the background of an environmentally conscious educational orientation, the school management was looking for a solution to effectively protect the bird population and to avoid bird strikes as completely as possible without impairing the view through the window fronts and without changing the architecture of the building.

The solution

Film specialists from HAVERKAMP advised to coat all windows with the specially developed bird deterrent film birdsafe^®. HAVERKAMP developed this film on the basis of recent research by several bird protection organizations. This showed that birds immediately perceive a certain discreet diamond pattern as an obstacle and fly around glass fronts coated with it. Its high effectiveness has already been proven by its use on a wide variety of buildings, which is why the school also decided to install birdsafe^®. Another advantage is that the window film also has integrated shatter protection in case of glass breakage, a preventive safety measure for all students. During the installation of the approximately 100 m2 film, sports lessons in the hall could continue without any problems. "Shortly after the film was installed, we noticed that bird strikes had decreased significantly," says Olivia Weinhold, project manager for structural engineering at the city of Freiburg. "At the same time, the film does not interfere with the incidence of daylight, even with the diamond pattern. Exactly what we were looking for."