Effective Bird Protection on Large Glass Facades

The Property

The RheinEnergie AG water treatment plant in Cologne is situated in the midst of a natural setting. The building’s modern architecture features expansive glass facades that provide transparency and a light-filled work environment.

The Current Requirement

In the interest of sustainability and species conservation, RheinEnergie AG wanted to retrofit its glass surfaces to effectively prevent bird strikes. The goal was to quickly find a solution that was both effective and durable without negatively impacting the building’s architectural design.

The Challenge

The water treatment plant’s location in a natural setting led to frequent bird collisions with the glass facades—a problem that occurs in many modern buildings. The birds were unable to recognize the reflective or transparent glass surfaces as obstacles. The challenge was to find a solution that was both reliable and visually unobtrusive, and that could be easily retrofitted.

The Solution

RheinEnergie AG opted for the HAVERKAMP birdsafe^® bird protection film with a black dot pattern for its glass surfaces. Installed on approximately 200 m² of glass, the film ensures that birds recognize the panes as obstacles and avoid them.Its effectiveness was tested in Flight Tunnel II at the Hohenau-Ringelsdorf Biological Station. In the test, birdsafe^® was applied to 4 mm tempered safety glass and tested with several bird species. The result: Only 3% of the birds flew into the marked test pane. As a result, the film was classified as “highly effective” according to the Hohenau evaluation scheme—the best result of all window films tested to date. No further collisions have been recorded since the film was installed at RheinEnergie. The film is color-neutral, translucent, and weather-resistant—ideal for sustainable architecture that is mindful of wildlife.

“Our goal was to act quickly and sustainably—and with birdsafe^®, we’ve succeeded,” said Rainer Pelchmann from the Sustainability Management Department at RheinEnergie AG. “The effect was immediately noticeable: Not a single case of bird strike has occurred since the installation.”