Bird-Friendly and Energy-Efficient Glass · House’s new visitor center and administration building being built on an idyllic tree-filled and water-bathed site. The two buildings

14 CAM MAGAZINE JUNE 2020 “The Voice of The Construction Industry®”

Bird-Friendly and Energy-Efficient Glass:A G r o w i n g T r e n d T a k e s F l i g h t a t F o r d H o u s e ’ s N e w B u i l d i n g s

For Greg Gancos, glass is a family affair. His father worked in stained glass for over 30 years, and his handiwork still graces the

Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores. As a child, Gancos recalls visiting his father at work in the Ford family’s

Cotswold-style home built in 1927. Today, as project manager for Edwards Glass Company, Gancos has returned to this 85-acre

estate along Lake St. Clair to deliver one of the largest bird friendly glass installations in Michigan.

Working under Frank Rewold & Sons, Edwards Glass will install approximately 4,400 square feet of this specialty glass in the Ford

House’s new visitor center and administration building being built on an idyllic tree-filled and water-bathed site. The two buildings will

be tucked in a nook of Ford Cove with only the forested, slender finger of land called Bird Island separating both the buildings and the

cove from the sparkling expanse of the big lake.

The Zen-like setting begs for a building with generous expanses of glass, and as the architect, SmithGroup delivered a design with

well-glazed, cove-side views. On the second floor of the 40,000-square-foot visitor center, the public can gaze through a glass curtain

wall at a panoramic view of the cove, the island and the lake. Taking it outside, the space opens onto an outdoor balcony and its glass

handrail, adding fresh air to the grand views of this natural gem.

The 17,000-square-foot administration building will offer water-side vistas as well. Thanks to exterior glazing, “the main office will

be wide open to the lake,” Gancos said. Work spaces will be outfitted with glass doors and some with glass partitions.

The bad karma in this slice of nirvana: A high risk of birds colliding into glass windows, walls and other structures. “It is the reflective

and transparent characteristics of glass that present a danger to birds, because the birds do not recognize the glass as a barrier,”

Gancos said. Birds fly into a glass structure, for example, because our feathered friends mistake the reflection of a tree in the glass for

the actual tree itself.

By Mary Kremposky McArdleAssociate Editor

Newly installed glass in the east façade of the administration building.

PHOTO BY EDWARDS GLASS CO., GREG GANCOS

These so-called window strikes kill up

to a billion birds annually in the United

States and are one of the most significant

causes of avian mortality globally,

according to the American Bird

Conservancy (ABC), a group dedicated to

educating and informing architects,

planners and developers about the

problem and its solutions. ABC’s Bird-

Smart Glass Program lists proven and

tested products for architects, contractors

and homeowners.

Arnold Glas, a glass manufacturer

headquartered in Remshalden, Germany

near Stuttgart, is the maker of one of

ABC’s proven and tested products called

Ornilux. As good neighbors to the natural

world, the Ford House and SmithGroup

opted for the installation of Ornilux bird

protection glass in virtually every exterior

opening. “Even the door glass is bird

protection glass,” Gancos said.

Having bird protection glass is

important on a site enveloped in lush

vegetation and occupying a lakeside

location. From lakeshores to river and

stream banks, bodies of water are

important habitats for year-round avian

residents and a common rest stop for

migrating birds. “Birds migrating along the

Atlantic and Mississippi flyways travel

through this area of Michigan as well,”

Gancos added.

Ornilux Takes the Bird’s-Eye ViewA bird’s-eye view of the world – an

understanding of how birds see – inspired

the making of Ornilux bird protection

glass. “Arnold Glas developed Ornilux

bird protection glass with the

understanding that birds can see light in

the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum,” Gancos

said. “The glass has a patterned, UV-

reflective coating making it visible to birds

while remaining virtually transparent to the

human eye.”

The selected pattern even uses a bit of

bird psychology in the form of biomimicry.

The web-like UV pattern resembles a

spider’s web, because “many birds are

averse to flying into an actual web,”

Gancos said. “Basically, the patterned UV

coating shows the birds that an obstacle

exists, and the birds avoid the structure.”

Thanks to Ornilux, building owners have a

clear glass option without the risk of avian

injuries and fatalities. Other bird friendly

glass solutions have a subtle frit pattern

G L A S S & G L A Z I N G

Visit us online at www.BuildwithCAM.com CAM MAGAZINE JUNE 2020 15

For both the administration building depicted above and the visitor center, the triple-glazedinsulated glass units (IGU) have two different coatings: Ornilux bird protection glass, designedto prevent birds from flying into windows, and Solarlux® A70 for management of thermalperformance. RendeRing couRtesy of edwaRds glass co., RendeRing by smithgRoup


or even a bold decorative design in

harmony with the building’s usage.

Another intriguing solution: Chicago’s

Aqua Tower has a series of undulating,

wave-like concrete balconies as part of a

strategy to break up reflections in the

glass.

Bird-Friendly and Net Zero EnergyArnold Glas has delivered a multi-

functional clear glass solution offering

both bird protection and energy efficiency.

At the new Ford House development, the

triple-glazed insulated glass units (IGU)

have two different coatings: Ornilux for

bird protection placed on surface three, or

the middle unit of the IGU’s six different

glass surfaces, and Solarlux® A70 for

management of thermal performance

placed on surface two of the exterior glass

piece.

The Ornilux coating will help the two-

story visitor center meet LEED standards.

According to the Arnold Glas website, the

“U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED

program has an innovation credit in its

rating system, namely Pilot Credit 55: Bird

Collision Deterrence. This has established

an important incentive for architects and

building owners to adopt bird-friendly

design methods.”

According to the Ford House website,

the administration building will be a Net

Zero Energy or even Net Positive building.

Solarlux A70 will assist the sustainability-

minded Ford House in its mission. “The

high-performance, solar-reflective and

low-emissivity coating manages cooling

and heating stress,” Gancos said. “This

saves energy, reduces heating- and

cooling-related operating costs and

lowers the building’s greenhouse gas

emissions.”

These robust glass units provide a tight

thermal seal to further reduce heating and

cooling costs. “The minute you install

these heavy-duty windows, you begin to

notice the fact that there is no air

leakage,” Gancos said. “They are tightly

sealed and very well made.”

Built Ford ToughAll 206 lites of the Ornilux bird protection

glass had been shipped, delivered and

stacked on the site by mid-April 2020.

Installation of all exterior glass began after

the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.

Because these insulated glass units are

heavier and thicker than standard units,

installation called for a slightly heavier


RendeRing couRtesy of edwaRds glass co., RendeRing by smithgRoup

The administration building (left) and visitor center (right) will be tucked in a nook of Ford Cove with only the forested, slender finger of landcalled Bird Island separating both the buildings and the cove from the blue dazzle of the big lake.

grade of articulating lift, along with larger

frames and extra labor to handle the

glass. “Standard insulated units are one

inch, but these are 1 ¾-inch-thick units,”

Gancos said. “We had a lift equipment

company make sure the equipment was

rated for the weight of the glass.”

Less prone to break or scratch, these

heavy-duty units can easily handle wind

and other weather-related loads during

vertical installation. “This glass is tough

and can withstand the stress of the wind

and can handle its load in all types of

weather,” Gancos said.

Ornilux, however, is specialty glass with

a long lead time and without the capacity

to be cut in the field. “Because the factory

is in Germany, there would be a long,

costly lead time on any replacement

glass,” Gancos said.

The long lead times and the trans-

Atlantic journey demand caution during

installation, because whatever breaks

cannot be swiftly replaced. According to

Gancos, the glass has an actual

turnaround time of about 14 to 16 weeks,

but the timeline can possibly stretch to 18

weeks after taking into account the back-

and-forth review and ordering process.

Bird-Friendly Glass Grows in UsageAt the visitor center, Edwards Glass

installed 35 to 40 lites to piece together

the upper and lower sections of the

second-story glass curtain wall. Overall,

each lite is nine-foot-tall by five-foot-wide,

making the curtain wall one of the tallest

pieces of glass in the building. Directly

outside this large picture window, the

transparency of the balcony’s ¾-inch-

thick glass handrail will preserve the

beautiful vista of Ford Cove and Bird

Island; the Ornilux bird protection coating

on the glass balcony will preserve the

birds themselves.

Arnold Glas has been making bird

protection glass for 15 years. According

to Gancos, large installations are already

in place around the world but demand is

growing in Michigan and across the

United States as awareness of this avian

issue gains momentum. New York City

passed a Bird-Friendly Design Ordinance

in December 2019, and a similar bird-

friendly ordinance is now under

consideration in Chicago.

According to Audubon magazine, “This

landmark legislation makes New York City

the nation’s largest city to require

architecture that mitigates avian

fatalities.” The new bill requires the

installation of materials that are visible to

birds, such as dotted patterns, tints or

glazing on glass and windows, for new

construction and major renovations.

More specifically, according to USGlass

News Network, “The bill requires that the

exterior wall envelope and associated

openings be constructed with bird-friendly

materials up to 75 feet above grade.

Materials other than bird-friendly materials

are not allowed to exceed a total of 10

square feet within any 10 x 10-foot square

area of exterior wall below 75 feet above

grade. The law also specifies that in

instances where a building renovation

includes the replacement of all exterior

glazing, the alteration must comply with




the updated building code.”

A Glass KiteAt the new Ford House development,

glass will permeate the two limestone-

clad structures, ranging from exterior

canopies to interior office partitions. Each

building will have two large glass canopies

totaling 3,274 square feet collectively.

“Glass and Mirror Craft manufactured the

¾-inch laminated canopy glass with a

screen dot pattern at 30 percent,” Gancos

said.

Bird glass did not have to be installed

in the exterior canopies because of the

horizontal placement of the glass. This

positioning created another kind of

challenge: uplift from the winds sweeping

across the site from Lake St. Clair. “It is

not only at least 10 degrees cooler on the

site, but it is windy almost all of the time,”

Gancos said. “When we are setting glass

vertically, the wind isn’t really a factor,

because we can always work on a side of

the building that blocks the wind. Anytime

we have to lay glass flat, we have to have

almost perfect control of it. If it is windy,


RENDERING COURTESY OF EDWARDS GLASS CO., RENDERING BY SMITHGROUP

Each building will have two large glass canopies totaling 3,274 square feet collectively.Edwards Glass designed custom frames for all four differently sized canopies, including oneof the visitor center canopies depicted above.

the glass essentially becomes a huge and

heavy kite, and if one hits the corner of the

steel or anything, the glass will break.

Basically, we stop work if the wind is

above 25 miles per hour.”

Designing Custom FramesAs a well-met challenge, Edwards Glass

designed custom frames for all four

differently sized canopies. A visitor will

only see an expanse of glass apparently

set in a painted steel frame, but the glass

is actually anchored in a custom frame set

above the steel.

The custom solution involved taking

standard square-shaped pieces of curtain

wall frame and removing the back or one

complete side of the frame member. This

now roughly U-shaped member wraps the

steel, fitting as neatly as one piece of a

puzzle to another. “Our custom frame will

sit on top of the steel, and fasteners will

allow us to adjust the custom frame,”

Gancos said. “The glass will then sit on

top of our custom frame just like it does

in a curtain wall.”

The seams of the 104 different glass

lites will be butt-glazed instead of

captured in frames subdividing the glass.

The weight of the glass holds itself in

place and provides an extremely strong

surface for the crew to actually walk on

the glass to caulk the glass both front and

back. “If a person was on the second-

story looking out over the canopies, they

could see the caulking,” Gancos said. “We

have to make sure the caulking looks

good.”

For drainage, the completed glass

canopies will not be perfectly flat. “Each

glass canopy will be pitched on an angle

to the gutters and will be structurally

sealed,” Gancos said. “Each glass canopy

will be different with some pitched from

the outside in to a gutter running down the

middle and others just following a slight

pitch and running rainwater or snowmelt

off into the ground.” According to the Ford

House website, bio-swales in the parking

area will channel runoff into the estate’s

main bio-swale put into operation in 2015

to clean runoff before it enters Lake St.

Clair.

A Glass and Glazing ShowcaseThese two well-crafted buildings will be

formed of high-quality, long-lasting materials, including not only a limestone exterior, a

slate roof and bird glass, but also premium quality glass curtain wall framing systems by

Hope’s® Windows Inc., a company based in Jamestown, New York. According to its

website, the company was founded in 1912 and “is the nation’s leading and most

experienced manufacturer of custom-designed, solid hot-rolled steel and solid bronze

window and door systems, specializing in historic preservation, cultural, institutional,

commercial, and luxury residential applications.” Gancos adds, “It’s a great product.”

Scheduled to arrive in August 2020, the Hope’s frames will be installed in some of the

glass-wrapped entranceways of the two buildings. The custom steel frames will echo




the character of historic frames. “These

steel frames are painted rather than

anodized, and while modern aluminum

curtain walls have very square and 90-

degree corners, our frames will have a

slight roundness to match older, historical

steel frames,” Gancos said.

The building’s showcase of custom

glass and framing products includes four


PHOTO BY EDWARDS GLASS CO., GREG GANCOS

Located in this idyllic natural setting, the FordHouse’s new administration building andvisitor center is a good neighbor to itsfeathered friends who flock to Bird Island andLake St. Clair’s Ford Cove. Ornilux birdprotection glass will be installed in virtuallyevery exterior opening, including in thesizeable glass curtain walls facing the cove.

operable folding glass walls made by

NanaWall Systems, Inc., the San

Francisco Bay Area-based company that

pioneered this glass genre 30 years ago.

“They are the best glass folding wall,”

Gancos believes. “They are just so well

made. They are the easiest to install and

the strongest. If you are looking for a glass

folding wall that lasts a long time, you

can’t get one much better.”

Three NanaWalls will be installed in the

visitor center: One will be an interior glass

wall and two will be installed on the first-

floor directly below the second-story glass

curtain wall. The fourth NanaWall will be

placed in the administration building.

“Most are seven-foot-high and span

about 15 to 20 feet depending on the

opening,” Gancos said. “They fold on a

hidden track, the whole wall opens up,

and then tucks into the side of the wall un-

noticed.”

Shop Drawing ScrutinyThis cornucopia of specialty and premium

quality materials led to an extensive shop

drawing review and approval process

between Edwards Glass, vendors and the

project team. Launched in fall 2018, the

round robin process of shop drawing

reviews, revisions, adjustments, further

reviews and final approvals was quite

involved and ultimately consumed about

a year.

“We double- and triple-checked all

confirmed items prior to ordering as well,”

Gancos said. “We then started installing

frames throughout the building, including

curtain wall and punched openings.

Meanwhile, the first shipment of bird

protection glass was coming from

Germany.”

The buildings’ list of specialty systems

arrived in three separate waves. The first

glass shipment, slated for the

administration building, arrived in October

2019, along with the CS louvers and

screen walls for the mechanical system.

“The next phase began in January 2020

and focused on the visitor center bird

glass, as well as finalizing the Hope’s

frames and the canopies,” Gancos said.

The last wave of materials, including the

NanaWalls, arrived within days of the

Covid-19 shutdown. At press time in early

May, Edwards Glass was poised to begin

work once again.

The specialty systems with substantial

lead times and the unexpected Covid-19

shutdown were eased by a good working

relationship with the general contractor.

“We have a very good relationship with

Frank Rewold & Sons,” Gancos said. “The

communication is always clear and

responses are timely. The project has

been run professionally, and we just keep

on moving forward.”

A Family-Focused FacilityOnce completed, according to the Ford

House website, “the new visitor center will

offer a unique welcoming lobby, a

dedicated education wing with two multi-

functional classrooms and outdoors

classroom space, exhibition space for

traveling and changing exhibits, a new

exhibition gallery telling the Ford family

story, new event space with glass walls

overlooking Ford Cove for private and

corporate rentals, expanded retail space,

and a brand new expanded restaurant

called The Continental. With additional

outdoor seating, it will be one of only a

handful of dining locations in the area with

views of Lake St. Clair.

“The administration building will bring

Ford House operations into the same

location. The new building will house

meeting rooms and a special ‘social wing’

with direct access to a terrace for

indoor/outdoor meetings, gatherings,

lectures and more. A library resource

center within the building will support the

ongoing research of the Ford family

history.”

The new buildings will celebrate family

life and the lives and contributions of this

prominent American family. For Gancos,

who grew up only a half-mile from the

Ford House and frequently fished at a

nearby pier, coming to work at the site is

a type of homecoming. “I am an eastsider,

and it’s great to be a part of this project,”

Gancos said.



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Bird-Friendly and Energy-Efficient Glass · House’s new visitor center and administration building being built on an idyllic tree-filled and water-bathed site. The two buildings

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