Guideline S.5: Animal Habitat Support

Intent

To protect and support site animal habitat resilience by reducing the negative impact of the built environment on animal species and providing supportive environments for at-risk native species that are essential to ecosystem health.

Required Performance Criteria

Guidelines S.5A through S.F are required for New Construction and Major Renovation projects that include new or renovated glazing within project scope. Projects that include less than 20,000 gross square feet of conditioned space that do not include any traps (e.g., skyways, corner windows, or other see-through condition less than 20 feet across) may opt to meet guideline S.5O in lieu of Guidelines S.5A through S.5F. Guidelines S.5G and S.5H are required for New Construction and Major Renovation projects that include at least 1,000 square feet of land disturbance, or at least ten cubic yards or more of cut and fill of the site, excluding the land disturbance and cut and fill within or below the building footprint. Exterior scope related only to ADA improvements or utility connections may be excluded from contribution towards these amounts. Guideline S.5I is required for projects that include new or updated exterior building or site lighting within the project scope.

1. Bird safety: Whole Building Threat Factor (WBTF):
   The WBTF must be less than or equal to WBTF 45 for sites not designated critical. The WBTF must be less than or equal to 15 for critical sites. The WBTF is calculated through the B3 Guidelines Bird-Safe Design Calculator (Appendix S-5a). This calculator also assists in determining compliance with S.5B, S.5C, S.5D, and S.5I (when pursued).
2. Bird safety: Non-Enclosure Threat Factor (NETF):
   The NETF must be less than or equal to 45. The NETF is calculated through the B3 Guidelines Bird-Safe Design Calculator to determine NETF for non-enclosure surfaces.
3. Bird safety: High Risk Surfaces:
   The portion of the building considered a High Risk Surface may not include a material with a threat factor of 75 or greater in more than 15% of its surface area. A High Risk Surface is defined as:
   1. Any condition that offers a view from exterior to exterior greater than 20 feet across, such as a large atrium or glazed corners.
   2. A surface within 50 feet or less of attractants such as trees, shrubs, prairie, grassland, or open water (including green roofs with this type of vegetation).
4. Bird safety: Traps
   No portion of the building considered a trap may include any glazing with a threat factor (TF) greater than 25: For the purposes of these guidelines, the following conditions are considered traps:
   1. Transparent exterior railings where all surfaces are exposed to exterior.
   2. Transparent-sided walkways (e.g., skyways, covered walks with glass on two sides).
   3. Any condition that offers a view from exterior to exterior that is 20 feet or less across, such as a small atrium or glazed corners.
5. Bird safety: Lights Out management procedure:
   Follow the Lights Out light management program, which addresses operation of lights at night for specified times and dates of bird migrations. Note that this procedure is also required by law for state-owned and managed buildings. The program advises turning off building lighting including but not limited to: architectural lighting at top of building; uplighting; interior lighting, especially on upper floors; and lobby or atrium lighting during times and dates listed below.
   1. Dates: between March 15 and May 31 and between August 15 and October 31 each year.
   2. Times: between midnight and dawn.
   3. Exception: Lights that have been documented as necessary for normal use of the building between midnight and dawn may be operated.
6. Bird safety: First-year monitoring:
   For one year after construction/occupancy, the perimeter of the building(s) shall be walked and all accessible setbacks and roof areas observed at least twice per week. Activity and findings shall be surveyed and documented as listed in Appendix S-5f Bird-Safe Monitoring Worksheets.
7. Protection of rare, threatened, or endangered species:
   If the project site is within one mile of a Minnesota state rare plants, animals, native plant community, or other rare feature as determined by a Natural Heritage Review, the project team must create and execute a protection plan to mitigate the impact of development on those identified species within the project site, including the measures listed in the Natural Heritage Review letter and at least the following:
   1. An O&M manual to vigorously protect species, with instructions on how to enhance the vigor of the subject species until delisting.
   2. Supportive habitat for the noted species, aggregated into largest single units with least perimeter.
   3. Management practices for the subject site designed to protect and enhance the viability of rare, threatened, or endangered species until that species is delisted. Requirements may include avoidance, buffers, management with fire, elimination of fertilizers and invasive species, and/or artificial drainage.
8. The following provisions for animal habitat shall be included in design:
   1. Water features with the following characteristics are required for all B3 sites subject to the listed exclusions:
      1. At least partially open year-round (e.g., a heater, aerator, or fountain, or waterproof liner may be required to ensure that at least 10% of the water feature is accessible year-round) to maintain continual freshwater access for wildlife.
      2. Gently sloped (<10% grade) access for a 5-foot horizontal distance.
      3. Sites with limited ledges and sharp drop-offs.
      4. For water features, the primary water source shall be roof-collected rainwater, supplemented by treated greywater and potable water only as necessary to maintain the water feature.
      5. Water features are not required for sites within 500 feet of an existing natural water body of at least one acre in size or a stream at least ten feet in width.
      6. If the site or greater contiguous campus of the site’s location has an existing, perennial freshwater feature (natural or manmade) such as a fen, river, wetland, stream, creek, pond, lake, NURP basin (stormwater retention or detention basin) with freshwater at least three inches in depth, which wildlife can access via land, it is considered to have fulfilled the necessary requirement for a wildlife freshwater source. However, to maintain year-round freshwater access for wildlife during the coldest months, a heater or bubbler or fountain shall be run to maintain an ice-free freshwater source.
      7. Size requirements for listed nonbuilding area are as follows:

         Size of Site	Size of Water Feature (in Square Feet)	Maximum Depth of Feature (in Inches)	Size of Feature of Under 2” Depth (in Square Feet)	Percent of Perimeter with Gently Sloped (Under 10% Grade) Access
         Less than 1 Acre	Not Required	N/A	N/A	N/A
         1 to 3 Acres	300	12	100	50%
         3 to 5 Acres	500	24	200	40%
         5 to 10 Acres	2000	24	200	30%
         10 to 20 Acres	8000	36	1000	30%
         20 to 40 Acres	16000	n/a	2000	30%
         More than 40 Acres	5% of site area	n/a	5% of freshwater water feature area	10%

   2. If the project site is either greater than three acres in size or adjacent to or adjoining a permanent surface water body, natural bat habitat enhancement shall be installed and maintained, including implementation of the following:
      1. Multiple standing snags (>10” DBH) and downed logs in all wooded areas of subject site.
      2. Bat boxes to provide roosting area for 80 colony roosting bats per acre of surface water and 40 colony roosting bats per acre of nonsurface water areas.
      3. Bat boxes within 100 feet of permanent site water feature, facing south or southeast.
      4. During the fifth growing season following project opening, the number of bats on subject site shall be observed and recorded. Bat habitat should be remediated if at least 50% of the bat boxes have not been used by at least one species of bat that season.
   3. Reptile and amphibian habitat and breeding sites shall be created with natural and human-made structures to achieve at least one amphibian and one reptile by the fifth growing season. Provide acceptable reptile and amphibian enhancement structures on a year-round basis, including implementation of the following:
      1. Natural options: standing snags, brush piles, piles of leaf litter, downed logs, haul-out logs in water bodies, large flat sunning stones in full sun, wood and rock mulches, sand and gravel baths on south slopes and in shallow water.
      2. Human-made options: stone snake or reptile hibernaculum; fabricated buried wood, stone or concrete reptile and amphibian dens; submerged Christmas tree reefs; wooden stream-bank lunkers.
      3. Any other reptile and amphibian habitat enhancement structures may be acceptable if they have been listed in peer-reviewed literature and approved by the B3 Guidelines Administrators.
      4. Limiting area of mown lawn to increase available reptile and amphibian habitat.
      5. Avoiding use of pesticides that harm animals.
      6. Verifying the presence of reptile and amphibians during the fifth growing season following the project opening and during the monitoring period of March to November, for a period not to exceed 24 hours. A 48-hour bio-blast monitoring protocol is an acceptable methodology. Animals may be captured for monitoring purposes only, but limit time of handling to avoid stressing, injuring, or killing these temporarily captured animals. Remediate reptile and amphibian habitat if at least one reptile and one amphibian have not been observed.
   4. Insect pollinator habitat shall be created so that during the fifth growing season following the project opening, at least one butterfly, one bee, and one other insect pollinator shall be found on site using monitoring protocols during a 24-hour search. If insect pollinators are not found during monitoring, the site design should be remediated as necessary to achieve this.
9. The aggregate illumination level outlined under the most recent International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) IES Model Lighting Ordinance (MLO) shall not be exceeded for the project’s lighting zone.

Recommended Performance Criteria

10. A WBTF of less than or equal to 15 (see S.5A for more details).
11. Enhanced bird-safe building monitoring, implementing one or more of the following:
    1. Continued monitoring performed under S.5F by one or more additional years.
    2. More surveys per week for the first or more years.
    3. Ongoing work with an organization such as Audubon Minnesota to collect and catalog birds found.
12. Bird-safe lighting design.
    1. Lighting levels listed below are not exceeded for the listed environmental lighting zone.[1]

       Environmental Lighting Zone	Description	Maximum Vertical Illuminance Levels [fc] at Property Line	Achieve the Following Light Distribution Characteristics
       E1: Intrinsically Dark	Parks and residential areas where controlling light pollution is a high priority	0.1	Use luminaires with light distribution that meets IES's Full Cutoff Fixtures.
       E2: Low Ambient Brightness	Outer urban and rural residential areas	0.1	Use luminaires with light distribution that meets IES's Cutoff Fixtures.
       E3: Medium Ambient Brightness	Urban residential areas	0.2	Use luminaires with light distribution that meets IES's Semi-Cutoff Fixtures.
       E4: High Ambient Brightness	Urban areas having both residential and commercial use and experiencing high levels of nighttime activity	0.6	Use luminaires with light distribution that meets IES's Cutoff Fixtures.

       1. For façade, display, sculptural, and sign lighting:
          1. For luminaires of 3500 or more lumens, objects lit from above.
          2. For luminaires of less than 3500 lumens, objects may be lit from below. An effort is made to minimize nontarget light (and to maximize the percentage of uplight that falls on the target).
    2. Create lighting control zones and provide lighting control devices for parking lot, security, and decorative and façade lighting so that each type of light ing can be controlled independently and can be turned off or reduced in response to reduced lighting needs during low-use or nonuse periods. Clearly relate decisions to the Lights Out program.
    3. Document bird-safe lighting design measures undertaken.
13. Bird-safe building narrative: A Bird-Safe Case Study Narrative Report documents and shares bird-safe efforts. (Use Appendix S-5m Bird-Safe Building Narrative Template or include a writeup with similar content.)
14. Limited use of pesticides site-wide, specifically eliminated within 300 feet of the site’s required permanent water feature and all other surface waters within 1,000 feet of the site.

[1] Adapted from Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) RP-33-99, using “post curfew” recommendations for all values to ensure that light trespass is minimized for each environmental zone.

Small Buildings Path

Projects that include less than 20,000 gross square feet of conditioned space and that do not include any traps (e.g., skyways, corner windows, or other see-through condition less than 20 feet across) may opt to meet guideline S.5O in lieu of Guidelines S.5A through S.5F.

15. Demonstrate that the average threat factor of glazing included in the project is less than the value listed below relative to the project’s window-to-wall ratio (WWR):

    Project’s window-to-wall ratio	Average glazing threat factor—maximum allowed value: not critical bird habitats	Average glazing threat factor—maximum allowed value: critical bird habitats
    Less than or equal to 25%	100 (clear glass)	40
    Greater than 25%, up to 35%	80	30
    Greater than 35%, up to 45%	60	25
    Greater than 45%, up to 55%	45	20
    Greater than 55%, up to 65%	40	15
    Greater than 65%, up to 75%	30	13
    Greater than 75%, up to 85%	28	10
    Greater than 85%, up to 100%	25	10

    When calculating the window-to-wall ratio and the average glazing threat factor, also include glazing and vertical surfaces of the building which are not part of the enclosure if present, such as glazed railings.