Monitoring Plans

Hi Brian,
You do not have to follow one specific kind of format, however simply signing off on the credit requirements will not suffice. It should be a separate, written document that covers a period of 3 years and includes:
- methods to identify and document locations of the building where repeated bird strikes occur,
- the number of collisions,
- the date,
- the approximate time (if known),
- features that may be contributing to collisions, and
- a process for corrective action.

You can see the full list of submittals at the bottom of the credit's page: http://www.usgbc.org/node/1732698?return=/pilotcredits

Monitoring actions should occur twice a week at minimum. "Monitoring" means routinely walking the building perimeter before normal business hours or at night (it is recommended that it be done prior to 8 or 9 am, and daily during peak migration seasons), and geotagging or photographing the dead/injured birds. The plan will monitor the effectiveness of the building design in preventing collisions, and for EBOM projects, is the baseline for the measures implemented during the performance period.

These websites have more information on developing a monitoring plan:
http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/special_reports/NEBM-handbook.pdf
http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/collisions/pdf/Bird-friendly_...
http://nycaudubon.org/project-safe-flight

Theresa,

I am still confuse as to the actual parts the monitoring plan must address. In particular the process of corrective actions. What sort of items must be covered for a NC project?

Also, the frequency of monitoring based on the American Bird Conservation guidance recommends a minimum of 3 inspections per week during migration periods and more if possible, but it does not address the rest of the year, just that it should be folded into the daily operations which is very open. I do not interpret this to mean a daily inspection as that will be logistically unrealistic. More guidance will be very helpful.