OWATONNA, Minn (July 31, 2025) — Viracon, the nation’s leading single-source architectural glass fabricator is introducing a transformative addition to its bird-friendly product offering, a new first-surface, laser-etched glass available with Viracon’s premier second-surface solar control coatings.
SoarSafe™ first-surface, laser-etch glass, is a bird- and architect-friendly product designed specifically to meet commercial architectural glass applications.
SoarSafe combines the trusted thermal performance of Viracon solar control coatings with subtle and highly effective dot patterns that lower bird collisions and meet evolving building codes — all while delivering an aesthetically pleasing appearance for building owners.
According to All About Birds, the website published by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, to birds, glass windows reflect foliage and sky, which look like inviting places for birds to fly to. And because of the widespread use of glass on buildings of all types, an estimated 1 billion birds die from window strikes in the U.S. each year, according to a 2014 study.
SoarSafe glass helps to reduce this problem, offering first-surface, laser-etched patterns that break up the reflectivity of the glass to make it more visible to birds, but very subtle to the human eye. SoarSafe is available in three popular dot patterns that follow the 2-inch x 2-inch and 2-inch x 4-inch design rules in which research has shown that birds will not fly through spaces less than two inches high and 4 inches wide. And SoarSafe patterns achieve the American Bird Conservatory (ABC) Threat Factor of 20 or 25, which according to product testing, may reduce bird collisions by up to 75 percent. While SoarSafe glass reduces bird collisions, at less than 1% etch coverage, thermal and optical performance remain unaffected.
SoarSafe glass is ideal for buildings that are legally required to meet bird-friendly criteria, as well as for buildings located in bird migratory routes (near water or high vegetation areas), and for owners/developers who desire to reduce bird collisions.
“This is an exciting addition to our current bird-friendly product offering,” said Sara Theis, Viracon product manager. “By combining laser-etched dots on the exterior surface with Viracon’s solar control coatings on the second surface, we’re able to provide an attractive solution that architects will love and that will help keep birds safe.”
To learn more about Viracon’s new SoarSafe bird-friendly glass and review our entire bird-friendly product offering, visit viracon.com/bird-friendly.