National Aviary’s Wetlands Habitat with Bird-Friendly Glass Named Best Commercial Institutional Building
PITTSBURGH, PA May 11, 2023 – The National Aviary’s Wetlands habitat recently earned Quebec's most prestigious architectural award, taking home best Commercial Institutional Building honors at the Prix Lumières, organized by the Association de vitrerie et fenestration du Quebec (AVFQ).
The National Aviary’s largest habitat, the Wetlands, reopened its doors on October 31, 2022. The renovated habitat provides its birds and guests with the perfect ambiance and aesthetics. (Photo: Jim Cunningham)
The National Aviary, a staple of Pittsburgh’s North Side neighborhood, unveiled its “new” Wetlands habitat in the fall of 2022. For this historic renovation, Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass), a longstanding partner and supporter of the Aviary, donated over 20,000 square feet of Starphire Ultra-Clear® glass.
The renovation involved a large bird-friendly component with AviProtek® glass from Walker Glass. AviProtek® glass has an acid-etched pattern on the exterior surface, which maximizes glass visibility to birds and helps prevent collisions. Walker also applied a full-surface etched finish to the standard Starphire® glass used on the project.
Vitro’s relationship with the Aviary is longstanding, as the company also donated glass for renovations to the Tropical Rainforest and The Garden Room, both of which feature bird-safe acid-etched finishes from Walker.
To learn more about products such as Starphire Ultra-Clear® glass by Vitro Glass, visit www.vitroglazings.com or call 1-855-VTRO-GLS (887-6457). To learn more about AviProtek® bird-friendly glass or Walker Textures® glass, visit www.walkerglass.com.
About Vitro Architectural Glass
Vitro Architectural Glass, part of Vitro, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: VITROA), is the largest glass producer in the Western Hemisphere, manufacturing a range of industry-leading, energy-efficient, high-performance products such as Solarban®, Sungate® and Starphire Ultra-Clear® glasses. Committed to continually raising the industry standard for sustainability, Vitro was the first U.S. glass manufacturer to have its complete collection of architectural glass products earn Cradle to Cradle Certified® status and the first North American manufacturer to publish third-party verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for flat glass and processed glass products. Additionally, as of April 2024, all Vitro architectural glass products meet the Top 20% Low Embodied Carbon (LEC) material Global Warming Potential (GWP) threshold the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) established pursuant to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and related guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Vitro operates seven glass production facilities across North America, four residential glass fabrication plants in Canada and one of the world’s largest glass research and development facilities in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit VitroGlazings.com.
Media Contact:
Robert J. Struble
Vitro Architectural Glass
412-820-8138
rstruble@vitro.com
www.vitroglazings.com