Category: Window Film Examples

Learn How to Protect Birds From Windows With Window Film

Birds frequently fly into glass windows. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, nearly 1 billion birds collide with glass windows each year, causing untold amounts of damage to home and business properties across the United States.

How, then, can properties protect birds from windows? Read this blog to learn why protecting birds from windows is essential and how Window Film Depot provides several cost-effective ways to implement bird protection for windows.

• Why It’s Essential to Protect Windows From Birds
  • Structural Damage
  • Negative Aesthetics
  • Disturbed Residents/Customers
• Solutions From Window Film Depot That Minimize the Impact of Birds
  • 3M™ Safety & Security Window Film
  • 3M™ Scotchshield™ Safety & Security Window Films
  • 3M™  Impact Protection Attachment Systems
  • Feather Friendly Bird Strike Window Decals

Why It’s Essential to Protect Windows From Birds

Why do birds commonly fly into windows? Windows not only let light into your property but also have a reflective and transparent surface. Birds often assume that there’s no window on your property and that they can fly straight into your home without safety issues. Windows are also often shiny and reflective, providing birds with a mirror image of themselves that they may mistake for another bird.

Whatever the cause, this attraction to windows can spell major issues for property-owners. Here are just a few of the threats birds pose to properties.

Structural Damage

As stated, just about 1 billion birds make contact with glass windows annually in the United States. This high number of crashes translates into hundreds of millions of dollars of property damage yearly. Bird impacts often crack or break windows and may threaten the structural integrity of window and door frames; the more damage a property incurs, the more expensive repairs will be.

Bird strikes on windows also cause secondary forms of damage. Cracked or broken windows allow for moisture buildup inside buildings, causing mold and bacteria growth, which may harm furniture, appliances, and other precious items. Pests can also make their way into a property through even the tiniest cracks, so it’s crucial to prevent birds from impacting windows in the first place and to repair any existing damaged windows as quickly as possible.

Negative Aesthetics

Few details accent a beautiful home or office building like high-quality, intact windows. Damage caused by bird impacts will detract from even the finest property’s value and overall aesthetic appeal. Cracked and broken windows are often immediately visible to even casual passersby, let alone friends, family, and coworkers.

Bird collisions may also leave unsightly marks and smudges on and near windows. Particularly nasty impacts often leave blood and other nasty substances near impact sites, while uric acid from deceased birds, in particular, can cause etching and staining on window and door frames. Thankfully, if you prioritize bird protection for windows in the first place, it’s more than likely that you will never encounter any of these aesthetic issues in the first place.

Disturbed Residents and Customers

Bird collisions aren’t just unsightly— they are loud. Bird impacts are so loud, in fact, that they can startle and disturb neighbors in a given residential area. Business owners may notice their customers becoming distressed or anxious upon hearing (or seeing) a bird impact in real time. Continuous bird activity over an extended period of time may cause more intractable issues with residential associations or landlords.

Even the sight of feathers and bird droppings nearby buildings has the potential to scare away potential customers or disturb residents of local properties. People may fear contracting bird-borne illnesses, or worry that their property is next to experience damage from birds colliding with windows. To keep your neighbors and customers feeling safe, and to give yourself some peace of mind as well, it’s best to consider installing bird protection window film or another form of bird protection for windows.

Solutions From Window Film Depot That Minimize the Impact of Birds

There are no one-size-fits-all options with regards to bird protection for windows. Some may prefer bird protection window film, while others may want decals for windows to protect birds. No matter your preference, Window Film Depot stocks a wide variety of products for your consideration.

3M™ Safety & Security Window Film

3M™ Safety & Security Window Film series’ options excel at providing well-rounded protection. In addition to reducing UV ray damage and providing intense durability, these window films provide solid coverage against even the most intense bird impacts. Clear and single-layer by design, they don’t compromise aesthetic sleekness for quality, instead blending the two together seamlessly.

Window Film Depot stocks numerous 3M™ Safety & Security Window Film options: the exterior safety series, the solar safety series for both residential and commercial applications, and the safety series, yet again for both residential and commercial use. We’re confident that one of these options will serve as an ideal bird protection window film for your specific use case.

3M™ Scotchshield™ Safety & Security Window Films

Interested in a customizable, next-level option for protecting birds from windows? Look no further than the 3M™ Scotchshield Safety & Security Window Films. 

Scotchshield™ features 3M’s finest protective material to date, as it’s ultra-thin yet stronger than ever. You’ll enjoy many benefits beyond bird protection for your windows. Best of all, 3M’s renowned warranties and customer service assistance will be there to provide support every step of the way.

3M™  Impact Protection Attachment Systems

3M™ Impact Protection Attachment Systems provide an additional element of protection and peace of mind for property owners keen on world-class bird protection for windows. This product features premium-grade window film but with a twist. It attaches the film-covered window to its frame, ensuring even greater stability in the event of a collision.

With many other use cases—theft prevention, natural disasters, and bomb blasts—in mind, we bet that the 3M™ Impact Protection Attachment Systems will protect your windows from potential bird impacts with ease.

Feather Friendly Bird Strike Window Decals

Our Feather Friendly Bird Strike Window Decals are ideal for property owners keen on a cost-effective, dependable bird impact solution for both residential and commercial settings. These decals form a pattern of distraction markers on an existing piece of glass’s exterior. This pattern effectively confuses birds of varying species and ages, reflecting nearby sky and foliage so they avoid flying into window glass.

All Feather Friendly products boast 3M quality and longevity, as they feature a 6-year product warranty. Best of all, these decals don’t interfere with glass clarity or appearance, ensuring optimal window performance and aesthetics. Everyone—property owners, other people, and birds—wins with Feather Friendly products.

Rely on the Experts at Window Film Depot for Bird-Proof Windows

Knowing how to protect birds from windows helps property-owners avoid expensive repair fees and serious damage to their homes and businesses. However, while temporary quick-fixes may help here and there, only the experts can provide high-quality bird protection for windows.

Our team here at Window Film Depot draws upon years of expertise and thorough training to provide intuitive, results-driven solutions for bird proofing windows. We provide premium-grade bird protection window film and decals at unbeatable prices, ensuring that you get the protection you need before disaster strikes. Contact us today to learn more about us and what we do.

The Growing Importance of Synagogue Safety Security Training

Security training is becoming an essential aspect of any organization — from synagogues to schools and retail stores. ABC News reports that there have been more mass shootings than days in 2021, 2022, and 2023; current violent crime trends don’t indicate those numbers will change any time soon.

While high rates of violent crime across the country, places of worship are at particularly high risk. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 17.3% of hate crimes in the U.S. were motivated by religion in 2022, making religion the second-highest motivating factor. In turn, synagogues and other places of worship need to leverage proper training and planning to know how to respond to threats.

Best Practices for Synagogue Security Plans

With such a high risk of potential violence, synagogues need to ensure they have a security plan to mitigate potential emergencies. Here are few essential best practices for synagogues to implement when designing security plans.

Build a Synagogue Security Checklist

The first step to jump-starting synagogue security is pinpointing exactly what your synagogue needs to protect itself. Building a synagogue security checklist ensures that members of the synagogue understand exactly what they need to do to protect their building, both in preparation for synagogue vandalism and during breaches in security.

Synagogue security checklists can include procedures for setting up security systems, or be used to walk through emergent situations. Synagogues may also opt to create specific checklists for different threats, such as active shooters or riots. Additionally, checklists can be used to ensure potential volunteers undergo required synagogue security training.

Assign Synagogue Security Team Roles & Responsibilities

On the subject of volunteers — successfully implementing a synagogue security checklist requires a dedicated synagogue security team. Efficiently doling out roles and responsibilities to members of the synagogue is integral to better security.

When assigning roles, synagogue leadership should consider who can best handle any given task, including specialized volunteers such as law enforcement officers or medical professionals. Potential roles include team leaders, communication specialists, technology specialists, training coordinators, and security coordinators.

Review & Test Synagogue Alarm Systems

One of the best ways to stifle synagogue intruders & swiftly alert appropriate law enforcement of potential assailants is through the installation of a synagogue alarm system. With direct contact to authorities, alarm systems are a key component of any successful synagogue security plan.

Depending on the size, construction, and layout of a synagogue, alarm systems may encompass a variety of supplemental technologies to determine an intrusion. In turn, synagogue alarm systems may include door sensors, glassbreak detectors, & motion sensors, alongside hazard-specific sensors such as flood detection devices

Regardless of the technology, synagogue alarm systems offer an ideal way to immediately alert authorities in case of a dangerous approach. By connecting devices directly to the police, synagogues can gain instant responses to potential assailants — mitigating damage, theft, and even violence.

Install & Monitor Security Cameras

Working in tandem with alarm systems, synagogue security cameras help surveil suspicious parties & potential assailants both in and around synagogues.

Synagogues should place cameras in strategic locations, including entryways, windows, spaces with heavy foot-traffic, and rooms kept away from the public. Modern surveillance cameras can connect to the internet for 24/7, accessible security monitoring. Cameras can even integrate with synagogue alarm systems for a holistic, responsive security system – helping determine exactly who attempted a breach of synagogue security, alongside where and how they did it.

Implement a Physical Synagogue Security System

While security cameras and synagogue alarm systems can help authorities track down, neither do much to actively stop intruders from entering a synagogue. To slow an assailant, synagogues need to install physical synagogue security.

Safety window film, such as 3M™ Safety & Security Window Films is the ideal first step towards improving physical security in synagogues. Useful in diverse situations, security window film can add essential resistance against blasts, active shooters, and forceful impact from blunt objects. 3M™ Safety Film can also combine with other film for enhanced safety and additional benefits, including temperature control with sun control film.

Synagogues may also consider security glass systems such as DefenseLite. A heavy-grade, architectural grade security shield, DefenseLite uses an extruded frame and nearly impenetrable polycarbonate to prove another reliable option for synagogue physical security.

Complete Your Synagogue Security Plan With Security Window Film

Leveraging these best practices, synagogues can gain peace of mind that they are prepared in case of conflict. Creating checklists and assigning roles ensure members of the synagogue know how to react to specific conflicts, implementing security & surveillance systems can increase law enforcement response times, and installing window film can greatly slow violent approaches. When purchasing window film, synagogues should look to hire a trusted installation team to ensure the highest level of physical protection.

Window Film Depot is the #1 security window film dealer in the US. We have successfully installed our reliable glass security solutions on the windows & doors of diverse religious institutions across the United States — from synagogue to churches, mosques, and more. Contact us today to greatly improve physical security in your synagogue.

Are you looking for a better alternative to new glass additions for a government-owned historic building? Historic window restoration is another suitable option for revamps.

Older buildings provide a sense of nostalgia that allows us to recollect memories from our past. This especially applies to long-standing governmental properties found in historic neighborhoods and major cities. Many have a gorgeous architectural style with classic features and design accents, including vintage-style window film frames. The most popular styles back then were stained glass, arches, and transoms.

Upkeep of a historic property may present greater challenges than that of a modern design. Building decomposition and outdated framing styles are just two of many threats faced by historic building owners. On top of that, they’re up against present-day building code requirements that can be costly to adapt to meet.

When structural window damage affects a government-owned property, remodels should quickly follow. Some building owners automatically believe that new window installations are the answer. To replace window film entirely is not only costly. It can also compromise a building’s historic integrity. Ideal upgrades to an older property should preserve the property’s original elements as closely as possible.

3 Benefits of Historic Window Restoration

When restoring windows on government-owned historic buildings, the U.S. Department of Interior recommends the usage of window film. They even provide guidelines and best practices for doing so in their “Standards for Rehabilitation & Illustrated Guidelines on Sustainability for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings.”

When the time comes for window renovations on an older property, these benefits alone should convince you that window film restoration is the way to go.

Preserves & Restores Historical Buildings

Simply put, you’re more likely to keep a historic building’s appearance intact with window film restoration–not window film replacements. Going the route of preservation and restoration has its fair share of benefits, including the avoidance of glass damage and the protection of valuable interior furnishings.

Proper maintenance on a building’s original windows is not as invasive as other methods of repair. It’s also less expensive, less time-consuming, and much more sustainably sound.

Increased or Improved Energy Efficiency

Professionally-restored windows are known to increase energy efficiency, which can potentially lead to a 25-30% reduction in heat escaping from the windows.

Much can also be accomplished by retrofitting historic windows with clear film or high-performance glazing, including greater energy efficiency that’ll likely reduce cooling costs by 25-30%.

Additionally, retrofitting curtain-wall systems and historic steel windows has its fair share of sustainability perks–one being improved thermal performance and greater indoor comfort

Advanced UV Ray Protection

When restored properly, window film achieves the goal of blocking harmful UV rays. This can increase prevention of skin damage and deterioration of property valuables.

Where Do I Find Solutions for Historic Window Restoration Near Me?

Do you have pressing needs for historic window restoration on a government-owned building? You can trust Window Film Depot to get the job done!

We offer a vast selection of 3M™ window films used for restoration purposes–including specified products for certain industries. Rest assured that we’re equipped with the right solutions for your project.

Our restoration techniques are top-tier, guaranteeing that you’ll be left with a finished product that exceeds your expectations.

Costs for window preservation may vary based on a number of factors. Contact our team today to request a personalized cost estimate!