Bird Deterrent Laser Removes Gulls from Carrefour Rooftop

As the international leader in laser bird deterrent devices, Bird Control Group, in partnership with their Belgium reseller Amsger Group was asked to assist AG Real Estate’s team in choosing the most effective automated rooftop bird deterrent.

Location:	Rue de l’industrie 21, 1400 Nivelles, Belgium
Application context:	Warehouses & Distribution centers (Industry & Utility buildings)
Problem definition:	Gull nuisance on warehouse rooftop
Pest bird species:	Gulls (Laridae)
Time of year bird presence:	All year round
Time of day bird presence:	Daytime
No. of birds before installation:	150
No. of birds after installation:	15
Birds reduction after the Autonomic has been installed:	75%
Laser projection area:	1,5 ha covered by the 1st Autonomic 1,5 ha covered by the 2nd Autonomic
In use since:	May 2016
No. of systems:	2 x Autonomic 100
Bird behavior:	Perching
Consequences:	Damage to the facility and financial loss caused by gull presence
Yearly cost reduction as a result of using the Autonomic:	EUR 10,800

Situation before:
Gulls were creating a major nuisance on the roof of an AG Real Estate warehouse rented to Carrefour. The entire rooftop had become severely damaged by bird waste. Had no birds been present, routine roof maintenance would have been performed at the site twice a year, but the active bird presence led to EUR 10,800 in additional roof maintenance service costs in just one year.

Situation after:
As a result of the adoption of Autonomic technology, bird numbers were reduced by 75%, and the associated facility damage and repair costs were eliminated.

Bird Deterrent Laser Removes Gulls from Carrefour Rooftop

Carrefour is a French retail company that operates in more than 30 countries in Europe, North America, Asia and Africa. Carrefour makes the quality of their products and customer service a top priority. AG Real Estate is the largest real estate group in Belgium and rented a 3 ha warehouse space to Carrefour in Belgium for many years. Their priority was to ensure the cleanness and high level maintenance of the warehouse.

Carrefour reported that high numbers of gulls were perching on the roof of the warehouse. AG Real Estate’s auditors concluded that the constant presence of large numbers of birds on the site resulted in high levels of bird droppings, which created significant damage to roofing materials. AG Real Estate was forced to invest almost EUR 5.000 per year in extra maintenance and repairs, and the company’s management decided that the bird activity had to be resolved on a long-term basis.

AG Real Estate Property Manager Patrick Le Fevere researched bird deterrent methods, and identified many possible solutions. He first investigated electronic and ultrasonic repellers, which produce the sounds of predators to frighten gulls. However, he soon discovered that the gulls would over time become accustomed to these tools and simply ignore them. Patrick then looked into bird fire gels that mimic a fire, which causes birds to flee. This option was deemed unreliable based on the large size of the warehouse rooftop (3 ha), and was also very costly.

Automated laser bird deterrent
The possibility of repelling birds with laser beams drew the attention of Patrick and his team. As the international leader in laser bird deterrent devices, Bird Control Group, in partnership with their Belgium reseller Amsger Group was asked to assist AG Real Estate’s team in choosing the most effective automated bird deterrent. Together, they determined the best option: the Autonomic, since it efficiently repels bird from the rooftop 24/7. AG Real Estate opted to test the system for three months to make sure the laser worked before placing an order. The team was impressed with the test results. Thanks to the Autonomic, the warehouse hosted 75% fewer birds, which dramatically improved the condition of the rooftop. The AG Real Estate team also compared the condition of the rooftop before and after the three-month Autonomic test. All the facts led the team to conclude that the test unit should remain and one more bird deterrent unit should be installed to ensure optimal effect on the large rooftop surface.

“Our team is happy with the system – it is easy to use and very effective. Most important: Carrefour is very satisfied with the results. We expect to need in total 4 Autonomics to completely cover the roof of the warehouse.”

Patrick Le Fevere: AG Real Estate Property Manager