The Contribution of Biology to Energy Efficiency
Integrating biomimetic strategies into the design process generates benefits for both designers and the natural environment, as bio-inspired designs can contribute to sustainability.
Mimicking nature, various biomimetic approaches have produced environmentally friendly, innovative, smart, or intelligent materials for buildings. Researchers and designers are significantly inspired by innovative biological systems of animals, plants, and microorganisms in order to design bio-inspired materials for increasing energy efficiency of the buildings.
However, the range of innovative bio-inspired materials is not broad, and most of the published research seems to be about one-off cases. Current research on bio-inspired materials used in architectural and building science is reviewed, and a new classification scheme for clustering relevant data is presented.
These innovative materials serve different functions in buildings.
Our classification scheme enables a new synthesis of existing knowledge based on the multi-functionality of currently developed bio-inspired building.
There is a need for a bio-architectural workflow assisting scientists and designers to find the relevant organisms in nature as the source of inspiration for innovative design. The ThBA was developed as a response to this gap. You can read more about the ThBA here.
Read published article:
Handbook of Ecomaterials, Martínez L., Kharissova O., Kharisov B. (eds), Springer, Cham: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48281-1_136-1