Biomimicry & The Principles Of Sustainability By Adiel Gavish

Biomimicry DESIGNING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE USING NATURE’S GENIUS ADIEL GAVISH Sustainability Strategist The Living Business Environmental Strategies that are Time Tested, Nature Approved (914) 494-1646 [email protected]

Outline  Solutions for a Sustainable Future  

Why are Nature’s Solutions Needed Today? What is Biomimicry

 What are Nature’s Life Principles?   

Systems Design- The Fundamentals “Product” and Service Design- The Building Blocks Biomimicry Examples

 How to Think/Design Like a Biomimic  What is Not Biomimicry?  Nature’s Genius and Human Innovation

Solutions for a Sustainable Future

What does “green” really mean?   

We need a sustainability standard and baseline Benchmark and foundation for “green” design What does a sustainable future look like? Business School Buildings Agriculture Factories Energy infrastructure

Why is it Especially Important Today? Problem: Global Climate Change- the issue of

our lifetime. 

We inherit the Earth from our fathers and mothers, but borrow it from our children.

Today’s society was built with unsustainable

design principles.

Why is it Especially Relevant Today? “You can’t solve problems using the same thinking

that created them.” ~ Albert Einstein “Design is the first signal of human intent.” ~ William McDonough, architect and author of “Cradle to Cradle”

What is Biomimicry?  Biomimicry is a new science which studies nature's

best ideas and principles, and imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems.

What is Biomimicry? Nature has been conducting research and design

for billions of years. What you see today is what works, what lasts, and what we should be doing to make our systems environmentally friendly, and ecologically, socially and economically sustainable for generations to come. The answers are just outside your door…

What is Biomimicry? The Earth Resume   Address: Third planet from the sun E-Mail: [email protected]   Education:        The University of the Universe            Dates: Hadeon Eon to the Present   Work Experience:  3.85 billion years of research and development  Supporting all species with air, water, and land  Helping approx. 5-30 million species work together

What is Biomimicry? The Earth is the best consultant you could hire. Let’s hire the sun, wind, and water! AND the 5-30 MILLION species on the planet!

"Nature is full of solutions looking for problems to solve." ~Christopher Viney

What is Biomimicry? Seeing nature as   

Model Mentor Measure

What is Biomimicry? 

Model The baseline and the standard of green design. Imitating nature’s systems design, processes and strategies to live sustainably. Tells us what those best practices are.

What is Biomimicry? 

Mentor Nature has been conducting research and design for 3.85 billion years. Learning from nature, valuing her lessons as the ultimate teacher. “Nature: the Guru of GreenTM”! Solutions that are “Time Tested and Nature Approved”. Survival is a great incentive for innovation. Nature IS a creative problem solver. Can provide guidance and give us the blueprints for sustainable deign.

What is Biomimicry? Seeing nature as Mentor, Model and Measure  Measure What would nature do? Does my system do that? Nature as an ecological standard.

What is Biomimicry? Why Nature? 



It carries in its DNA a pattern for innovation, improvement and efficiency. The fundamental elements of a sustainable system.

Nature’s Life Principles- The Fundamentals

Nature’s Life Principles- The Fundamentals Life Learns, Grows, Adapts and Evolves   

There is no such thing as perfection Continuous feedback Innovation

Nature’s Life Principles #1 Optimizes rather than maximizes  

Uses multi-functional design Fits form to function

Nature’s Life Principles Who am I? I…

Make oxygen  Store carbon  Fix nitrogen  Distill water  Make complex sugars and food  Accumulate solar energy as fuel  Create micro climates  Self replicate 

Nature’s Life Principles

Nature’s Life Principles #2 Acts independently 

Recycles all materials- waste equals food A tree is like a vertically integrated business.

Fosters cooperative relationships  Self-organizing 

Nature’s Life Principles # 3 Manufacturers it’s own needs 

Life-friendly materials Benign manufacturing

Water-based chemistry  Self-assembly 

Elegantly grows from the bottom up  Nature makes itself  Not manufactured elsewhere

Biomimicry Examples A Lotus Leaf and Non-Toxic Cleaning Surfaces  The surface of a lotus leaf has a network of nano-sized bumps that are key to the plant's ability to self-clean. Unlike smooth surfaces, which can cause water to spread and cling, dirt teeters on the tops of the microscopic structures, so when it rains, the water balls up, instead of spreading out, and rolls off the leaf, picking up loose dirt particles.  Surfaces can be cleaned without the use of detergents or sandblasting. In addition, Lotusan is algae-, mold- and mildew-resistant.  Lotusan has been used mostly on commercial buildings, which require no power washing with toxic cleaners to keep looking as fresh and shiny as a lotus leaf.

Nature’s Life Principles #4 Resourceful and Opportunistic 

Shape rather than material Builds from the bottom up

 

Simple, common building blocks Free energy- The sun! Harvested rather than generated.

Biomimicry Examples A Mollusk Shell and Cooling Design  A three-dimensional logarithmic spiral is found in

the shells of mollusks, and in the shape of our own skin pores, through which water vapor escapes. Liquids and gases flow through these flow forms with far less friction and more efficiency. PAX Scientific (USA) has designed fans, propellers, impellers, and aerators based on this shape.  The technology can reduce energy

requirements in fans and other rotors from between 10 and 85% and reduces noise by up to 75%. It could also lead to improvements in industrial mixers, water pumps, marine propellers, and devices for circulating blood in the body.

Nature’s Life Principles #5 Uses cyclical processes (vs. linear) 

Feedback loops Ex: Falling leaves are fertilizer for the tree The carbon cycle The water cycle Seasons

Nature’s Life Principles #6 Durable-Tough 

Diverse- Natural law to lessen risk Ex: A forest vs. an agricultural crop

 

Decentralized and distributed Surplus- if one system fails, there’s a back up.

Biomimicry Examples  Spider Silk 





Its remarkable stiffness and strength have long attracted scientists wishing to replicate it for industrial uses. "Nature is not using silk to hold up heavy loads for long periods of time.“ ~Christopher Viney Studying uses for silk that would only require it to work its magic once. Reinforce aircraft luggage holds for bomb proofing passively reinforce high pressure areas such as boilers in steam plants or submarine engines.

Biomimicry Examples PUMA CELL ARANE SNEAKER Tension vs. Compression for Strength  PUMA turned to nature for inspiration-the spider's web. The PUMA Cell Arane shoe rests on a unique A-frame "spider web" design that is incredibly strong for its weight and provides tensile cushioning. Unlike traditional cushioning systems built on compression, PUMA's Cell Arane shoe utilizes tension (think: hammock) to create a comfortable, cushioned ride with enhanced resistance to impact.

Biomimicry Examples A Termite Mound and Temperature Control  The Eastgate Building in Harare, Zimbabwe uses the same heating and cooling principles as a local termite mound. Termites in Zimbabwe build gigantic mounds where they farm a fungus for food. The fungus must be kept at 87 degrees, while the temperatures outside range from 35 (f) to 104 degrees (f). The termites achieve this remarkable feat by constantly opening and closing a series of heating and cooling vents throughout the mound all day.  The building uses less than 10 percent of the energy of a conventional building its size. The owners saved $3.5 million on a $36 million building because an air-conditioning plant didn't have to be imported. Rents are 20 percent lower than the new building next door.

Nature’s Life Principles An equation for unsustainable design

vs. An equation for sustainable design

Nature’s Life Principles An equation for sustainable design Un-Sustainable Design Principles

Sustainable Design Principles

Benefits of Sustainable Design

Linear systems

Cyclical Systems

No waste, re-use resources, reinvest in yourself

Homogeny & Uniformity

Diversity

Risk adverse, stronger, resilient

Unbalanced

Balanced/Self-Sustaining

Less management/energy

Maximization of resources

Optimization of resources

Can be replenished

Heat, beat and treat

Utilize Shape

More energy efficient, no toxins involved

Heat, beat and treat

Self Assembly

No toxins in "manufacturing" process

Cheapest source

Locally Sourced

Less resource intensive, less pollution from transportation

Disposable

Biodegradable

Energy is re-used in a positive way

Stagnant

Adaptable

Resilient to outside forces

Nature’s Genius and Human Innovation The Formula for a Sustainable Future Intellectual Capital + Nature’s Genius = Innovative, Sustainable Solutions

How to Think Like a Biomimic  IDENTIFY the real challenge 

What do you want to “do” (not “make”)

 INTERPRET  

Identify the functions/purpose How does nature do that function?

 DISCOVER nature’s genius 

Go for a walk outside and observe and brainstorm

 ABSTRACT 

What patterns and principles work for your problem

 EMULATE - IMITATE  

Play and design Brainstorm and converse

 EVALUATE the design more deeply

How to Think Like a Biomimic Re-Think and Re-Imagine! 

Holistic thinking in order to solve the entire problem. Companies are re-defining themselves to solve the problem. Focus is on the service rather than the product, because products are really services.  Oil companies are now energy companies  Car companies are now transportation companies

What is Not Biomimicry? Over-harvesting a natural product 

Palm tree oil farms Devastating to the forests

Using extreme genetic engineering 

Splicing “silk” gene into a goat to produce silk proteins in milk Unnatural If it does not exist in nature, there is a reason

Using heat, beat and treat methods  The use of fossil fuels- oil and coal  Making ceramics with clay, kiln at hot temps Lots of energy used

Nature’s Genius and Human Innovation “We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.” ~General Douglas MacArthur  It is not going backwards- but in fact drawing from

nature’s reservoir of design knowledge.  Design a sustainable future that is equitable for every being on the planet.  Biomimicry is a tool that helps us re-imagine the world we want our children to inherit.  A new era of innovation inspired by nature.

Nature’s Genius and Human Innovation

We are only limited by our dreams.