Biomimicry & The Principles of Sustainability by Adiel Gavish

DESIGNING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE USING NATURE’S

GENIUS

ADIEL GAVISHSustainability Strategist

The Living BusinessEnvironmental Strategies that are Time Tested, Nature

Approved(914) 494-1646

[email protected]

Biomimicry

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 BiomimicWhat is Not Biomimicry? Nature’s Genius and Human Innovation

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

Solutions for a Sustainable Future

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 EarthResume Address: Third planet from the sunE-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?

MentorNature 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 SNEAKERTension 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 designvs.

An equation for sustainable design

Nature’s Life PrinciplesAn equation for sustainable design

Un-Sustainable Design Principles

Sustainable Design Principles

Benefits of Sustainable Design

Linear systems Cyclical Systems No waste, re-use resources, re-invest 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.