Biomimicry
biomimicry operates on the principle that in its 3.8 billion year history, nature has already found solutions to many of the problems we are trying to solve. Based on the ideas and designs which nature has demonstrated to be successful, biomimicry is able to provide a wealth of inspiration for those solving problems, something designers do everyday.
Termite-inspired airconditioning – The Eastgate shopping centre and office block in Harare, Zimbabwe, also known as ‘The Anthill’, is modelled on the self-cooling mounds built by termites. The termites’ structures are able to maintain the temperature inside the nest to within one degree of 31°C, day and night. This is accomplished even when the external temperature varies between 3°C and 42°C. The Eastgate building uses only 10% of the energy of a conventional building of the same size.
http://www.makingitmagazine.net/?attachment_id=104
“Biomimicry is a new way of viewing and valuing nature. It introduces an era based not on what we can extract from the natural world, but what we can learn from it.”
It is undeniable that biomimicry is an interesting trend for design. Most cities and structures built in the near past seem to separate man from nature. Incorporating sustainability through biomimicry, there is a hope that in the future, buildings will be better adapted to their environment. With bIomimicry as an instrument, we can look to nature and natural systems for inspiration on designs for architecture.
White roof
Dark roofs reflect about 10-20% of sunlight, while white surfaces tend to send back at least half. In technical terms, the percentage of light reflected by a surface is called its albedo - so a perfectly reflective surface has an albedo of 1. Coloured paints have an albedo of 0.1-0.3, and white paints an albedo of 0.5-0.9.
In California, flat-roofed premises are now required to have white roofs. The California Energy Commission has been promoting white roofs since the 1980s. It claims that converting all the world’s roofs into white roof over the next 20 years could save the equivalent of 24 billion metric tons in carbon dioxide emissions. This is the total emissions of the world last year.
If white roofs were present in cities, most of the heat will be reflected instead of absorbing it. This reduces high temperatures in cities that are affected by the “heat island effect.” Studies show that white
roofs reduce air-conditioning costs by 20 percent in hot, sunny weather. This is quite enough and a simple way to help reduce cost for cooling a building.
buttechnorati.com
Green roofs
A green roof experiences little or no runoff. The layers absorb the water giving the plants life and reducing the amount of pollutants that are spewing into rivers and lakes. A standard roof can reach temperatures up to 180 degrees. That heat gets absorbed into the building forcing air conditioning units to work harder. A green roof reduces roof temperature to that of the air around it. A roof that might be 180 degrees under normal conditions is now only 85 or 90 degrees.
The Green Roof Building at the School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore innovatively integrates natural scenery and the business world through glass walls and new architectural technology. This structure’s roof is covered by turf, which helps circulate air around the building, thus reducing its temperature.
The garden adorning the roof of the five-story Nanyang Technological University is a design marvel. This design marvel by CPG Consultants provides insulation for the university building while also cooling the area and harvesting rainwater.
Green roofs are fairly new to the Philippines, although other countries have been reaping the benefits for years now. Not only is a green roof great for the users and the environment, it also reduces expenses. The only complicated part of this feature is its installation and maintenance. Though it is too costly to install one, the return or payback and its benefits is somehow not a bad thing.
Green walls
Green wall system offers several benefits such as heat insulation, and sound-proofing for noise pollution. It is furthermore an effective protection against UV radiation, hail, strong temperature variations, pollutants and dirt. It also provides shading, cooling and of course, aesthetics.
The new Citi Data Center in Frankfurt features a "green wall" lined with plants that are irrigated with recycled water. The facility has earned a LEED Platinum rating.
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com
Green wall is an effective manner of incorporating nature to limited space. Aside from providing beauty and shade, green walls alter the environment in which we move by moderating the temperature, improving air quality, conserving water, or maybe harboring wildlife. These create feelings of relaxation and well-being. With these present on a busy and tiring area, people can do their tasks effectively and peacefully.
Green technology
The field of "green technology" encompasses a continuously evolving group of methods and materials, from techniques for generating energy to non-toxic cleaning products.
The present expectation is that this field will bring innovation and changes in daily life of similar magnitude to the "information technology" explosion over the last two decades. In these early stages, it is impossible to predict what "green technology" may eventually encompass.
The goals that inform developments in this rapidly growing field include sustainability, cradle to cradle design, source reduction, innovation and viability.
Pavegen Tile.
With a minuscule flex of 5mm, this energy generating pavement is able to absorb the kinetic energy produced by every footstep, creating 2.1 watts of electricity per hour. Constructed from marine grade stainless steel and recycled materials, the surface (which comes in a variety of choice colors) of each slab features the rubber from old tires, and the internal components are made from recycled aluminium. Whenever a slab is stepped on it emits a glow (which only uses 5% of the total energy produced) – this not only informs the passerby of their contribution, but also reinforces a sustainable attitude and an increased awareness of the energy that is continually created and expended by each individual.
Imagining the pavement is installed at any one point on a busy place that can receive up to numerous steps a day, this innovation can generate significant amounts of electricity. Taking footsteps and turning it into something useful is a really good idea. This technology is fairly applicable to any urban environment such as streets, entrances, malls, schools and any place receiving lots of footfall.
Bioswales
As cities expand, stormwater management will become an increasingly vital aspect to roadway and community design. Bioswales are drainage features that are designed to both filter and retain stormwater after a rain event. This is accomplished by incorporating native vegetation, rock and other filtering media at the base of an existing or new swale. http://knudsonlp.com
Birnhamwood Drive. a streetscaping plan that incorported Bioswales as a key strategy for stormwater management. Using creative design and existing medians, Knudson was able to minimize stormwater runoff and create a streetscape that is both beautiful and highly functional.
Walsh College in Troy, Michigan recently went through unusual lengths to earn its LEED Gold certification. The school’s campus and parking lot feature a series of bioswales that facilitate on-site stormwater cleaning and storage, benefiting the natural wetlands located adjacent to the site which had
previously been degraded. Special attention was paid to the building’s thermal envelope, ensuring interior temperature stabilization, and other strategies such as daylight harvesting, energy optimization for night occupancy, and improved indoor air quality were maximized to ensure a LEED Gold status.
Renderings of DEP’s Right-of-Way bioswales show a design developed with many city agencies. Because of this collaboration, the bioswales function seamlessly within the streetscape and can capture up to 400 cubic feet of water per storm.
The Right-of-Way bioswales is a good decision to be implemented on each sides of the roads at Dasmarinas and DLSU-, or any other street that is wide enough and capable of having a vegetation. This will function seamlessly within the streetscape and can capture certain volume of water per storm. By using natural means to treat water run-off by filtering out contaminants being conveyed in the water, this can replenish underground water.
Solar panel
The use of solar panels is a common element of green architecture. The panels, along with their storage tanks, make it possible to store energy for electrical needs such as cooking, keeping the temperature in the building at a comfortable level, and running necessary equipment such as computers.
Ferdinand Braun Institut
The architecturally striking solar façade is located on the south face of the laboratory building. The shiny black solar wall is around 640 m² in size (8 by 80 metres). Anthracite-coloured PV modules based on copper iridium sulphide (CIS modules) were used.
The solar power system consists of a total of some 730 active modules, each 1.296 by 0.656 metres. The total costs were around 250,000 euros (SOLARSERVER.DE).
http://www.solarfassade.info
Philippines has the opportunity of using solar power for we have more direct sunrays and longer summer. Perhaps the practice of harnessing solar power at DLSU-D is a good idea but limited for some buildings. The campus is mostly covered by trees which could block the sunlight hitting the roofs and only some buildings with better heights can be accommodated with this facility.
LED lighting design
LEDs have some significant characteristics making them excellent general lighting sources: high source efficacy, optical control, extremely long operating lives and exceptional delivered lumens when used in a properly designed lighting system. In addition, LEDs also have a number of other favorable attributes.
LEDs contain no mercury and no lead, Many of the LED luminaires being designed today are made from aluminum, which can be recycled. It offers variety of color temperatures and color rendition. It has low maintenance and disposal cost. It is compatible with photovoltaic and lighting control systems and LEDs can be dimmed.
However, there are important technical limitations that must be understood in order to properly utilize these marvelous light sources in luminaires.
The Yas Hotel, World’s Largest LED Project Completed in Abu Dhabi, is wrapped with a sparkling shell composed of more than 5,300 diamond-shaped panels bristling with over 5,000 LED fixtures. The curvilinear field of lights is capable of running color-changing light sequences and can even display low-res three-dimensional videos.
Usage of LED fixtures is almost prevalent all over the countries. Instead of using incandescent bulbs or any lighting that emits harmful chemicals, this technology is a good choice to be green. As we all know, lighting elements are necessity for illuminating building and landscapes, and people love using them in festivals and celebrations. Using luminaires using LED is something that we need, especially to our present time which favors low-operating cost, and it was something in need to be endorsed by the government.
Brown field
A brownfield is an abandoned, idled, or underused industrial or commercial facility in which redevelopment is burdened by real or potential environmental contamination.
The redevelopment of brownfields can provide many benefits to a community, including an increased tax base, the creation of new jobs, the utilization of existing infrastructure, and the removal of blight. The removal of contaminants in the area also helps to protect human health and the environment.
Plus Three Architecture' Trinity One incubator in South Shields is one of the few projects to achieve BREEAM Outstanding - the UK's highest environmental assessment rating. The 3,085 square meter high-
tech business center is comprised of three victorian warehouses, and the project was designed to rehabilitate its brownfield site.
In our present situation, most of the lands are utilized and extracted to their limits, and it is not impossible that there will come a time that no idle land is available for construction of new infrastructures. Also converting a site into another land use, especially to an agricultural land seems difficult and hard to be achieved. By using brownfields and developing them, vacant lands were conserved, and at the same time, helping the environment by having green open spaces maintained.
Landscaping
Sustainable landscaping should include an attractive environment that is in balance with the local climate and requires minimal resource inputs, such as fertilizer, pesticides, gasoline, time, and water. Sustainable landscaping begins with an appropriate design that includes functional, cost efficient, visually pleasing, environmentally friendly and maintainable areas.
2012 Olympic Park, London
Researchers, such as Dr. Nigel Dunnett from the University of Sheffield (shown here), helped choose sustainable, ecologically-based, biodiverse vegetation suited to an urban environment. New green spaces and wildlife habitats, including ponds, woodlands, and artificial otter holts, revitalized this London brownfield into a more healthful community.
Located at the centre of Sheridan College’s new campus, the Scholars’ Green is a symbiosis of public park and academic common that provides rich outdoor amenity for students, faculty and the surrounding community. Materials like permeable recycled glass paving and glow–in–the–dark concrete patterns compliment extensive plantings and pedestrian/cyclist infrastructure to help make the park an inspiring combination of sustainable and innovative design.
Sustainable landscaping is about reducing waste, energy and materials. It is about site consideration, plant selection and landscape management. By taking into mind the location, climate, slope and condition of the site, responsible landscaping is attained and will be beneficial for the users. Incorporating native plants and a good choice of vegetation can help improve the environment, and at the same time improve the quality of life of the people.
