Biomimicry Seminar this April

Be sure to register for a FREE 2-hour seminar Amy and Lindsay are holding about biomimicry at the Chicago Center for Green Technology on Thursday, April 12th at 6pm.  We're holding this as a professional service and as a way to get the word out that biomimicry has much to offer our local design community.  FREE learning units about biomimicry don't come around too often, so be sure to sign up here and we'll see you there!

Upcoming Biomimicry Seminar in Chicago

Amy and Lindsay are presenting a seminar on Biomimicry as a design innovation strategy at the Chicago Center for Green Technology Thursday, April 12th at 6pm.  The course is a professional service and free, but registration is required.  Hope to see you there!

Biomimicry: Naturally Inspired Design Innovation

SPEAKER: Amy Coffman Phillips, Liquid Triangle Sustainability; and Lindsay James, InterfaceFLOR

Biomimicry, the practice of learning from nature to solve human problems, is emerging as a powerful tool for creating sustainable design and systemic transformation. Applied at a variety of scales, from individual products to buildings and organizations, biomimicry bring nature’s 3.8 billion years of innovation experience to the table. Our discussion will examine this quickly evolving practice, review what it is, how it is being applied and its powerful potential for the future. AIA/CES: 2LU

Click here for the full course catalog - lots of fun programs!

Humidity BE GONE! Thanks Biomimicry!

Taking advantage of natural heating, cooling and ventilation is about as biomimetic as you can get on a design project. However, depending on your location, if humidity, temperature and wind velocity metrics do not fall within a specific range, you can kiss natural ventilation goodbye.

The Namibian Beetle (Stenocara gracilipes), found in southwest coast of Africa, utilized the microscopic bumps on its back to obtain all of the water it needs by removing ocean fog. The bumps have hydrophilic (water attracting) tips and hydrophobic (water repelling) sides that cause water droplets to materialize out of thin air on its back, then slide down channels into its awaiting mouth. Fog harvesting material is under development at MIT and can be utilized to dehumidify air before it enters a building space.

Photo: Patrick Gill


Although the Humidity levels shown below for Chicago (HOK Climate Tool) are relatively low throughout operational hours, they are above comfort levels 60% of the day. Combining humidity with temperature and wind speed further reduces the potential for natural ventilation. See image to the right from the HOK Climate Tool. Removing Humidity from the air before it is brought into the building space can increase the natural ventilation potential for 20% of the year and significantly reduce operational costs for heating and cooling. There are other Biomimetic strategies that can aid in the reduction or increase in temperature and wind speed to create the perfect conditions for natural ventilation. I will save those for a later posting.


HOK Climate Tool



Winning Design!

The stunning #Biomimicry Student Design Challenge winning design, inspired by the humble snail: http://bit.ly/y2kNK9

Press Release:

Using the desert snail as inspiration for their design, a team of students from the Art Institute of Isfahan in Iran took the top honor in the third annual Biomimicry Student Design Challenge, organized by the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute. The team, consisting of master’s level and undergraduate students in architecture and business, conceived of a building that makes use of self-shading, surface reflection, and insulation to create a livable habitat rather than relying on air conditioning.

So the groundhog got me thinking...

...how do animals adapt to freezing Chicago winters?

Humans seal ourselves off in conditioned homes and cars, burning a lot of fossil fuel energy to do so.  But animals don't have that option.  So how do they do it?  I decided to revisit my grade school classes and relearn what I've forgotten.  And maybe there is something we can learn for design.

More at Liquid Triangle Sustainability.

Getting Started on Groundhog Day!

Did the groundhog see it's shadow?  We hadn't heard because the Network Leaders of Biomimicry Chicago were hard at work at HOK in Chicago figuring out how to start our new network!  After much visioning and brainstorming, we have figured out an interim plan for 2012 that will allow us to establish the groundwork for our network while Lindsay and Amy finish the final year in the Biomimicry Professional Program.  This year, we plan to work on select projects while creating collaborative relationships with like minded organizations throughout our region.  We'll also be collaborating to keep this blog up to date with the latest local biomimicry stories as well as announcements and educational opportunities available nationally.  Follow us on twitter @biomimicrychi and our LinkedIn group Biomimicry Chicago and stay tuned - there's much more where this came from!

Amy, Lindsay, Peter, and Colin

Biomimicry Student Design Challenge Finalists

http://www.biomimicrydesignchallenge.com/gallery/finalists

Entries from around the world were received and they've narrowed the selection to 12 finalists.  Which one do you like the best?