Biomimicry

"In  1991, the multinational Old Mutual investment group approached the Zimbabwean architect Mick Pearce with an audacious assignment. The group wished to construct a retail and office complex called the Eastgate Centre in Zimbabwe’s capital city of Harare that, at 55,000 square meters, would be the country’s largest commercial building. What Old Mutual didn’t wish to do was pay the high cost of air-conditioning such a massive space. Could Pearce, working with the Arup construction firm, devise a design that relied solely on passive, natural climate  control? Pondering the problem, Pearce found inspiration in the termite mounds that dotted the savannas across his country. "

"Windows, our source of life-giving sunlight indoors, are a menace to your electrical bill. In the summer, windows bleed cold and in the winter they ooze heat. To save energy, researchers want to give window panes a circulatory system that could pump in cool, liquid relief when they get too hot. In research published in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, researchers from Harvard describe an artificial vascular system, which could help make windows more energy-efficient by controlling their temperature with water."

"Researchers are investigating how termite mounds can be used to shape future buildings which feature walls that breathe as part of a major new international study involving Nottingham Trent University (UK). The $1.35millon project will examine how the unique structure of the termite mound enables stale and fresh air to be exchanged while maintaining a comfortable level of temperature. Described as a lung by the researchers, the termite mound is the only habitat known in the animal kingdom to have been proven to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide without losing heat, which enables termites to live in harsh climates they could not otherwise inhabit. One of the ultimate aims of the project is to create buildings which feature walls that breathe in the same way and reduce the need for central heating or air conditioning."