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Q&A: How biomimicry succeeds (and fails) | SmartPlanet

By Reena Jana

One champion of biomimetic design is Chris Garvin, a senior associate at Cook+Fox Architects and a partner in New York-based consulting firm Terrapin Bright Green, which has advised such clients as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Starwood Hotels on sustainability strategies that involve biomimetic design and whole-systems thinking. As a trusted advisor on the benefits of biomimicry, Garvin, who serves on the Board of Directors for the New York chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and on the Advisory Board for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, is also honest about how the field can be improved in general.

He took the time to answer questions on what types of biomimetic concepts succeed, where current biomimicry efforts might fall short or fail, and how designers, biologists, entrepreneurs, and entire cities could more efficiently apply biomimicry approaches in the near future.

Here is our exchange.

Is there a danger of over-simplifying the concept of biomimicry–as in, “well, if it works in nature, it’s sure to work in the human world?”

Yes, I think so. Mankind hasn’t gotten close to replicating anything close to the simple complexity of nature. We most often see forms from nature being mimicked. For example, the bullet train mimics the dive of a kingfisher, a model of concept car mimics the shape of a box fish. Mirasol’s display technology [from Qualcomm] mimics the nanostructure of a butterfly’s wing. But rarely do we see a form that manages to use one function to achieve myriad results, as we often find in nature.

Rarely do we see a product made with a material that is non-toxic, recyclable, and manufactured at room temperature, under low pressure. If anything, the tendency has been to oversimplify how nature works. We often find that biomimetic innovators benefit from multiple positive outcomes stemming from greater efficiency, reduced toxicity, and the like, but not to the scale of most organisms in nature. READ MORE >>

via www.smartplanet.com

Next Generation of Net-Zero Park Design

By Dakotah Bertsch

John “Bill” Taylor, ASLA, of Carol R. Johnson Associates, and Mark Walsh-Cooke and Tom Kennedy of Arup, gave a talk on “The Next Generation of Net-Zero Park Design” at the 2011 ASLA annual meeting.

Problem: the earth’s resources are finite. The amount of usable freshwater, air, and, of course, oil, make up a very small amount of the planet. And, with the population growing, scarcity is bound to increase. Complicating matters, climate change is real. We will continue to see more flood events as the amount of rain is concentrated in fewer, stronger storms. More and more, our lives will be interrupted by unpredictable weather patterns. Tom Kennedy with Arup asked, “Where do we draw the line?”

“Net-zero” parks may be part of a global effort to deal with these changes. Bill Taylor, a landscape architect with Carol R. Johnson Associates, said that “the next generation of parks will be part of a massive urban and regional retrofitting.” Net-zero is a term used to quantify sustainability by paying close attention to a project’s impacts and resource consumption – usually in terms of water, carbon, and energy. When it comes to designing net-zero parks, however, there are more questions than answers. How is net-zero defined? According to Kennedy, net-zero is a lot like the term “sustainability” in that there are almost as many definitions for it as there are references to it. For landscape purposes, should net-zero refer to operational or lifetime costs? Does it involve offsetting carbon or energy expenditures? Does it consider the carbon impact of deliveries made to the site, or of importing water? ”Net-zero is not really well defined yet,” said Kennedy. He proposes that while the definition is flexible, one should decide on their own definition of net-zero early on in a project’s lifespan. READ MORE >>

via dirt.asla.org

Looking to the Cloud Toward the Future of Building Design | GreenBiz.com

By Tilde Herrera

Over the last several years, many companies have turned to cloud computing to help them further their sustainability goals.

By storing data and software virtually, which is accessible from our laptops and desktops, they eliminate the need to run their own data centers, while also reducing energy and electronics waste.

But cloud computing also allows people to collaborate and share data in ways they've never been able to in the past. At the same time, the cloud offers a high degree of computational power that may unleash a revolution in the way we design buildings.

A GreenBiz.com webcast held this week explored the potential of the cloud to change building design. It was a high-level view of the opportunities, current struggles and ways in which vendors are trying to bridge the gap. READ MORE >>

via www.greenbiz.com

Inside The Ecological Engineer: Glumac - Chapter 7, "At the Heart of Justice"

Inside my latest book, The Ecological Engineer: Glumac. A closer look at the AIA COTE Top Ten Green Award-winning designs for the Wayne L. Morse Federal Courthouse in Eugene, Oregon.