The Use Of Biomimicry : A Devastating Human Sustainability Problem

Extensive research has been conducted to test numerous factors that play a role in thermoregulation among butterflies. These factors can be both internal or external which include: color of wings, body surface area, body mass, weather conditions, lifestyle, temperature, etc. The specific aim of this experiment was to test whether different wingspan lengths played a significant role on thermoregulation rates. For the experiment three butterfly wingspan lengths were tested: a control wingspan length, a wingspan length half the control, and lastly, a wingspan length twice that of the control. Following the administering on this experiment, an ANOVA: single factor test was conducted to compare the three different wingspans and their corresponding

Data is constantly being collected regarding energy consumption at the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), headquarters in Atlanta. This data can be accessed by researchers from around the world, allowing them to monitor the performance of a building’s temperature control systems and extract data for further study.

Ectotherms utilize behavioral adaptations to their environment in order to allow heat exchange to take place in a manner better suited for thermoregulation. Serving as model ectotherms, the sugar-covered marshmallows in the shape of the bird, peeps, were subject to two different microhabitats including a sandy and plastic microhabitat to see the rate of temperature over time and the temperature at which a stable internal temperature was reached. It was hypothesized that the peeps would experience more thermal stress and greater/faster thermal rise on the plastic than in the opposing microhabitat: the wet sand, when thermoregulating over time. An experiment at Maxcy Greg park was set up where five peeps were placed into each microhabitat while

Tamashiro, M., Fujii, J., & Lai, P. (1973). A Simple Method to Observe, Trap, and Prepare Large Numbers of Subterranean Termites for Laboratory and Field Experiments. Environmental Entomology, 2(4), 721-722. Retrieved December 10, 2014, from

This method of cooling techniques is theoretically able to reduce temperatures from 50 to 27 degrees Celsius. The bidding committee also proposes to use such cooling technologies in fan-zones, training pitches and walkways between metro stations and stadiums.

The inefficient homes in the UK have catastrophic effects on global warming. The UK needs to become more energy efficient as at the moment it emits a large amount of greenhouse gases which risk dangerous climate change. The retrofitting of the brick three storey terraced town house is necessary in order to comply with the legislations set out by parliament in the UK Climate Change Act (2008) or if the house falls under the private rented sector it must comply with the Energy Act 2011.

From bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate Biomimicry is a new science where entrepreneurs imitate nature’s time-tested processes, systems and designs to solve human’s sustainability problems.

This study depicted that common wombat burrows provide a constant temperature 1-2m from the entrance within four different habitats – open field, forested, short ground cover and sandy bank – during both summer and autumn. However, noticeable differences in the temperatures between the seasons were observed. Although, this was expected as the insulating properties of the soil stop daily, but not seasonal, fluctuations in temperature from a depth of approximately 0.30cm (Reichman & Smith 1990), with the main factors that did influence burrow temperatures being time of day, elevation during summer and aspect during autumn. There are few studies in the literature that display the influences of elevation and aspect on burrow temperatures so these may present novel findings that might impact burrow location or use. The general outcome that burrow temperatures remain constant while temperatures outside the burrow fluctuate, however, is supported in many studies of different species. Shimmin et al

The oxford dictionary defines biomimicry as the design and production of materials, structures, and systems that are modelled on biological entities and processes. Through biomimicry humans have been able to create production which are mimicking forms of nature.

Global warming has become a world wide issue and an issue that is causing great controversy. It is an increase in the earth's atmospheric and oceanic temperatures widely predicted to occur due to an increase in the greenhouse effect resulting especially from pollution (Dictionary). Global warming is a natural process, but because of increase in certain activities this process is taking a faster and more dangerous route creating global problems. Global warming was first theorized in 1894 by Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier a French mathematician, who noticed the earth was gradually increasing in temperature. He came to the conclusion that the earth’s atmosphere was trapping solar radiation caused by the sun and reflecting this radiation back to

Chatterjee (1972) and Eggleton (2007), stated that among the beneficial aspect of termite is decomposition, they cause to dead wood in the forest, which would have pile up and suffocate young plants, and through the decomposition they increase mineral component of the soil, by introducing into the soil mineral nutrients of the dead woods, also the burrowing they made in the soil increase water absorbent of the

Global warming is the name given to the increase in the earth’s surface temperature. It is caused by the collection of greenhouse gases, carbon

According to the heating or cooling demand, the building is divided into sectors in order to be able to control the temperatures of different zones. Heat exchangers are distributed for each zone with different sizes according to the zone size and a radiator for each room is supplied with different sizes according to the room sizes. The minimum distance between tubes that could be reached is 10 centimeters due to production reasons, so in special cases in summer due to this limitation factor, the required room temperature is not achieved so additional measures should be taken

The earth tube system is one of the passive design strategies which has been adapted worldwide from vernacular architectures to modern buildings. Moreover the earth tube system not only can be used in passive design, but also can be coupled with HVAC system. (Suresh K.S, 2015) The main aim of the earth tube is to utilize the relatively constant soil temperature source (Mihalakakou G, 2003) as a heat sink or heat source to temper the ambient air for summer cooling and winter heating. As showed in figure 1, the air flow into the earth tube, which buried underground, from the air inlet to the outlet. (Maerefat M, 2010) In this process, the ambient air can either absorb or release the heat to the ground though the pipe. As a consequence, the tempered ambient air could cool down the room in summer and warm up the room in winter with on or less energy usage. (Wu H, 2007)

Every year air conditioning uses 6% of all the electricity produced in the United States and costs about $29 billion annually. A price anyone would pay to stay cool during those hot summer months. The cool air that circulates your house almost everyday not only keeps you from bearing the heat of the summer sun, but has been proven to improve the efficiency of human beings, as well as improving overall health, giving a fresh supply of air, and controlling the noises of the great outdoors. Throughout the process of creating the modern day air conditioning unit, scientist and innovators have developed the most accessible, reliable, and efficient model that not only keeps people cool through the day but also has been shown to increase work ethic in people and treat certain illnesses.(“Advantages of the Air Conditioners. Advantages of AC.”)