Ecological Design Principles and Biomimicry

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Ecological Design Principles and Biomimicry

• Defne Apul
• Department of Civil Engineering
• University of Toledo

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Traditional Sustainable
The problems that exist in the world today cannot
be solved by the level of thinking that created
them. Einstein
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Environmental Engineering

• Engineering applications of environmental
  things
• Water
• Air
• Soil
• Nutrients, metals, chemicals
• Waste (not a sustainability word)

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Disparity Between Ecology and Engineering

• People (hydrologists, engineers, and water
  manager) who design and manage the water
  infrastructures are rarely taught about
  management consequences to ecosystems, nor are
  ecologists trained to think about the critical
  role of water in human society.

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Ecological Design Principles
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Ecological Design Themes
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Water Infrastructure Exercise
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Re-Conceptualization of System
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Economic Perspective of Ecological Design
Principles
Direct S6 Physically and economically
accessible Indirect environmental ideas Energy
efficiency, elimination of waste, design for
commercial afterlife Indirect social ideas
Healthy, beautiful, socially just buildings
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Ecological Design Principles
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What is biomimicry?

• From
• bios, meaning life mimesis, meaning to
  imitate
• Biomimicry to imitate life

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Biomimicry Definition

• Term first made popular by Janine Benyus in her
  book, Biomimicry Innovations Inspired by Nature
  (1997)
• Viewing nature as role model/teacher nature has
  already solved many of the technological and
  sustainability problems that we face today -
  learning from nature, not about nature
• Imitate natures processes, not products

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Airplane
Imitated not the bird (product) but the air flow
around the wings (process)
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Learning from nature not about nature
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Nature as Teacher

• When faced with a problem, ask the question What
  organism needs to solve the same problem to
  survive.What Would Nature Do?

N
N
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Nature as Teacher (contd)

• Inspiration - look to nature to transform society
• water
• energy
• materials
• food
• Invention - original processing starting with a
  natural process that solves a similar problem
• Information - life adds info in the form of
  shape/structure

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Us vs. Them

• Us
• Linear
• Centralized
• Individualistic
• Independent
• Inflexible
• Singular

• Them
• Circular
• Decentralized
• Cooperative
• Interdependent
• Adaptive
• Redundant

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Our Results

• Depleted natural resources
• Habitat loss
• Climate change
• Endangered/extinct species
• Persistent bioaccumulative toxins
• Dependence on petroleum
• Problems!

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Their Results

• Life creates conditions conducive to life
• Energy only from sunlight
• Materials synthesized at ambient temperatures
  using local materials
• No toxic pollution
• only a few of all of chemically possible
  structures are synthesized (humans use the entire
  periodic table!)
• No waste
• No problem!

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Biomimicry Principles

• Nature..
• B1 Runs on sunlight
• B2 Uses only the energy it needs
• B3 Fits form to function
• B4 Recycles everything
• B5 Rewards co-operation
• B6 Banks on diversity
• B7 Demands local expertise
• B8 Curbs excesses within
• B9 Taps the power of limits

Food 1cal?10cal Water/wastewater ?420kcal per
person per day
Information - life adds info in the form of
shape/structure
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Examples of fitting form into function
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Sticky Gecko Feet
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The tail of Velcro.
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Humpback Whales
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Kingfishers
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Bionic Car from Box fish
20 less gas consumption
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Termites (No air conditioning)
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Shark skin swim suit
V-shaped ridges on shark skin
Shark skin Michael Phelps
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Three types of biomimicking

• 1. Mimicking form Whats the design?
• Physical form can be inspired velcro inspired
  from burs
• 2. Mimicking process How is it made?
• - blue mussel manufactured glue
• - orb weaver spiders strong fiber
• 3. Mimicking ecosystems How does it fit?
• -water infrastructure

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Treatment Plants versus Wetlands
Maumee River Lucas County WWTP
Olentangy River Wetland Research Park
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Free Water Surface Wetlands
Kadlec, R.H. and Knight, R.L, 2008, Treatment
Wetlands, CRC Press
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Horizontal Subsurface Flow
Kadlec, R.H. and Knight, R.L, 2008, Treatment
Wetlands, CRC Press
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Stranahan Arboretum Mesocosms
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Stranahan Arboretum Lysimeters
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Vertical Flow Wetlands
Kadlec, R.H. and Knight, R.L, 2008, Treatment
Wetlands, CRC Press
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Summary

• We are facing increasing pressures
• Energy, Water, Materials, Food
• Nature has already figured out how to avoid
  these problems
• Look to nature as a teacher/role model
• Use ecological design principles to inspire
  engineering projects

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Acknowledgements

• Slide 4 www.wisebread.com/hitching-a-ride-on-an-a
  irplane
• Slide 5 http//estrip.org/elmwood/users/matthew/i
  mages/1105/burr3857.jpg
• http//www.kidsgardening.com/2005.k
  ids.garden.news/may/burrs.jpg
• Slide 6 Benyus, Janine. 1997. Biomimicry
  Innovations Inspired by Nature. HarperCollins
  Publishers, Inc. New York, NY, 320 pp.
• Slide 8 http//www.marykayemusic.com/images/Illus
  trations/BigBadWolf.jpg
• Slide 9 http//greenasathistle.files.wordpress.co
  m/2007/03/forks.jpg
• Slide 12http//www.stpatricksguild.com/prodimg/40
  1530.JPG
• Slide 14 http//www.leopardgeckoguide.com/wp-cont
  ent/gallery/geckos/gecko- feet.jpg
• Slide 15 http//earthfirst.com/wp-content/uploads
  /2008/03/whale-bump.jpg,
• http//www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080
  707222315.htm
• www.animals.nationalgeographic.com
• Slide16 http//www.bioteams.com/images/nature_as_
  desig.jpg
• Slide 17 http//www.dancewithshadows.com/auto/mer
  cedes-benz-bionic-car- gallery.asp
• Slide 18 http//www.inhabitat.com/2007/12/10/buil
  ding-modelled-on-termites-eastgate-centre-in-zimba
  bwe/

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Acknowledgements (contd)

• Slide 19 http//www.allposters.com/-sp/Seashell-o
  n-Beach-Posters_i1100827_.htm
• http//www.virginpacificwater.com/whole_pipe_op_8
  00x786.jpg
• Slide 20 UN Environmental Program
• http//www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Defaul
  t.asp?DocumentID535ArticleID5816len
• Slide 21 http//farm2.static.flickr.com/1107/1435
  241752_a20d75347f.jpg?v0
• http//www.aerosil.com/pub/NR/rdonlyres/65199EEB
  -DD68-422A-A27F- F91AF82BA85E/0/lotuseffect0005.jp
  g
• Lotus Effecthttp//biodsign.wordpress.com/2008/
  08/27/lotus-effect- efecto-lotus/
• Slide 24 http//www.tc.umn.edu/gambl007/geckos/g
  ekko_gecko_mo2.jpg
• http//ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/04/biomimet
  ics/tom-mueller text/8