Biomimetic building facades demonstrate potential to reduce energy consumption for different building typologies in different climate zones

Abstract

Graphic abstract Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions leading to anthropogenic global warming continue to be a major issue for societies worldwide. A major opportunity to reduce emissions is to improve building construction, and in particular the effectiveness of building envelope, which leads to a decrease in operational energy consumption. Improving the performance of a building's thermal envelope can substantially reduce energy consumption from heating, ventilation, and air conditioning while maintaining occupant comfort. In previous work, a computational model of a biomimetic building façade design was found to be effective in temperate climates in an office context. Through a case study example based on animal fur and blood perfusion, this paper tests the hypothesis that biomimetic building facades have a broader application in different building typologies across a range of climate zones. Using bioinspiration for innovation opens new ideas and pathways for technological development that traditional engineering design does not provide. This study exemplifies the process in a building façade, integrating a new form of insulation, heating and cooling. Methods of mathematical modelling and digital simulation methods were used to test the energy reduction potential of the biomimetic façade was tested in a set of operational applications (office, school, and aged care) and across different climate zones (tropical, desert, temperate, and cool continental). Results indicated that the biomimetic façade has potential to reduce energy consumption for all building applications, with the greatest benefit shown in residential aged care (67.1% reduction). Similarly, the biomimetic building façade showed potential to reduce operational services energy consumption in all climate zones, with the greatest energy reductions achieved in the tropical (55.4% reduction) and humid continental climates (55.1% reduction). Through these results the hypothesis was confirmed suggesting that facades engineered to mimic biological functions and processes can improve substantially decrease building operational energy consumption and can be applied in different building classifications and different climate zones. These results would significantly decrease operational greenhouse gas emissions over the lifetime of a building and provide substantial savings in energy bills. Such facades can contribute to the further reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in a broad range of contexts in the built environment and other areas of technology and design. The flexibility and adaptability of biomimetic facades exemplify how biological strategies and characteristics can augment and improve performance in different environments, since the organisms that inspire innovation are already well-adapted to the conditions on earth. This study also exemplified a method by which other biomimetic building envelope features may be assessed. Further work is suggested to assess economic viability and constructability of the proposed facades.

Environmentally Responsive Materials for Building Envelopes: A Review on Manufacturing and Biomimicry-Based Approaches

“…In the works of Webb [ 19 ], an animal fur perfusion biomimetic-inspired facade, consisting of a fur layer followed by several perfusion facade layers, was modeled in TRNSYS for different climate zones and building typologies. Their numerical results reduced around 50% of the operational energy consumption for all climate zones and building typologies.…”

“…The envelope plays an essential role in regulating the exchanges between the indoors and the outdoors of a building [ 17 ]. It contributes significantly to the energy-saving potential and low environmental impact of a building [ 18 ] while providing comfort for the occupants [ 19 ].…”

“…Biomimicry as a tool in architecture and building construction offers the opportunity to inspire active envelopes and integrate natural concepts and principles aiming for sustainable and climate responses [ 2 , 19 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. According to Somesse et al [ 17 ], biomimicry approaches can be taken advantage of in the architectural context using morphological–structural emulation, mimicking the morphology of a living being found in nature to recreate a specific behavior or response, and dynamic–functional emulation.…”

Integrating Bioarchitectural Approaches in the Design of Universities’ Halls of Residence to Guarantee Students’ Well-Being دمج اتجاهات العمارة الحيوية في تصميم السكن الطلابي للجامعات لضمان رفاهة الطلاب

“…Bioarchitecture is a multi-scale approach to translating the solutions and opportunities offered by nature into solving global human problems. It is an architecture that integrates biology-inspired design into all parts of the work at all scales (Ripley & Bhushan, 2016), which provides innovative ideas and solution that cannot be generated by conventional engineering (Webb, M., 2021). It expresses a strong alliance between designer and nature, and the awareness that we all share a much greater dimension.…”

Numerical Assessment of Zebra-Stripes-Based Strategies in Buildings Energy Performance: A Case Study under Tropical Climate

“…On the other hand, studies have been carried out that involves the biomimetic design in facades specifically applied to insulators, which are simulated in TRNSYS to evaluate the energy reduction potential compared to having no strategy and thus obtaining a significant reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions in the useful life of the building, in which it applies for different types of climates, in different types of buildings [ 27 ]. It was recognized that the thermal bioarchitectural framework was valid as a bridge between architecture and biology [ 28 ] in order to find designs with efficient thermal performances.…”