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- Bi-o-mim-ic-ry:
- From the Greek bios, or life, and mimesis, or imitation.
- www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1663317_1663319_1669888,00.html
- www.biomimicryinstitute.org/about-us/what-do-you-mean-by-the-term-biomimicry.html
- www.biomimicryinstitute.org
- www.biomimicryguild.com/guild_biomimicry.html
- www.biomimicry.net/indexbiomimicryexp.htm
- www.biomimicry.net/indexbiomimicryexp.htm
Author Janine Benyus in her book - Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature - names an emerging discipline that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature’s designs and processes. David Perlman of San Francisco Chronicle called her book “one viable answer to the wake-up call that Rachel Carson sounded a generation ago in Silent Spring.”
Janine is honored as one of TIME International’s Heroes of the Environment: Leaders & Visionaries, (Oct. 10, 2007) for her innovative work in biomimicry. Al Gore, David Attenborough, Mikhail Gorbachev, Robert Redford, George Schaller, Amory Lovins, and others join her. TIME describes the book this way: “Janine Benyus’ luscious 1997 book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature is unique and profound. In the book, she not only invents a new field that she has named biomimicry, but she inverts the way we all think about design — the alchemy that turns intention into action.” Amory B. Lovins says of Janine’s work, “This will change your life. It has already changed mine. And it may save the world”.
Biomimicry Principles include:
Nature as model: Biomimicry is a new science that studies nature’s models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems, e.g.,
a solar cell inspired by a leaf. Nature as measure: Biomimicry uses an ecological standard to judge the “rightness” of our innovations. After 3.8 billion years of evolution, nature has learned: What works. What is appropriate. What lasts. Nature as mentor: Biomimicry is a new way of viewing and valuing nature. It introduces a new era of thinking based not on what we can extract from the natural world (think mining and drilling for fossil fuels), but on what we can learn from it, one that uses the sun for energy rather than the stored sunlight from 3 billion years ago, and where cooperation prevails instead of competition and confrontation. Four themes or steps are woven throughout her book: quieting human cleverness, listening to life’s genius, echoing what we learn, and giving thanks. Biomimicry Laws, Strategies & Principles state that Nature: runs on sunlight, uses only the energy it needs, fits form and function, recycles everything, rewards cooperation, banks on diversity, demands local expertise, curbs excesses from within, and taps the power limits.
Some examples of Biomimicry: Ceramics Inspired by Abalone, a Walking Cane Inspired by Bat Sonar, Glue Inspired by Blue Mussels. Watch Janine Benyus speak at TED about 12 Sustainable Design Ideas from Nature: www.e4s.org/content/biomimicry.asp
“In the end, the question is not ‘how do we use nature to serve our interests.’ It is ‘how can we use humans to serve nature’s interest?’” - William McDonough
You might be intrigued with the information on this new discipline, but wondering how it presents itself in the world. Here are two real life examples: The Japanese Bullet Train “I learned first hand that truth can be found in the way life exerts itself in order to persist and carry on in this world. From then on, ‘learning from nature’ became a recurrent theme for me.” – Eiji Nakatsu, Design engineer of the Japanese Shikansen bullet train, whose quieter, more efficient design was inspired by the serration feathers of owls and bill of kingfishers.
Termite-Inspired Air Conditioning
Architect Mick Pearce collaborated with engineers at Arup Associates to build a mid-rise building in Harare, Zimbabwe that has no air-conditioning, yet stays cool thanks to a termite-inspired ventilation system. The Eastgate building is modeled on the self-cooling mounds of Macrotermes michaelseni, termites that maintain the temperature inside their nest to within one degree of 31 °C, day and night, - while the external temperature varies between 3 °C and 42 °C. Eastgate uses only 10 percent of the energy of a conventional building its size, saved 3.5 million in air conditioning costs in the first five years, and has rents that are 20% lower than a newer building next door. Research is ongoing and new designs continue to emerge.
Check this web site for more information: www.biomimicryinstitute.org/case-studies/
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