Biomimicry

Thermal Behavior
The thermal performance of a walling unit can be governed by a number of factors, of which some
are-

 thickness: The thickness of a walling unit governs the thermal lag, the temperature difference
between the inside and the outside, the U-Value and plays an important role in the material
selection of the walling unit
 Layering: The layers in a walling unit directly affect the thermal performance because of the
different physical properties of the materials or even if homogenous, the contact and other
relevant conditions might vary
 Material: The physical properties of any material like the thermal conductivity, density, specific
heat capacity, porosity, molecular arrangement are directly related to the thermal performance
 Ambient conditions: The conditions like temperature, humidity, ingress opportunities, proper
sealing etc. also affect the thermal performance
The heat exchange in a walling unit takes
place through conduction, convection and
radiation.
A few points need to be considered to ensure
good thermal behaviour. They are:
 Reduce direct solar heat gain.
 A good material choice or micro level
design intervention.
 A good design intervention at the
interaction layer level is important.
 A good overall design facilitating good
thermal performance is necessary.
 Plant thermal exchange
Biomimicry can be divided into
three level and these levels are
categorized based on the three
major types of mimicry observed
in nature:
 The organism
 The behavior
 Ecosystem
 Oragnaism level- weaver bird nest
 These nests provide the perfect
thermal conditions inside for the
birds to lay and hatch their eggs
and for the optimum protection
and growth of their hatchlings.
 The nests have insulated walls of
multiple layers. The walls of the
nest are woven around a central
frame and vary in thickness
depending on the area of the nest.
 Behavioral level- elephant skin
 Elephants usually found in the warm climates are often
found dousing their body with water sprays or taking
mud baths.
 Fanning their large ears to generate wind close to 0.5
ms−1 on their skin. They use trans-epidermal
evaporation to regulate their body temperature by the
virtue of the design of their skin.
 They are also known for actively regulating their
blood flow in the body to create thermal windows .
These thermal windows are found all over the body of
the elephant especially on the flanks and majorly the
ears.
 It is seen that these thermal windows act as areas of
intense heat exchange when the elephants come to
areas where the ambient temperature is lesser than
their body temperature.
 Ecosystem Level—The Interaction of the Littorinid Snails and Its
Immediate Surroundings
 - The behavioural traits that help the snails
regulate their thermal conditions like going back
into the shell help reduce direct heat gain either
by conduction or convection.
 - They also have a tendency to fix the shells to a
surface facilitating good convective
cooling inside the shell despite the hot surface
temperature.
 - The design of the shell helps in maintaining an
internal temperature differential with the
temperature lower, closer to the peak.
 - Some snail shells have ridges and tiny holes
that can facilitate the trapping of water and hence
facilitate evaporative cooling.
 Al–bahar Towers (united arab emirated)
The façade system defines the typical typology
of the area’s skyscrapers. The “Mashrabiya”
shading system, based on a traditional Arab
latticework, is one of the main concepts which
provide a contextual and culturally sensitive
design which also utilises modern technology
to achieve the highest possible standards of
efficiency.

A dynamic and reactive shading screen

By night, all the screens fold, allowing
more of the façade . As the sun rises in the
morning in the East, the mashrabiya across
the length of that side of the building
begins to close and when the sun moves
round the building, the entire vertical strip
of the mashrabiya moves with the sun.
further diminishes the solar gain, acting like
a “Mashrabiya”a second skin which filters
the light and reduces the glare. The system is
driven by renewable energy derived from the
photovoltaic panels. The giant lattice almost
completely surrounds the two towers,
excepting the section of the façades which
faces North.
 EASTGATE CENTRE-ZIMBABWE
Termites have an amazing ability to maintain
virtually constant temperature and humidity in
their termite mounds in Africa despite outside
temperatures that may vary from 35°F to 104°F
(3°C to 42°C).
Researchers initially scanned a
termite mound and created 3-D
images of the mound structure,
which revealed construction that
can influence human building
design.

The Eastgate Centre, a mid-rise office complex

in Harare, Zimbabwe, uses a form of passive
cooling  similar to how the termite mound works
and stays cool without air conditioning and uses
only 10% of the energy of a conventional
building its size.
 Melbourne City Council House (CH2)
During warm days, the water stored in the
winter and frozen by compressor passes
Sustainable technologies can be through the entire building and the chillers
observed in every aspect and level installed on the roof of each floor. This flow of
of this 10-storey building The water generates a gentle coolth of 18 °C in the
presence of underground water workspace. This method is used in place of the
treatment facility, the phase traditional method of using a fan to blow the
change material used for cooling, cold air into the building
the automatic windows used for
heat purging at night, the shades
that adjust to sunlight direction,
and even the plant pots used on
facade, are all symbols of
purposeful and fresh thinking
behind the design
 Submitted by-

Tarun Sharma
Archit Parihar
Thankyou Shriya banka
Aditi Khandelwal

B.arch VI semester
asap, aur, jaipur