An ecosystem based biomimetic theory for a regenerative built environment

Biomimicry, where flora, fauna or entire ecosystems are emulated as a basis for design, has attracted considerable interest in the fields of architectural design and engineering as an innovative new design approach and importantly as a potential way to shift the built environment to a more sustainable paradigm. The practical application of biomimicry as a design methodology, particularly in the built environment, remains elusive however. This paper seeks to contextualise the various approaches to biomimicry and provides an integrated set of principles that could form the basis for an ecosystem based design theory. This would enable practitioners to reach beyond sustainability to a regenerative design practice where the built environment becomes a vital component in the integration with and regeneration of natural ecosystems as the wider human habitat. 2 ECOSYSTEM BASED BIOMIMICRY Humans affect ecosystems and evolutionary processes at great rates and in multiple ways (Imhoff et al., 2004). Despite traditional approaches in the study of ecology where systems tended to be studied as unaffected and separate from human influence, it may be as Alberti et al, (2003) suggest, impossible to look at ecosystems as separate from human systems. Despite the fact that there may not be any ecosystems that are truly unaffected by humans, and that humans are inherently part of the natural world, there are some obvious and essential differences in the way that non-human-dominated and human-dominated systems work. Nonhuman-dominated ecosystems, particularly those that are k-strategists (more complex and longer lived), tend to function in way that is conducive to dynamically sustained and ongoing life (Benyus, 1997, Berkebile and McLennan, 2004). In this particular period of human existence, there are perhaps some valuable observations humans can make of ‘natural’ ecosystems in the creation of human habitat that is able to integrate with and regenerate rather than damage the ecosystems they are part of. 3 BIOMIMICRY AND ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN Biomimicry, particularly at the ecosystem level has yet to be meaningfully explored in built form, with few examples existing beyond an aesthetic metaphor. A documented example that does go beyond a simple mimicking of form is Mick Pearce’s Eastgate Building in Harare, Zimbabwe and the CH2 project in Melbourne, Australia based on the mimicking of the building behaviour of certain termites. The temperature regulation observed in the mounds is achieved through careful orientation, spatial organisation and techniques of passive ventilation. AlderseyWilliams (2003) also details a number of buildings that mimic animals in various ways. Although most do not go beyond the form level, a notable exception is the Waterloo International Terminal. Designed by Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners, the terminal is able to respond to changes in air pressure as trains move through it. Its glass panel fixings mimic the flexible, scaly Pangolin making them able to move in response to imposed forces. 4 BIOMIMICRY FOR REGENERATIVE DESIGN While biomimicry at the organism level may be inspirational for its potential to produce novel architectural designs, the possibility exists that a building as part of a larger system, that is able to mimic natural processes and can function like an ecosystem in its creation, use and eventual end of life, has the potential to contribute to a built environment that goes beyond sustainability and starts to become regenerative (Van der Ryn, 2005; Reed, 2006). Although the authors are not aware of any built architectural examples that demonstrate comprehensive ecosystem based biomimicry, there are proposed projects that display aspects of such an approach such as the Lloyd Crossing Project proposed for Portland, Oregon. The project’s design team including Mith n Architects and GreenWorks Landscape Architecture Consultants use estimations of how the ecosystem that existed on the site before development functioned, termed by them Pre–development MetricsTM to set a wide range of goals for the ecological performance of the project over an extended time period. 5 ECOSYSTEM RESEARCH Ecology literature typically does not offer sets of generalised principles but tends to explore the complexities of certain aspects of ecosystems. While there is considerable overlap in how ecosystems are described between sources, not all authors are in agreement. Because of the interconnected nature of ecosystems and the ways in which they function, it is difficult to organise generalised principles into a neat list which accurately encapsulates the complexity of the relationships between each principle (Charest, 2007). It is however considered that an examination of the relationships between each principle has potential to offer additional insights into how human design could be based on ecosystems and that the development of a comprehensive relationship diagram could be a useful step in the evolution of a model that is able to portray this. A recent iteration of the Biomimicry Guild’s Life’s Principles remains the only non-linear model of this type that the authors are aware of (Biomimicry Guild, 2007). In this case, Pedersen Zari conducted a comparative analysis of related knowledge of ecosystem principles in the disciplines of ecology, biology, industrial ecology, ecological design and biomimicry and used this to formulate a group of ecosystem principles aiming to capture cross disciplinary understandings of ecosystem functioning. It is intended that this biomimetic theory in the form of a set of principles based on ecosystem function could be employed by designers, to aid in the evolution of methodologies to enable the creation of a more sustainable built environment. An initial matrix (available from the authors upon request) was used to compare information from explanations of generalised ecosystem principles. From this, an inventory was complied encompassing as much of the information as possible. The following sources were used: Benyus (1997), Berkebile & McLennan (2004), Biomimicry Guild (2007), Copeman (2006), de Groot et al. (2002), Faludi (2005), Hastrich (2006), Hoeller (2006), Kelly (1994), Kibert et al. (2002), Korhonen (2001), McDonough & Braungart (2002), Reap et al. (2005), Thompson (1942), Vincent (2002), Vincent et al. (2006) and Vogel (1998). Additional sources, typically from the discipline of ecology were used to expand upon each principle. 6 ECOSYSTEM PRINCIPLES The ecosystem principles provided here are proposed as a set of generalised norms for the way most ecosystems operate rather than absolute laws and should be taken as a starting point for further research to fully understand the different and important aspects of each simplified principle. Without comprehensive explanations of each principle, which is beyond the scope of the paper, the effectiveness of simplified lists of ecosystem principles aimed at use by designers with little background ecological knowledge are likely to remain at the level of metaphor. While Korhonen (2001) points out that mimicking at the metaphoric level is not insignificant in terms of increasing overall performance of the built environment, opportunities exist for design to be positively integrated with global biogeochemical cycles through a thorough understanding of ecology beyond the metaphoric level. The principles provided in Table 1 should not be taken as a comprehensive explanation of the ways ecosystems function, but are intended to give designers with limited knowledge of ecology a set of operating principles which, if employed, could significantly improve the sustainability of the human built environment. A brief explanation of each principle follows Table 1. Ecosystem principles listed can be applied to the design process by transforming them into a set of questions that are asked of the project at each stage of the design (Biomimicry Guild, 2007, Charest, 2007). Table 1. Ecosystem Principles 1. Ecosystems are dependant on contemporary sunlight. -Energy is sourced from contemporary sunlight. -The sun acts as a spatial and time organising mechanism. 2. Ecosystems optimise the system rather than its components. -Matter is cycled and energy is transformed effectively. -Materials and energy are used for multiple functions. -Form tends to be determined by function. 3. Ecosystems are attuned to and dependant on local conditions. -Materials tend to be sourced and used locally. -Local abundances become opportunities 4. Ecosystems are diverse in components, relationships and information. -Diversity is related to resilience. -Relationships are complex and operate in various hierarchies. -Ecosystems are made up of interdependent cooperative and competitive relationships. -Emergent effects tend to occur. -Complex systems tend to be self organising and distributed. 5. Ecosystems create conditions favorable to sustained life. -Production and functioning is environmentally benign. -Ecosystems enhance the biosphere as they function. 6. Ecosystems adapt and evolve at different levels and at different rates. -Constant flux achieves a balance of non-equilibrium -Limits, tend to be creative mechanisms -Ecosystems have some ability to self heal