Biomimicry in Design of Building That Can Cool Itself
High rise, tall buildings are the insignia of modern urban places. With increasing urban population, in the last few decades, we have seen a surge in the number of buildings being constructed. Most of these modern buildings use air conditioner systems to cool themselves. There are multifold problems associated with these AC systems which are becoming urban challenges to overcome. In order to keep buildings cool these systems release a great quantity of heat in the outer environment which is leading to urban heating problems, they consume a lot of energy, and they release harmful gases which are detrimental to our environment.
In the year 1991 Mick Pearce an architect from Zimbabwe was faced with a challenge to develop the largest retail building in his country but without using an air conditioner system. Pearce came up with an ingenious solution; With the help of biomimicry — designs that are modeled on biological processes — Pearce developed the building with inspiration from termites mound. This building with the help of two giant fans and the genius architecture is able to keep itself cool without using air conditioners. The building is standing tall for the last three decades now.
With the help of modern technology and simulation techniques, urban design can help this innovation to get scaled and solve the cooling problem in modern buildings. The application of this solution will help to address the three key challenges — urban heating, growing energy need, and environmental degradation- of modern urban places in one stroke.
