Fascinating, isn’t it? The latest, greatest idea to hit the ‘green movement’ – and it’s borrowed from termites. Lund University has just published a study that says we can simulate the climate control system used by termites in their nests to create climate-smart buildings with efficiency in use. higher energy and negligible carbon dioxide emissions.
These termite mounds are praised for their sophisticated ventilation systems that are said to regulate temperature and humidity. David Andréen, senior lecturer in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at Lund University, eloquently presents the digitalization of design, biological systems and how they
provides an important model of how we can best use these capabilities.
According to research published in the journal Frontiers in Materials, the interior of termite nests consists of interconnected channels, tunnels and air chambers. They are thought to be able to capture wind energy for respiration – or exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide with the environment. The researchers suggest that similar structures could be integrated into the walls of buildings to facilitate a new method of controlling airflow, heat and humidity.
Andréen introduces the concept of creating climate-smart buildings by developing chaotic, dynamic and variable systems. These systems will require a small power supply and can be driven by very small equipment. Control of these systems will only require electronic control,
“Do not use mechanical parts such as fans or valves.”
The team has clearly demonstrated how airflow interacts with geometry – how parameters in the structure generate emergent flows, and how these flows can be selectively tuned. Andréen suggests that this system could be a prerequisite for a
distributed system in which many small sensors and regulators are housed in a climate-adapted building envelope through miniaturization, durability/sustainability and cost reduction.
At this point, the question needs to be asked: Can these principles really be applied to human architecture in a meaningful, scalable, and cost-effective way? The report casually suggests that this architectural revolution is only possible with complex internal geometries achieved through 3D printing. Has anyone taken into account the resource requirements, carbon footprint and scalability of such an approach? In light of these questions, one cannot help but recall a similar period when “bio-inspired” design resulted in a series of buildings shaped like pinecones and seashells, with little or no have practical benefits or improve sustainability.
Andréen concludes with almost reverent admiration for the termites’ “construction process” that leads to “incredibly complex ‘engineering masterpieces'” without the need for centralized control or nature. draw. Well, they may be insects, but one has to remember that termites have existed for millions of years, refining their constructions to their specific needs and environment without being bound by regulations. urban planning regulations, building codes or market forces.
While the concept itself is fascinating, one must not forget to take into account the inherent complexity and reality of human architecture and urban development before honoring termites as saviors. our architecture. Until these climate-smart designs can demonstrate their viability in real-world applications – scaling from mounds the size of termites to buildings with human-sized, taking into account countless regulations, cost considerations and human comfort needs – one could do this study with a grain of sand… or should we say, a piece of wood ?
Source: Lund University. “Termites-inspired climate-friendly air conditioning.” Lund University News, 2023. DOI: 10.3389/fmats.2023.1126974.
It’s an open access article if you want to read it.
David Andreenfirst* And Rupert soars2
- firstBioDigital Matter, Faculty of Architecture and Built Environment, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- 2School of Architecture, Design and Built Environment, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK
In this paper, we investigate the operational potential of a mesh tunnel network to act as a driver of selective air flows in building envelopes and thus facilitate the conditioning semi-passive climate. We explore whether such transient flows can be used to generate functionally graded metamaterials in bio-inspired, additively fabricated buildings. Tunnel networks are modeled on complex exit found in the mounds of several species of large termites. The hypothesis that we explore is that low-amplitude oscillating airflow can be used to create large-scale turbulence in the network and thus increase the mass transmission rate on the network. The hypothesis is tested through a series of 3-D and 2-D experiments in which different geometries are exposed to forced vibrations of a column of air or water. Results were evaluated in 3-D experiments through tracer gas measurements and in 2-D experiments through visual qualitative assessment using fluorescent dyes. We find that the oscillating fluid generates large-scale turbulence that causes mass transport through the tunneling network, and that this turbulence occurs when certain combinations of amplitude, frequency, and shape are achieved. network form. Furthermore, we conclude that the net mass transfer is large enough to have a useful function in the building envelope as a method to modulate the climate inside the building or the microclimate of the shell itself.
1. Introduction
Emerging technologies in additive manufacturing and computational design are opening up entirely new possibilities for efficient building envelopes, where complex and (microscopic) geometries are specific to each location may allow the creation of functionally classified metamaterials (Soar and Andréen, 2012). Metamaterials are materials that have been shaped in a way that gives them properties not present in their natural conditions. They have long been a concept of major significance in small-scale, high-value engineering such as electronics or, more recently, mechanical engineering. However, with the emergence of additive manufacturing technologies capable of creating complex shapes even at large volumes (currently the most advanced bed powder printers can produce objects that can area up to 8 cubic meters in one night, with extremely high resolution), there are more and more opportunities to implement these concepts in the construction industry.
In this paper, we explore how such functionally classified metamaterials can be modeled on the structures found in termite mounds. The large mound structures created by termites to function as physiological organs, through their complex internal shape and function, regulate significant respiratory airflows and maintain an lateral microclimate inside with a large difference in humidity and temperature compared to the outside (Heyde et al., 2021). They derive their function mainly from geometry and can adapt to an incredible variety of surroundings. Biological systems exhibit a close coherence between form and function, and can benefit from highly complex and specific form. They can serve as a model not only for the direct relationship between form and performance, but also for the reproductive processes that enable organisms to produce such structures (Andréen and Goidea, 2022; Goidea et al., 2022).
The hypothesis tested in this paper is that the network of tunnels found in the contour of the mound, when activated by transient air movements, will produce useful mass transport and can controlled through the envelope. If such a flow can be selectively induced within and through a permeable structure, it could provide a useful tool for semi-passively modulating the building climate and microbiology. building envelope climate. The paper’s ambition is to provide proof of concept for previously undocumented mechanisms and to establish what geometrical parameters can be used to control effects.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmats.2023.1126974/full
quote: Andréen D and Soar R (2023) Termites-inspired metamaterials for building envelopes that behave in a flow manner. Previous. Mom. 10:1126974. doi: 10.3389/fmats.2023.1126974license © 2023 Andréen and Soar. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY). Use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, as long as the original author(s) and copyright holder(s) are credited and the original publication in this journal is cited, consistent with accepted academic practice. Use, distribution, or reproduction that do not comply with these terms is not permitted.
Related
