Scientists are trying to mimic the ability of spiders to produce ultra-strong fibers without the use of heat or toxins.

Underwater glue, molecular-sized solar cells, self-assembly, insect communication, swarm behavior, genetic algorithms – what do these biological phenomena have in common? These are all inspiring innovation through a process called "biomimicry." Biomimicry is budding in the Bay Area in the form of new business technologies, design think tanks, and K-university curriculum.

By bringing biologists to the design table, biomimicry offers solutions for increasing sustainability of products, processes, and systems. Popular Science published an article in March interviewing Biomimicry Guild's Tim McGee on how bio-inspired design is reshaping the future.

Biomimicry is gaining widespread recognition for its interdisciplinary approach to innovation. The College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley hosted Janine Benyus's talk on biomimicry and the future of architecture and environmental design last February. Recognizing the opportunities that abound through interdisciplinary collaboration, IDEO and Autodesk designed and built a digital library of nature's strategy's called AskNature. Conventional businesses are even being challenged to address and improve organizational, IT, and design challenges using concepts and expertise from octopi and flamingos.

Despite the buzz, actually designing and building things that are biomimetic is quite challenging. Stanford lecturer and designer Jeremy Faludi attests, "Most designers, engineers, architects, and other people who build things just don't know that much about biology and the natural world, and when they do, there's often a gap of capability in available materials manufacturing methods, and economic systems." Even the most creative people can get stuck thinking along certain lines. Defining a design problem is challenging and finding strategies in nature that inspire solutions can be even trickier.
Researchers study swarm behavior for more efficient computing.

A new interdisciplinary course at UC Berkeley, "How Would Nature Do That?", tackles these challenges through project-based learning. Students from architecture, engineering, business, science, and design disciplines learn from each other and nature to implement innovative solutions to sustainable design challenges. By offering case studies of biomimicry, along with guest lectures and a series of design challenges, instructors Tom McKeag, Dr. Robert Full, and Dr. Lewis Feldman hope students will gain exposure to multiple methods for design.

Dr. Robert Full uses bio-inspired design and established the UCB Center for Interdisciplinary Bio-inspiration in Education and Research (CIBER).

A few weeks ago I visited the class, which is held at the Cal Design Space. Several student teams were previewing some of their ideas; one team was tasked with designing a sustainable humidity control system for a greenhouse. Discovering that the Hercules beetle changes color with changes in humidity, the team conceptualized a filtration membrane that activated upon sensing changes in color. In addition, I was delighted to hear renowned biomechanist Dr. Steven Vogel of Duke University give a presentation on his previous work. His talk inspired students to consider designing passive HVAC systems based on his observations of limpets, sand dollars, fish nostrils, rhododendrons, desert spiders and many other examples.

The course is sponsored by Qualcomm’s MEMS Technology Unit and is a joint effort of the College of Natural Resources, and the College of Letters & Science. Highlights from the course include guest lecturer Dr. Michael Weinstock from the Architectural Association of London and author of the "Architecture of Emergence," as well as visits to the CIBER lab, tidepooling at Duxbury Reef in Bolinas and a field trip to Qualcomm in San Jose.

Biomimicry education can also be found in other sustainability courses and centers in the Bay Area. Cabrillo College's sustainable cultures class all incorporate biomimicry principles into design thinking. The Monterey Bay Aquarium hosts the daily show 'Whales to Windmills': Inspiration from the Sea, a Biomimicry Institute production. Biomimicry curriculum produced by BioDream Machine teaches students at the Marine Science Institute in Redwood City to observe different adaptations and functions within San Francisco Bay marine life. Even the Cal Academy of Sciences devotes a website which introduces bio-inspired technologies.

Qualcomm's Mirasol display technology uses the same principle of light interference to produce color as does a butterfly wing.

The Bay Area is also a hub for biomimicry technology. Moss Landing-based company, Calera, manufactures a concrete that sequesters CO2 by emulating sea coral. San Rafael's PAX Scientific developed fluid-handling devices based on the efficiencies of natural fluid flow. And in Napa, Aquagy uses anaerobic digestion and microalgae to treat wastewater in a carbon-negative process.

With any new method of design comes rounds of trial and error. But that's not stopping investors and researchers. JWT, a prominent marketing communications brand, announced that biomimicry is the #11 thing to watch in 2011. With its widespread recognition, biomimicry is certain to inspire real innovation to today's design challenges.

QUEST on KQED Public Media

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This is a LEED-certified building on Columbus Circle
in New York City. Anything wrong with this picture?

But there is some question as to whether LEED buildings actually save energy. Henry Gifford, an engineer and mechanical system designer in New York City, "…the best data available shows that on average, they (LEED-certified buildings) use more energy than comparable buildings." His view is controversial, but I have seen the data he used and have studied his analysis and it seems reasonable to me, though I am not a statistician and have done a limited amount of number crunching in my short career as an engineer before becoming a writer.

I have heard the arguments from the other side and haven't been convinced. Even from a common sense perspective, it seams unrealistic that LEED buildings are built to save energy. I've seen too many LEED certified buildings with a large percentage of windows as exterior walls–that is like trying to build an energy efficient building without walls. Also, LEED certification does not require performance testing of buildings. A building can achieve points for energy efficiency from modeling alone. In my role as editor of Home Energy Magazine, I have wanted to publish in-depth articles about LEED-certified homes, but I have been unable to find a LEED-certified building owner or designer who is willing to publish a full year of performance data, post-occupancy.

The LEED program has made green building a common term and a sought after designation among architects, builders, and developers across the nation. LEED buildings may use more environmentally friendly materials and be healthier for their occupants. But it is not yet clear to me that they save energy compared to business as usual. If we want to achieve energy independence, combat the worst effects of global warming, and grow a green economy, we can't afford to build–and celebrate–buildings built as usual.

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Mackey Kitchen: Foam and Rigid Insulation.
Photo credit: Daniel Mackey

Since the 1970s and the first energy crisis, California's per capita energy use has remained about the same. Even though we all now have a lot more gadgets–computers, cell phones, DVD players–and a lot more air conditioning, energy use per person has remained the same. This is thanks to energy efficiency. But the world needs more than efficiency to deal with the present energy and environmental crisis. We need to use less energy overall. California, which has committed to reduce its CO2 emissions rate to 1990 levels by 2020, can't rest on its laurels.

California's Title 24 building codes are among the most progressive in the country. New homes built in California today are about 15% more energy efficient than the average new home. But 70% of California's existing housing stock was built before Title 24 came into being in 1980. Making new homes more efficient is not enough. To solve our energy and environmental problems, we have to make our existing homes much more efficient. Home Energy is publishing an article in its January/February 2009 issue about an old home outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that was retrofit to use 80% less energy than it did before the retrofit (way to go Pennsylvania!). This was done without a lot of fancy and expensive technology. The house is comfortable, and the occupants are energy conscious and make wise choices about its energy use. It gets down to the basics–air sealing, insulation, proper ventilation, and educated occupants.

A new program in California is reaching for deep energy savings in existing homes. Build It Green's GreenPoint Rated Existing Home program aims at "the mother lode of energy savings," California's existing homes (Build It Green also rates and labels new homes). "GreenPoint Rated Existing Home makes it possible for existing green homes and remodels to quantify their performance in the five key environmental categories of Community, Energy, Indoor Air Quality, Resource Efficiency, and Water, while providing the homeowner with a label they can trust," writes Cory Fitch, Program Associate for Build It Green. "The GreenPoint Rated label adds value to the home as homeowners gain confidence that their home is not only more resource efficient, but more comfortable and healthy as well." The program is past the pilot stage, and Build It Green is offering training to contractors and builders who want to participate in the program. As the housing market continues to slump, builders can distinguish themselves from the competition by offering green homes and green home retrofits and by participating in reputable labeling programs like Build It Green's. And saving energy and money makes more sense in difficult economic times.

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The California Academy of Sciences

Before starting construction, the Academy was committed to creating a Platinum building to exemplify and embody the Academy mission to explore, explain and protect the natural world. Thirty-four of the fifty-four points were received for the construction of the building. The remaining twenty points were awarded a year after the building was built to ensure that all systems worked effectively. LEED awards its point in the following categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality and innovation and design process. The examples below touch upon the many ways the Academy took on the commitment to a green building and sustainability:

• The new Academy was integrated into the natural environment of Golden Gate Park. The vision of Renzo Piano, the architect of the building, was to lift an acre of the park up and put a museum underneath. His use of light and transparency further reinforces the integration with the park.

• By absorbing rainwater, the new Academy's living roof prevents up to 3.6 million gallons of runoff from carrying pollutants into the ecosystem each year (about 98% of all storm water).

• Over 90% of the demolition waste from the old Academy was recycled. 9,000 tons of concrete were reused in Richmond roadway construction, 12,000 tons of steel were recycled and went to Schnitzer Steel, and 120 tons of green waste were recycled on site. Most of the materials used to build the new building were also sustainable. All the steel in the building was recycled and the insulation within the walls was made from recycled blue jeans.

• Radiant floor heating reduces energy needs by 5-10%. Heat recovery systems also captures and utilizes heat produced by HVAC equipment, reducing heating energy use.

• At least 90% of regularly occupied spaces has access to daylight and outside views, reducing energy use and heat gain from electric lighting.

• Rather than hiding the green aspects of the building, they are in plain sight. Such examples include the living roof, use of remarkably clear glass, skylights, concrete with recycled bio-ash and a motorized ventilation system. The green building is an exhibit in itself.

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Architect Nabih Tahan's home in Berkeley was built to Passivhaus
standards. It needs no furnace or air conditioning
and is comfortable year-round.

One of the highlights of the week was going on nature walks a few mornings with David Lucas, a naturalist. (He is the author of Wild Birds of California and revised the classic guidebook Sierra Nevada Natural History.) His insights about birds and other life forms found their way into many a poem written that week. Did you know that some bird species have more that 120 distinct tunes that they learn to sing in a certain order? I didn't. The really hot singers can do a shuffle of songs but not miss one of the 120. Just before dawn, neighboring birds duel with one another with song variations. And their brains are so much smaller than ours!

Imagine memorizing 120 poems and being able to recite them all in a row, and then getting up early the next morning for a poetry slam where you mix and match stanzas; starting, for example, with some Wordsworth, then a little T.S. Eliot, mix in some Emily Dickinson, and end with some "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg.

So, What has this to do with green homes? Lucas showed us the force of nature that in all things wants to survive. At Squaw Valley we created poetry that in a short time connected us to one another. That feels to me like surviving in a culture that wants us always competing with each other. Creativity seems as natural as eating, and I think it's how we are going to get out of the present environmental crisis we are in.

This morning I heard about some scientists at MIT who discovered a catalyst that could very well make the conversion of sunlight into hydrogen easy and inexpensive. And a few weeks ago I visited a house in Berkeley built to Passivhaus standards. The standards were developed in Austria but are new to the United States. The architect and occupant of the home I visited in Berkeley, Nabih Tahan, is bringing the concept in this country. A Passivhaus is so well designed that it doesn't need a furnace for heating or an air conditioner for cooling, even in Germany. Because the house is so well sealed, it needs to be ventilated mechanically. That is done through a heat recovery ventilator, a device that pulls up to 80% of the heat from exhaust air and transfers it to the incoming, fresh air. These houses use very little energy.

The poets and the architects are doing it, and the birds are doing it with their tiny birdbrains. We all can learn to adapt creatively to different ways of thinking about our environment, different ways of building buildings, and different ways of living in them.

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Cris Benton inspects his kite aerial photography rig
before sending it up in the sky. Credit: Jane Liaw.

UC Berkeley architecture professor Charles 'Cris' Benton is a kite aerial photography (KAP) enthusiast. Benton is well-known in the KAP world for sharing his knowledge and love of the art.

In this art form, a camera is carried aloft by a kite and operated remotely from the ground. The pictures taken provide a bird's-eye view that can’t be seen from the ground or an airplane. Benton's Web site, chock full of information and gorgeous photos, has attracted numerous newbies to KAP.

I am profiling Benton for the UC Santa Cruz Science Communication Program. As I was casting around for an interesting scientist to write about, Benton stood out to me. He has a distinct and coherent philosophy that extends through both work and hobby.

Benton explains his attraction to KAP on the Web site:

Kite aerial photography appeals to that part of me, perhaps of all of us, that would slip our earthly bonds and see the world from new heights. An aerial view offers a fresh perspective of familiar landscapes and in doing so challenges our spatial sensibilities, our grasp of relationships.

KAP is a natural fit for Benton, who says architects also think about bird's-eye perspectives and relationships between buildings in the landscape.

KAP was invented more than a century ago, but fell out of favor as military and commercial photography from airplanes became popular. In past few decades, artists interested in a unique perspective from the sky have revived the art. Today, thousands of people worldwide pursue KAP, and Benton is one respected example. He builds the rigs that hold his camera aloft from parts he finds around the house. The camera cradle, for instance, is re-purposed from an old computer hard drive. Benton, who took his first aerial photographs at Cesar Chavez Park in 1995, has built every rig himself; he's now on his tenth.

Benton's creation is impressive. He has set a camera in a wooden frame, and engineered a remote mechanism that pushes the shutter button and can move his camera to vertical or horizontal positions. To take his aerial photos, he handles the spool of kite string with one hand and works the radio controller that remotely manipulates the camera with the other.

At Cesar Chavez Park today, I watch as Benton hooks the kite to a park bench after it's aloft, then attaches the camera to the kite line, rigged in a pulley system that allows Benton to move the camera up and down the line. He snaps a few photos of himself at different heights to show me.

Benton peers up at his rig as he positions it for some
photo-taking. Credit: Jane Liaw.
Benton doesn't use real-time video to help compose his shots, as some kite aerial photographers do. With video, the photographer on the ground sees exactly what the camera's shot will look like. Instead, Benton "interrogates the landscape." He thinks through the shot, forms a hypothesis on what he might see if he were looking through the camera lens in the sky, takes the picture, and compares his imaginings to the actual shot.

Benton has in recent years developed a fascination with the south San Francisco Bay. For several years, he has been documenting the area as part of the San Francisco Exploratorium’s Hidden Ecologies project. Benton takes kite aerial photographs of the South Bay salt flats and other Bay geographies, while a microbiologist takes "microcinematography"– photos of tiny critters such as bacteria and diatoms that inhabit these ecosystems, captured with the help of field microscopes.

Benton has published his photos on a blog: majestic overviews of the South Bay salt ponds that run the color spectrum from red to green to pink, depending on how the microscopic organisms adapt to varying salinity levels.

Cris will be collaborating with KQED staff on our next 2-minute "Your Photos on QUEST" segment for broadcast and web distribution. It will air on August 26, 2008.

His stunning set of Kite Aerial Photography of South San Francisco Bay did a wonderful job of expressing a sense of locale, with a passion for nature, via a process that captures something unexpected and essential.

In his own words:

"…juxtapositions abound – dendritic marsh channels as foils for the straight lines of infrastructure; wild openness confronting the confines of encroaching capitalism; salt ponds, vividly colored by the aforementioned halophiles, constrained by subtly hued mud and marsh; derelict, forgotten engineering works faintly echoing their former functions. ."

Benton makes his own kite rigs, but if you're interested in taking up the hobby and are daunted by putting together your own equipment, you can also buy ready-made rigs online from Brooks Leffler, a pioneer of modern KAP.

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The California Energy Commission asked the Davis Energy Group in Sacramento to evaluate new home construction in California a few years ago. The following excerpt from Home Energy Magazine tells you what they found.
The increasing architectural complexity of new homes requires greater vigilance on the part of framers, insulators, and drywall contractors to create a single thermal/pressure boundary between conditioned and unconditioned spaces. The more complex the design of the home, the more coordination is needed among the various members of the design team. Yet, mechanical contractors are rarely consulted regarding the integration of ducts and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) equipment into the house design. Contractors often lack both the knowledge and the time to implement house-as-a-system construction concepts. In addition, there is not an adequate infrastructure in place to provide contractors and installers with necessary training and certification.
House-as-a-system, or whole-house design, requires an integrated approach to water management. When I visited Japan, I went inside elegant buildings that were centuries old and made almost entirely of wood. Japan has a prolonged wet season, much like the northern coast of California. Because of this, the roofs of the Japanese houses I saw were designed to move moisture away from the structure. Inside, the buildings were well ventilated with the wood framing members exposed. Wood absorbs water during the wet season and dries during the dry season, allowing these healthy buildings to breathe in and out like other organisms.
In previous centuries, building homes was a craft learned primarily through apprenticeship with a master builder who knew how to create a whole house that worked in the wet, dry, humid, hot, cold, and/or windy climate in which it was built. Today, however, the home building industry is fractured, with designers and general contractors and several trades doing their parts and not always talking to each other. In order to build a house that works, all the players need to know how what they do individually in a house effects what everyone else is doing as well. Plumbers have to respect air and moisture barriers, designers have to understand moisture dynamics, and HVAC contractors have to understand the pressure dynamics of the whole house; otherwise furnaces will backdraft, mold will form in walls, homes will have poor indoor air quality, they will cost a fortune to operate, be very uncomfortable, and fall down after a few years.
In order to combat global warming and provide affordable housing to everyone who needs it, houses must be designed, built, and retrofitted to be energy efficient, healthy to live in, affordable, and made to last forever (or at least for a hundred years). Interested in being a part of the solution to global warming? Get a green collar job. In particular, I would recommend a career in home design and construction to anyone with the time and energy to get the right kind of education, training, and experience. There is plenty of work out there and that's not changing anytime soon. Home Energy publishes a training guide for people in North America interested in learning the concepts and tools of whole building design and construction. For the latest list, go to http://www.homeenergy.org/contrainingguide/index.php.

Jim Gunshinan is Managing Editor of Home Energy Magazine. He holds an M.S. in Bioengineering from Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, and a Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree from University of Notre Dame.

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