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inspired building materials – lesson from nature
Anna Sandak
InnoRenew CoE, anna.sandak@innorenew.eu / University of Primorska, Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and
Information Technologies, anna.sandak@famnit.upr.si
Plants evolved during 460 million years to a constantly changing environment and became well
adapted to different climatic conditions (Koch and Barthlott, 2009). Due to their immobility as
individuals, plants are an excellent biological material for detecting climate phenomena. Living
organisms use smart, optimized and elegant solutions to survive, thanks to continuous selection
and mutation processes. Consequently, plants developed tissue with barrier properties while
they faced a number of existence challenges (water loss, extreme temperatures, UV radiation,
etc.).
Systems found in nature are a valuable source of inspiration for several applications. Scientists and
researchers from different fields (structural engineering, robotics, medicine, materials science)
use the concepts of biomimicking and bioinspiration. In the last years, the possibility to benefit
from solutions developed by nature also became more interesting for sustainable architecture.
Comprehensive analysis and evaluation of plants’ adaptation strategies (both static strategies
and dynamic mechanisms) to their environment in different climate zones is indispensable
to transfer concepts from biology to architecture. Consequently, specific adaptation solutions
might be implemented in new materials that will be used for building envelopes erected in the
same climatic zones. Integrating length scales and mixing biological, chemical and physical
concepts for tailoring materials properties during preparation should allow better designing
of future smart materials. The optimization process should lead to development of active
biomaterials performing as interfaces between outdoor conditions and internal comfort; they
should be able to regulate humidity, temperature, CO2 and light as well as capture and filter
pollutants and be self-assembling, self-cleaning, grafting and self-healing. This contribution
provides several examples representing plants’ adaptation to various environments that are
analysed and presented with the scope to inspire future researchers to implement them into
building materials.
Keywords: biomimicking, bioinspiration, climate adaptations, building façades
Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully acknowledge the European Commission for funding
the InnoRenew project (grant agreement #739574 under the Horizon2020 Widespread-Teaming
program) and the Republic of Slovenia (investment funding of the Republic of Slovenia and the
European Union European Regional Development Fund). Part of this work was conducted during
project ArchiBIO (BI/US-20-054) funded by ARRS.
REFERENCE
Koch, E., Barthlott, W., 2009. Superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic plant surfaces: an inspi-ration for biomimetic
materials. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 367, 1487–1509. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2009.0022
INNORENEW COE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2020
28
Anna Sandak
InnoRenew CoE, anna.sandak@innorenew.eu / University of Primorska, Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and
Information Technologies, anna.sandak@famnit.upr.si
Plants evolved during 460 million years to a constantly changing environment and became well
adapted to different climatic conditions (Koch and Barthlott, 2009). Due to their immobility as
individuals, plants are an excellent biological material for detecting climate phenomena. Living
organisms use smart, optimized and elegant solutions to survive, thanks to continuous selection
and mutation processes. Consequently, plants developed tissue with barrier properties while
they faced a number of existence challenges (water loss, extreme temperatures, UV radiation,
etc.).
Systems found in nature are a valuable source of inspiration for several applications. Scientists and
researchers from different fields (structural engineering, robotics, medicine, materials science)
use the concepts of biomimicking and bioinspiration. In the last years, the possibility to benefit
from solutions developed by nature also became more interesting for sustainable architecture.
Comprehensive analysis and evaluation of plants’ adaptation strategies (both static strategies
and dynamic mechanisms) to their environment in different climate zones is indispensable
to transfer concepts from biology to architecture. Consequently, specific adaptation solutions
might be implemented in new materials that will be used for building envelopes erected in the
same climatic zones. Integrating length scales and mixing biological, chemical and physical
concepts for tailoring materials properties during preparation should allow better designing
of future smart materials. The optimization process should lead to development of active
biomaterials performing as interfaces between outdoor conditions and internal comfort; they
should be able to regulate humidity, temperature, CO2 and light as well as capture and filter
pollutants and be self-assembling, self-cleaning, grafting and self-healing. This contribution
provides several examples representing plants’ adaptation to various environments that are
analysed and presented with the scope to inspire future researchers to implement them into
building materials.
Keywords: biomimicking, bioinspiration, climate adaptations, building façades
Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully acknowledge the European Commission for funding
the InnoRenew project (grant agreement #739574 under the Horizon2020 Widespread-Teaming
program) and the Republic of Slovenia (investment funding of the Republic of Slovenia and the
European Union European Regional Development Fund). Part of this work was conducted during
project ArchiBIO (BI/US-20-054) funded by ARRS.
REFERENCE
Koch, E., Barthlott, W., 2009. Superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic plant surfaces: an inspi-ration for biomimetic
materials. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 367, 1487–1509. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2009.0022
INNORENEW COE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2020
28
