Developing a Method to Connect Thermal Physiology in Animals and Plants to the Design of Energy Efficient Buildings

The literature shows that translating the thermal adaptation mechanisms of biological organisms to building design solutions can improve energy performance. In the context of bio-inspired thermoregulation several worthwhile attempts have been made to develop a framework for finding relevant thermal adaptation mechanisms in nature as inspiration for architectural design. However, almost all of these have followed a solution-based approach despite the problem-solving nature of architectural design. Given this, this research set out to take a problem-based approach to biomimetic design. The aim was to investigate the most effective way of accessing biological thermoregulatory solutions to assist architects in finding relevant biological inspirations for the thermal design of buildings. This required the development of an optimal structure for categorizing thermoregulatory mechanisms that could then be used as part of a framework for finding appropriate mechanisms for a particular architectural design problem. This development began with a three-step literature review to find, study, generalize and categorize a comprehensive list of thermal adaptation mechanisms used by animals and plants. This article describes how this literature review was carried out leading to the identification of nine main themes which were analysed for their practicality in informing the structure of the proposed framework. The selected themes were built around the common aspects of biology and architecture, and hence facilitated the categorization of biological thermoregulation mechanisms. This article thus explains the steps taken to develop a structure for generalizing and categorizing thermal adaptation strategies in nature. This article does not report on the list of thermal adaptation mechanisms identified in step 2 of the literature review. Instead, it presents the literature review workflow with a focus on step 3. Given that, discussion of the thermal adaptation mechanisms falls outside the scope of this article.