Highlights-From plant adaptations to adaptive architectural envelopes using biomimicry -Adaptive envelopes that change with time to adapt environmental conditions -Techniques abstracted from plants that respond to different environmental issues -Climate and environmental issues that act as green triggers -Design concept generation with dynamic mechanisms and static strategies
ABSTRACTFaçades have an important role in the control of energy waste in buildings, nevertheless most of them are designed to provide static design solutions, wasting large amounts of energy to maintain the internal comfort. However, biological adaptation solutions are complex, multifunctional and highly responsive. This paper proposes a biomimetic research of the relationship that can be developed between Biology and Architecture in order to propose innovative façade design solutions. We focus on plants, because of plants, like buildings, lack of movement and remain subject to a specific location. Nevertheless, plants have adapted to the environment developing special means of interaction with changing external issues.This paper provides a methodology to create a data collection of plant adaptations and a design mapping to guide the transfer from biological principles to architectural resources, as well as two design concept cases, opening new perspectives for new possible technical solutions and showing the potential of plant adaptations to environmental conditions at a specific climate. Further step is the transformation of some design concepts into technical solutions through experiments with new technologies that include multi-material 3D printing or advances in material science.
This paper introduces regulatory components influencing city soundscapes in Europe and the UK, illustrating the abatement approach taken within noise policy, demonstrating the importance of individual experience in assessing the soundscapes of urban environments and identifying a terminology to facilitate an introduction of soundscapes into the planning process. Drawing on work from soundscape ecology, a way is demonstrated to coalesce these divergent positions. Reviewing interviews undertaken in Clerkenwell, the paper demonstrates that it is not simply noise levels that are important to people in an urban area. Context, source, distance, temporariness and control over noise, are all relevant to whether people would want to see a particular sound eliminated from their soundscape. Using Schafer's terminology 'keynote sounds', 'soundmarks' and 'sound signals', a rationale is proposed through which experienced soundscapes may be articulated, challenging the strategy of noise abatement which could produce a conformity of soundscape that homogenises place and dissolves local uniqueness.
The urban heat island (UHI) is a well-known effect of urbanisation and is particularly important in world megacities. Overheating in such cities is expected to be exacerbated in the future as a result of further urban growth and climate change. Demonstrating and quantifying the impact of individual design interventions on the UHI is currently difficult using available software tools. The tools developed in the LUCID ('The Development of a Local Urban Climate Model and its Application to the Intelligent Design of Cities') research project will enable the related impacts to be better understood, quantified and addressed. This article summarises the relevant literature and reports on the ongoing work of the project. Practical applications: There is a complex relationship between built form, urban processes, local temperature, comfort, energy use and health. The UHI effect is significant and there is a growing recognition of this issue. Developers and planners are seeking advice on design decisions at a variety of scales based on scientifically robust, quantitative methods. The LUCID project has thus developed a series of tools that (1) quantify the effect of urbanisation processes on local environmental conditions, and (2) quantify the impact of such conditions on comfort, energy use and health. The use of such tools is vital, both to inform policy but also to be able to demonstrate compliance with it.
This paper describes a method for predicting air temperatures within the urban heat island at discreet locations based on input data from one meteorological station for the time the prediction is required and historic measured air temperatures within the city.It uses London as a case-study to describe the method and its applications. The prediction model is based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN) modelling and it is termed the London Site Specific Air Temperature (LSSAT) predictor. The temporal and spatial validity of the model was tested using data measured eight years later from the original dataset; it was found that site specific hourly air temperature prediction provides acceptable accuracy and improves considerably for average monthly values.It thus is a very reliable tool for use as part of the process of predicting heating and cooling loads for urban buildings. This is illustrated by the computation of heating degree days (HDD) and cooling degree hours (CDH) for a West-East transect within London. The described method could be used for any city for which historic hourly air temperatures are available for a number of locations; for example air pollution measuring sites, common in many cities, typically measure air temperature on an hourly basis.2
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