Biomimicry, Eco-Mimicry and Eco-Design in Architecture: Transformation towards Sustainable Regeneration

Dear Colleagues,

Research into the practice of architecture, which intersects with biomimetics and eco-mimicry, is needed to counter the increase in the pressure exerted by human development and thus create naturally healthy environments for human habitation. Various responses, economic needs, and the need to maintain humans’ quality of life drive the aforementioned pressure. The forces affecting the environment are acting to re-energize collective thinking on the design of the built environment, which may help to shape our response to said forces. Above all, the new ecological paradigm seeks to place higher value on nature and prioritize conservation over utilizing natural systems. Within design-based disciplines, these complications mean that integrating this ecological paradigm into architecture through bio and eco-mimicry may be challenging. There are various ways of addressing these complications:

1. Searching for roots: Ecological design refers to the study of relationships between living organisms and the biotic and abiotic environments they inhabit. Such studies may inspire designers to create naturally healthy spaces for humans. This immersionist approach is rooted in the organic qualities of nature, where architecture acts to counter ongoing environmental destruction.
2. Synthetic naturalism: Ecological design uses a systems approach to allow for the equitable use of natural resources within industrial processes. Thanks to the emergence of synthetic naturalism, naturalism can be emulated (as an alternative to using natural systems).
3. Dark naturalism: Ecological design facilitates the development of perspectives and insights to address the deterioration of planet-scale environmental conditions such as climate change.

This SI will investigate biomimetics and eco-mimicry as drivers of eco-design on several scales as a tool for ecological sustainable development. Sustainable development advocates for the maintenance of the status quo; however, eco-design represents a shift towards regeneration. Notable foci are the lessons learned from regenerative interventions in cities, precincts, homes, and materials. Of particular interest are the innovative design of new buildings and processes using retrofitting and eco-standards involving conservation, recycling, and reuse.

The research that will be presented herein should take a multi-disciplinary and cultural approach to establishing a comprehensive knowledge base upon which we might make advances in ecological design. For instance, the incorporation of indigenous knowledge of natural systems into the ecological design process is an emerging area of interest.

Scientific contributions from scientists, researchers, ecologists, architects, engineers, and industry professionals are invited, disseminating recent design strategies, innovations, and developments in the field. Research papers on novel buildings should provide numerical evidence, either through simulation or monitoring data. We also encourage the submission of review papers within this research area, presenting the state of the art and new directions for further study, alongside case studies of projects that develop new hypotheses and research questions. Research notes with new and in-progress concepts will also be included.

This SI was developed in collaboration with the Architectural Science Association (ASA) and aligned with the annual ASA conference hosted at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia: https://archscience.org/news/.

Dr. Christopher Jensen
Prof. Dr. Richard Hyde
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomimetics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• ecological design
• cultural perspectives
• indigenous knowledge
• multi-disciplinary perspectives
• new ecological paradigm
• biomimicry
• eco-mimicry
• sustainable development
• regenerative development

Title: A biocentric approach to solar sustainable retrofitting for households at the residential scale. A study of suburban post-war detached housing in a subtropical climate

Abstract: The growth rate of global electricity is driven by increasing electricity demand due to population growth and economic development, with the industrial, residential, and commercial sectors as the primary consumers. The need for advanced electricity supply chains and self-sufficiency in electricity generation and distribution is becoming more critical. As consumers’ incomes increase, the demand for housing and the electricity consumed at home also increases. Solar retrofitting involving an adaptive reuse of existing housing is a sustainable strategy for urban regeneration facilitating a biocentric perspective amongst occupants. A systems approach is adopted, which examines how both adaptations to active and passive techniques can impact household energy usage. The results demonstrated that energy productivity can drive downward pressure on running costs. Solar retrofitting provides additional options to households, facilitating techniques such as improved self-consumption, self-sufficiency, and energy sufficiency. This allows occupants to use the embedded energy in the building to drive embodied and operational energy consumption well below national household energy benchmarks. As the income of households increases, the amount of electricity consumed at home also increases; solar retrofitting allows resources to be saved from energy consumption to be redirected to households for adoption of new technologically advanced systems with flow-on effects to reduce household emissions whilst improving energy supply a chain efficiency, thus reducing household bills. Broader speculation emerges from the study suggesting the biocentric preceptive forms a surprisingly ethical alignment between the conservation of the architecture, the environment and household resources through integrating existing and emerging technologies.