Subj : Climate-friendly air conditioning inspir To : All From : ScienceDaily Date : Thu Jul 06 2023 22:30:32 Climate-friendly air conditioning inspired by termites Date: July 6, 2023 Source: Lund University Summary: The climate control used by termites in their mounds could inspire tomorrow's climate-smart buildings. New research shows that future buildings inspired by the termites could achieve the same effect as traditional climate control, but with greater energy efficiency and without its carbon dioxide footprint. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email ========================================================================== FULL STORY ========================================================================== The climate control used by termites in their mounds could inspire tomorrow's climate-smart buildings. New research from Lund University in Sweden shows that future buildings inspired by the termites could achieve the same effect as traditional climate control, but with greater energy efficiency and without its carbon dioxide footprint. Termite mounds have a sophisticated ventilation system that enables air circulation throughout the structure. This helps to maintain and regulate temperature and humidity. "The digitalisation of design and construction processes creates enormous opportunities for how we shape architecture, and natural and biological systems provide an important model for how we can best utilise these possibilities," says David Andre'en, senior lecturer at the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at Lund University, who wrote the article. The results, published in the journal Frontiers in Materials, show a structure for buildings based on termite mounds that facilitates indoor climate control. "The study focuses on the interior of termite mounds, which consist of thousands of interconnected channels, tunnels and air chambers, and how these capture wind energy in order to "breathe," or exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the surroundings. We have explored how these systems work and how similar structures could be integrated in the walls of buildings to drive the flow of air, heat and moisture in a new way." The idea is thus to create new ways to control the airflow in buildings that will be significantly more energy-efficient and climate-smart than traditional air conditioning, which uses the bulk flow principle, normally driven by fans. Instead, it is possible to develop systems that are turbulent, dynamic and variable. "These can be controlled by very small equipment and require minor energy provision," says David Andre'en. In the study, the researchers demonstrated how airflows interact with geometry -- the parameters in the structure that cause the flows to arise and how they can be selectively regulated. These can be driven without using mechanical components such as fans, valves and similar, as only electronic control is required. "This a precondition for a distributed system in which many small sensors and regulating devices are placed in the climate-adaptive building envelope through miniaturisation, durability/sustainability and cost reduction," says David Andre'en. This enables regulation of the building's indoor climate and to control factors such as temperature and humidity without relying on large fans and heating and air conditioning systems. The mechanisms are dependent on being able to create complex internal geometries (on the millimetre to centimetre scale), which is only possible using 3D printing. Through 3D printing, value can be added to the built environment to create sustainable architecture that otherwise would not have been possible. "It's fascinating how the termites' building process manages to create extremely complex well-functioning "engineering masterpieces," without having the centralised control or drawings to refer to that we would need," concludes David Andre'en. * RELATED_TOPICS o Plants_&_Animals # Nature # Extreme_Survival # Endangered_Animals o Matter_&_Energy # Civil_Engineering # Engineering_and_Construction # Construction o Earth_&_Climate # Air_Quality # Environmental_Science # Climate * RELATED_TERMS o Climate_change_mitigation o Climate_model o Termite o Climate_engineering o Temperature_record_of_the_past_1000_years o Global_climate_model o Global_warming_controversy o Climate ========================================================================== Print Email Share ========================================================================== ****** 1 ****** ***** 2 ***** **** 3 **** *** 4 *** ** 5 ** Breaking this hour ========================================================================== * First_Snapshots_of_Fermion_Pairs * Why_No_Kangaroos_in_Bali;_No_Tigers_in_Australia * New_Route_for_Treating_Cancer:_Chromosomes * Giant_Stone_Artefacts_Found:_Prehistoric_Tools * Astonishing_Secrets_of_Tunicate_Origins * Most_Distant_Active_Supermassive_Black_Hole * Creative_People_Enjoy_Idle_Time_More_Than_Others * Restoring_Fragile_X_Protein_Production * Earth's_Solid_Metal_Sphere_Is_'Textured' * Elephants_Vary_Their_Dinner_Menu_Day-To-Day Trending Topics this week ========================================================================== PLANTS_&_ANIMALS Biochemistry_Research Insects_(including_Butterflies) Wild_Animals EARTH_&_CLIMATE Air_Pollution Ice_Ages Pollution FOSSILS_&_RUINS Ancient_Civilizations Cultures Early_Climate ========================================================================== Strange & Offbeat ========================================================================== PLANTS_&_ANIMALS Why_There_Are_No_Kangaroos_in_Bali_(and_No_Tigers_in_Australia) Number_Cruncher_Calculates_Whether_Whales_Are_Acting_Weirdly Fossils_Reveal_How_Ancient_Birds_Molted_Their_Feathers_--_Which_Could_Help Explain_Why_Ancestors_of_Modern_Birds_Survived_When_All_the_Other_Dinosaurs Died EARTH_&_CLIMATE Why_There_Are_No_Kangaroos_in_Bali_(and_No_Tigers_in_Australia) Turning_Old_Maps_Into_3D_Digital_Models_of_Lost_Neighborhoods Squash_Bugs_Are_Attracted_to_and_Eat_Each_Other's_Poop_to_Stock_Their Microbiome FOSSILS_&_RUINS Giant_Stone_Artefacts_Found_on_Rare_Ice_Age_Site_in_Kent,_UK How_Urea_May_Have_Been_the_Gateway_to_Life Newly_Discovered_Jurassic_Fossils_in_Texas Story Source: Materials provided by Lund_University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length. ========================================================================== Journal Reference: 1. David Andre'en, Rupert Soar. Termite-inspired metamaterials for flow- active building envelopes. Frontiers in Materials, 2023; 10 DOI: 10.3389/ fmats.2023.1126974 ========================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230706124549.htm --- up 1 year, 18 weeks, 3 days, 10 hours, 50 minutes * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111) .