ABSTRACT
Biomimicry is the practice of emulating nature’s strategies to create products, processes, and policies that are well-adapted to Life on Earth over the long haul. In this chapter, the author sets out to discover nature’s strategies and then emulate them in our designs; the result will be sustainable design solutions, the goal of Biomimicry. The author highlights the differences between Biomimicry and Conventional designs. Conventional designs rely on the environmentally damaging process “heat, beat, and treat” and “Take, Make, and Waste” to achieve design performance specifications. Biomimicry can be used for sustainable design in two ways: One way is to use “Life’s Principles” as guiding design principles. The other way is to use the Biomimicry Design Spiral to discover and emulate natures strategies, techniques and ideas as they relate to two main categories: one, Life adapts and evolves, and two, Life creates conditions for Life. Another way sustainable designers can use Biomimicry is by following the Biomimicry Design Spiral—a step-by-step process for turning nature’s strategies into innovative and sustainable design solutions.
