A biomimetic approach for climate reactive building envelopes inspired by plants adaptive strategies

Due to climate change, traditional building envelope solutions cannot longer ensure optimal regulation of variable external environmental flows. This requires the use of energy-intensive technical solutions. To reduce the environmental impact of the building sector and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals proposed in the 2030 Agenda, a change in the building’s design methods is requires. In recent years, attention to climate-responsive solutions for the building envelope has increased. Nature provides a database of adaptive and responsive solutions that can be mimicked by the biomimetic discipline and translated into building envelope technologies using innovative materials and techniques. This paper aims to investigate and emulate the adaptive and responsive strategies of plants in desert and mediterranean climates, to propose bio-inspired solutions for climate-reactive building envelopes. To survive survive in different ecosystems, plants respond to biotic and abiotic factors through morphological, physiological, and behavioural mechanisms activated by their integumental tissues. Buildings, like plants, are also located in a specific climatic-territorial context and interact with the external environment through the building envelope which acts as a filter. In this study, the field of plants is investigated using the bio-Adaptive Model, a biomimetic and problem- based approach that allows moving from nature to technology and proposing different solutions for the building envelope that vary according to the climatic context and are able to respond to specific climatic challenges. As a result of this study, four responsive functions inspired by the adaptation strategies of Mediterranean and desert plants are proposed. Furthermore, this approach can help architects and engineers to design biomimetic and adaptive building envelope inspired by nature.