Bionic building energy efficiency and bionic green architecture: A review

Bionic building energy efficiency and bionic green architecture are important means of ensuring harmony between buildings and the natural environment, maintaining ecological balance, and achieving the sustainable development of buildings. Based on a review of bionic technologies for building functions, structures, and materials, the present study analyzes applications and typical cases of bionic building energy efficiency and bionic green architecture. For example, utilizing the wisdom of nature in buildings, architectural innovations using bionic functions have been created based on the favorable natural ventilation system found in termite mounds. Moreover, passive construction technology using solar energy resources can not only improve the indoor thermal environment but also achieve low energy consumption for buildings. Drawing inspiration from mechanical properties, structural relationships, and the material performance of natural objects, and applying this to a building's structure or shape design, large span structures, such as suspension cable and thin shell structure, which imitate cobwebs and eggshell respectively, have been designed to improve the efficiency of building resources. Using polar bear fur, lotus leaves, and other natural animals and plants as bionic building materials, self-compensation, regulation, and maintenance mechanisms have been achieved on building surfaces, allowing the buildings to actively adapt to their environment, thus reflecting the symbiotic relationship between architecture and the environment, and achieving the green development of buildings with high efficiency and low energy consumption. In addition, based on ecological principles and climate-adaptive design rules, the present study proposes an overall design concept for bionic green architecture and further notes that, in future research, it will be necessary to implement the following: strengthen the integration and optimization of diverse green building technologies; manage the energy efficiency of bionic buildings throughout their life cycles; develop bionic technologies for building functions based on the principle of regional suitability; promote innovative bionic technologies for building structures based on the principle of green ecological coexistence; and strengthen the research, development, and application of bionic building materials that regulate, repair, clean, and protect themselves. In short, the development of bionic building energy efficiency and bionic green architecture should follow and respect natural laws. It is necessary to study the mechanisms used in biological systems, which, combined with modern building technologies, should be employed to support building innovation and to realize the rapid development of building energy efficiency and green buildings.