The contributions to knowledge documented in this doctoral thesis are two-fold. The first contribution is in the application of a new biomimetic design tool called BioTRIZ. Its creators claim it can be used to facilitate the transfer of biological principles to solve engineering problems. The core case-study of this thesis documents how this tool was used to frame and systematically explore low-energy solutions to a key technical problem in the underdeveloped field of radiative cooling. Radiative cooling is a passive mechanism through which heat from a building can be rejected to the sky – an abundant but underused natural heat sink. Published in the Journal of Bionic Engineering, the study was the first independent application of BioTRIZ in the academic literature. The second contribution to knowledge is in the design, development and testing of the most promising biomimetic concept to come out of the BioTRIZ radiative cooling study. ‘Heat-selective’ insulation gives a roof mass a cool view of the sky because integrated pathways focus and channel longwave thermal radiation through it. It is biomimetic because it achieves infrared transparency by adding structural hierarchy to the component, rather than manipulating the properties of the material itself. Test panels on a rooftop in central London cooled to between 6 and 13 degrees below ambient temperature on May and April nights. Radiative cooling powers of between 25 and 70 W/m2 were measured when plates were at ambient temperature. Daytime radiative cooling below ambient temperature occurred when clouds blocked direct sunlight. Radiative cooling power was increased by 37% using reflective ‘funnels’. Two additional BioTRIZ analyses are presented as minor case studies. They each attend to a key technical problem in the field of passive thermal energy storage in buildings. They serve to illustrate the type of results that can be expected from using BioTRIZ during low-energy building design.

Submitted by Viviane Lima da Cunha (viviane@biblioteca.ufpb.br) on 2016-07-18T11:12:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 5119582 bytes, checksum: 2cc562a3ca67f59ee9fbfbf94b1c3175 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-18T11:12:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 5119582 bytes, checksum: 2cc562a3ca67f59ee9fbfbf94b1c3175 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-01-15 / Despite the fact that biomimicry has been widely used in the fields of design and engineering, its application methods in architectural design are not yet clear, especially in the architectural design education. The transfer of a concept or mechanism of a living organism for non-living systems is not a trivial task and requires knowledge between two domains, the biological and the design. The BioTRIZ, a systematic method and especially developed based on biological phenomena, does not require deep understanding about natural organisms. This study aimed at verifying the adequability of BioTRIZ method in the application of biomimetic concepts in atelier design teaching in the early periods of the architecture program. Exploratory case studies was used through design exercises in models atelier classes with the 3rd semester students of the Architecture and Urban Planning Program of the Federal University of Paraiba. The work proceedings were divided into eight steps: variables definition, pilot studies, teams training, data collection in design exercises with application of BioTRIZ method, questionnaires, focus groups sessions, data analysis and results discussion. It was concluded that BioTRIZ method was not entirely suitable for design education in models atelier, due to the limited design repertoire of students, the difficulties in avoiding fixation on predefined ideas and limitations in the ability to transform specific features in abstract ones and vice versa, all those being requirements for effective use of BioTRIZ method. / Apesar de a biomimética ser bastante utilizada nos campos do design e da engenharia, os seus métodos de aplicação no projeto arquitetônico ainda não são claros, sobretudo no ensino de projeto. A transferência de um conceito ou mecanismo de um organismo vivo para sistemas não vivos não é uma tarefa trivial e requer conhecimento entre dois domínios, o biológico e o de design. O BioTRIZ, método sistemático e especialmente desenvolvido com base em fenômenos biológicos, dispensa conhecimento profundo sobre organismos naturais. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo principal verificar a adequabilidade do método BioTRIZ na aplicação de conceitos biomiméticos no ensino de projeto em ateliês nos períodos iniciais do curso de Arquitetura. Utilizou-se de estudos de caso de caráter exploratório por meio de exercícios de projeto em ateliê de plástica com turmas do 3º período do curso de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade Federal da Paraíba. O trabalho foi dividido em oito etapas: definição das variáveis, estudos piloto, treinamento das equipes, coleta de dados em exercícios de projeto com aplicação do método BioTRIZ, aplicação de questionário, execução de grupos focais, análise de dados e discussão dos resultados. Concluiu-se que o método BioTRIZ não se mostrou totalmente adequado ao ensino de projeto em ateliês de plástica, devido ao limitado repertório projetual dos alunos, às dificuldades em evitar fixação em ideias predefinidas e às limitações na capacidade de transformar características específicas em abstratas e vice-versa, requisitos necessários para o eficaz emprego do método.