EBBT: Life Enhancement

Factors

Benign Manufacturing

Organisms "tend not to damage the ability of the overall system ... to exist and continue" (Benyus, Biomimicry - Innovation Inspired by Nature, 1997)

Production is embedded in the same environment in which the organisms live (Kibert, Sendzimir, Guy; Construction ecology. 2002)

"... living systems typically do not have clusters of high energy and materials transformations"

Processes involve ambient temperatures and are typically water-based. (Reap, Baumeister, Bras; Holism, biomimicry and sustainable engineering, 2005)

Self-Assembly

Leveraging "... the physics of falling together and falling apart - the natural drive towards self-assembly". (Benyus, Biomimicry - Innovation Inspired by Nature, 1997)

Regeneration

Ecosystems strengthen overall system, separate from existence of individual species or organisms. (Kelly, Out of control - the new biology of machines, 1994) <emphasis on relationships rather than components?>

Species facilitate biodiversity, increase nutrient cycling, enable "mutually beneficial relationships". (Rosemond, Anderson; Engineering role models: Do non-human species have the answers? Ecological Engineering, 20, 379-387, 2003)

As ecosystems develop, they become more adaptable, support more organic matter, support longer/more complex lifecycles. (Odum, The strategy of ecosystem development, Science, 164, 262-270, 1969) (Faludi, Biomimicry for Green Design. World Changing, 2005)

Applications

Producer

Built environment as net creator of energy and resources.

Biodiversity

Built environment as increasing biodiversity.

Supportive

Built environment as reinforcing/strengthening major planetary cycles (e.g. hydrological, carbon).