Can Biomimicry Be a Useful Tool for Design for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation? - Biotechnologies and Biomimetics for Civil Engineering - page 89

Fig. 4.4 Federation square, Melbourne, Australia (photo by: R. Flett)

counterparts with similar energy efficiency results achieved without the use
of biomimicry. This is also the case with the 2006 Council House 2 (CH2) in
Melbourne with which Pearce was also involved (Fig. 4.5 ).
In CH2 100,000 L of water is extracted and cleaned from the sewers beneath
the building and used to condition the air. This is reminiscent of how certain
termite species use the proximity of aquifer water as an evaporative cooling
mechanism. African Barossa termites make tunnels tens of metres deep to reach
the water table, so that its cooling effect can be used in extreme heat to keep the
mound within a 1 temperature fluctuation range. In CH2 some of the cleaned
water is passed through shower towers on the outside of the building. This cools
the water, particularly at night. The water passing through the shower towers also
cools surrounding air which is then used to ventilate the commercial premises on
the ground floor. The water continues to the basement where it passes through a
system that stores the 'coolth' by using phase change materials. The water is then
used in a closed loop in chilled beams that provide cooling to the building interior.
In combination with the effects of additional sustainability features, 4 CH2 is
estimated to use 85 % less energy, reduce GHG emissions by 87 % and use 70 %

4

The building generates much of its own energy through wind turbines, photovoltaic panels and
co-generation (Tan 2007 ).