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OROURKE-THESIS-2013.Pdf Copyright by Julia Marie O’Rourke 2013 The Thesis Committee for Julia Marie O’Rourke Certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: Environmentally Sustainable Bioinspired Design: Critical Analysis and Trends APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: Supervisor: Carolyn C. Seepersad Michael E. Webber Environmentally Sustainable Bioinspired Design: Critical Analysis and Trends by Julia Marie O’Rourke, B.A.; B.S.E. Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degrees of Master of Science in Engineering and Master of Public Affairs The University of Texas at Austin May 2013 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge support from a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and a Powers Fellowship from the University of Texas at Austin. I am also grateful for the efforts of Katherine Adams, who contributed to the GDG analysis and keyword trends analysis. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Seepersad and the other members of the Product, Process, and Materials Design Lab for their feedback and encouragement along the way. iv Abstract Environmentally Sustainable Bioinspired Design: Critical Analysis and Trends Julia Marie O’Rourke, M.S.E., M.P.Aff. The University of Texas at Austin, 2013 Supervisor: Carolyn C. Seepersad Within the bodies of living organisms are multitudes of sustainable design solutions that engineers have yet to master. Through the use of tailored sustainable bioinspired design (BID) tools and methodologies, engineers could access and apply this body of biological knowledge to reduce the environmental impact of engineering designs. However, the underlying theory of BID must be more thoroughly fleshed out – and a clearer understanding of the types of sustainability solutions present in biology must be achieved – before such tools and methodologies can be developed. The goal of this thesis is to tackle both issues and, consequently, lay the foundation for environmentally sustainable BID. The first section of this work critically examines thirteen of the most frequently- cited benefits of BID, using academic literature from both biology and engineering design. This analysis presents a nuanced explanation of the ways BID could improve designs and the conditions in which these improvements are expected. Hence, it provides v the theoretical foundation necessary to develop tools and methodologies that capitalize on the design opportunities found in biological organisms. The second section focuses on identifying sustainability-related trends in a pool of existing, sustainable BIDs. The type of environmental impact reduction conferred by the bioinspired feature is delineated using a set of 65 green design guidelines (GDGs) to compare the impact of the BID and a functionally-equivalent comparison product. Additionally, the general design features that impart an environmental impact reduction to the sustainable BIDs are identified, analyzed, and discussed. These results provide insight into the types of sustainability solutions that can be found using biological analogies. vi Table of Contents List of Tables ....................................................................................................... xiv List of Figures ..................................................................................................... xvii Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................1 1.1 Background ...............................................................................................1 1.1.1 Sustainable Design ........................................................................1 1.1.2 Bioinspired Design (BID) .............................................................2 1.1.3 Sustainable BID ............................................................................2 1.1.4 Literature Connecting BID and Sustainability ..............................3 1.1.5 Examples of Sustainable BIDs......................................................4 1.2 Thesis Motivation .....................................................................................7 1.3 Thesis Organization ..................................................................................8 Chapter 2: Literature Review .................................................................................11 2.1 Understanding and Measuring Environmental Impact ...........................11 2.1.1 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) ....................................................11 2.1.1.1 LCA Challenge #1 - Subjectivity. ...................................12 2.1.1.2 Environmental Ethics ......................................................12 2.1.1.3 Environmental Impact Categories...................................14 2.1.1.4 LCA Challenge #2 - Detailed data are needed. ...............15 2.1.2 Green Design Guidelines (GDGs) ..............................................16 2.2 Previous Work ........................................................................................18 2.2.1 BID Design Principles and Guidelines .......................................18 2.2.2 Design Principles in Biology ......................................................20 2.3 Conclusion ..............................................................................................24 Chapter 3: Theoretical Study Overview ................................................................25 3.1 Introduction to BID Benefits Study ........................................................25 3.2 Methodology for BID Benefits Study .....................................................26 3.3 Results Overview ....................................................................................27 vii 3.4 Conclusion ..............................................................................................30 Chapter 4: Ideation-Related Archetypal Claims ....................................................31 4.1 BID helps designers generate novel ideas. .............................................31 4.2 Quantity: Biology contains many potential analogies. ...........................36 4.3 Variety: Biology is diverse. ....................................................................37 4.4 Relevance: Biology solves problems engineers would like to solve. .....39 4.5 Biology solves problems differently than engineering. ..........................40 4.6 Conclusion ..............................................................................................43 Chapter 5: Optimization in Biology .......................................................................45 5.1 Biology is optimal. ..................................................................................46 5.2 Biology is optimized by evolution via natural selection. ........................49 5.2.1 Metaphors for ‘Evolution’ in BID Literature..............................50 5.2.2 Evolution via natural selection optimizes populations. ..............52 5.2.3 Factors that Impede Optimization via Natural Selection ............54 5.2.4 Macroevolution: Speciation and Extinction................................58 5.3 Biology is optimized for efficiency. .......................................................62 5.4 Conclusion ..............................................................................................64 Chapter 6: Sustainability-Related Benefits ............................................................66 6.1 Biology has withstood the test of time. ...................................................67 6.2 Biological organisms are environmentally sustainable...........................69 6.2.1 Human-Related Environmental Impact ......................................70 6.2.2 Environmental Impact of Biology Unrelated to Humans ...........72 6.3 Biology has specific environmental advantages. ....................................74 6.3.1 Biological organisms use renewable and abundant inputs. ........74 6.3.2 Biological materials are nontoxic. ..............................................75 6.3.3 Biological organisms employ sustainable manufacturing processes. .....................................................................................................76 6.3.4 Biological organisms do not pollute. ..........................................78 6.3.5 Materials in biology are recycled. ...............................................81 6.3.6 Biology is resistant to damage. ...................................................82 viii 6.3.7 Biology is efficient. .....................................................................83 6.4 Conclusion ..............................................................................................86 Chapter 7: BID Benefits.........................................................................................88 7.1 BIDs are optimized. ................................................................................88 7.2 BIDs are sustainable. ..............................................................................89 7.2.1 BIDs are efficient. .......................................................................89 7.3 Support for All BID Benefits Claims......................................................89 7.4 Caveats Common to All BID Benefits Claims .......................................90 7.4.1 The designer should intentionally try to produce a design with the desired characteristic. ..................................................................90 7.4.2 The pool of potential
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