Spinal Model

March 10th, 2010, 4:03 pm

For this week, the greenhouse group was planning on meeting with Jennifer Willet in order to discuss the prior established plans. However, the meeting was postponed until next week.

We have been mentioning biomimcry in the past blogs, however we have not explained it in details. “The term biomimicry literally translates as “imitation of life,” but this is an oversimplistic definition of biomimicry. The idea is not to imitate nature perfectly, but to use ideas from nature to inspire human solutions” (www.wisegeek.com)

Our group finished building the spinal greenhouse models, while all the team members went on to complete the required research relating to biomimcry, a list of all the materials needed and their corresponding prices, looking into building codes and permits, bylaws and contacting individuals in the greenhouse industries to obtain funds for the project. Moreover, our group members have also looked into the functioning of the greenhouse through the biomimcry prespective.

Our next step is to contact contracters and officially create blueprints of the greenhouse structure in order to propose them to potential funders.

Finally, we would like to announce that one of our designs, the lady bug, has been published on this weeks Lance newspaper. We would highly recommend all of you to check it out. Specials thanks to Tim Wong.

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Biomimicry: Creative and Practical

March 3rd, 2010, 11:14 am

We shared our accomplishments in our midterm presentation, and received a lot of positive feedback and criticisms. Our new approach is to match our creativity with practical aspects of the design so we will research size of the greenhouse, the exact location, pricing and funding, different materials as well as natural systems for heating, cooling, water and moisture. We will also focus more on these natural systems, rather than just the design itself, for example, a living wall, ponds, and natural heat capture. We are also going to continue researching biomimicry and methods to incorporate it into our designs. As well, we will look into information on the pros and cons of attaching the greenhouse to the present eco-house and all the requirements needed to make that happen. Next Tuesday, we have planned to have a scale model created, as well as all the research on biomimicry completed, and potential materials and pricing, as well as mind mapping of natural heating, cooling and water. We have also scheduled another meeting on this day with Jennifer Willet to showcase all our new research and designs.
Photo from: jetsongreen.com

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