A story that started over 25 years ago got an update recently in an ASME article “What Termites Can Teach Engineers.” The story started in 1992 when Mick Pearce, an architect in Zimbabwe, was commissioned to build Eastgate Centre, a major office and shopping mall in Harare, the capital. It was to be 340,000 square feet which would normally require a major HVAC system.
Having grown up in Zimbabwe, he was familiar with a species of termites that build massive chimney-like structures, anywhere from 10 to 30 feet high. As it happened, Mick had been considering ideas from a nature series on these termites broadcast on the BBC series, “Life,” narrated by David Attenborough. Mick used some of the things he could observe, but not being a scientist, his design was based on some incorrect assumptions.
Nevertheless, his design for Eastgate Centre did cost 10% less to build than similar buildings and saved $3.5 million in energy costs in its first five years.
As it turns out termite mounds actually act more like human lungs than convective chimneys as Mick had assumed. Several university based teams are collecting data and discovering some extremely interesting things about how various termite species regulate the environment within their mound. The article makes fascinating reading for those interested in how the creatures of the natural world solve some of man’s most complex problems. All I ask is that these masters of HVAC principles stay away from my house. – Dr. Tom
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