Cooling with Urban-Ecosystem Services by Biomimicry NE

Dear Biomimicry NE: Thank you for this inspired proposal. It is very creative. We are especially happy that a local organization was able to participate in this international contest. A few questions for you to consider before the due date on Friday (February 6th): 1) It would be helpful to us if you could more clearly outline the costs. I do not know how much these aerial nets cost, for example. Can you give us a general idea on what this has cost elsewhere? 2) What happens in inclement weather? Again, I am thinking of the aerial nets. Do they get removed during winter/extreme wind events? Does snow fall through the nets? What have other locations done to address this concern? 3) We really appreciate the public process you have written into this proposal. This is a key goal of our planning processes, and we are happy that you will be crowdsourcing location ideas. That said, given your expertise in the Greater Boston region, where specifically in Cambridge can you see a few of these projects working? Thank you again! Sincerely, Jen

Congratulations on making it to the Semi-Finals for the Urban Heat Island Effect contest. Please take into consideration the comments left by the judges and do please incorporate that feedback into your final proposal. In addition to the questions below, can you also give some insight into maintenance? We look forward to seeing your ideas finalized in the next iteration!

Great questions and excited to be considered as part of the semi-finalists. We are excited to dive in to respond to these questions, but also quickly wanted to respond to the Zebra stripes: On the zebra itself it has been found that the alternating bright white, and dark black color pattern creates an increased airflow with turbulence over the surface. This turbulent airflow increases the mixing of air between the surface of the zebra and the air itself - this in turn increases evaporation, and thus increases cooling of the zebra. Similarly, forests create turbulent air-flow that increases air mixing, to increase evaporation... so we are functionally using stripes to create turbulent flow that would help mix air from the surface of roofs. I think in part combining this with blue and green roof systems might have further benefit, and will investigate this as part of our research. Excited to dive in and clarify these details.

Dear Biomimicry, It may be worth investigating how to waterproof bacterial fabric for this application. You may have run across this: http://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_lee_grow_your_own_clothes?language=en Designer Suzanne Lee shares her experiments in growing a kombucha-based material that can be used like fabric or vegetable leather to make clothing. I've been looking into different non-GMO options for waterproofing this type of fabric as I could use vast amounts of fabric in off-shore applications. If your group has any interest in this path, please let me know. Michael

Hi Michael, Materials, fiber, textile, and fabric development are all long-term research interests of mine as well, and while not part of our proposal for UHI specifically could continue to advance what is possible. I would be delighted to chat more with you about these ideas, and projects regarding bacterial cellulose, or other bio-inspired materials. It is also great to see how you tie the different proposals together - we are excited to continue to grow and evolve the design with the community as it could take many forms. Cheers, Tim

Judging comments: Nice job combining a number of measures into one project that could have a natural relationship. There is no silver bullet, so we will need to integrate these types of technologies to make a significant impact. I see all endeavors as feasible, but a structural engineer will need to be involved to approve any and all anchoring mechanisms for both canopy and green facade. I do not approve the green wall proposal which is a soil-based vertical green wall. I do approve a green facade which is a trellis-based vertical green wall which trains vines that are growing up out of the ground. Green facades are significantly less maintenance, but it will be important to ensure that the vines don't grow into the siding or windows or flashing of a building. It will therefore be important to secure funding to prune the vines, which will probably include renting a piece of lifting equipment. I wish I knew more about the effectiveness of the Zebra stripes, but they sound and look cool. Is there a case study you could site? Your graphics are strong.

Hi, linked this interesting proposal to mine as it produce the bio fertilizers needed for your vertical walls. https://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/1301402/planId/1314801