Integrated biotectural system
Encyclopedia
An integrated biotectural system (IBTS) is a system which integrates natural and architectural elements. It can include desalination of sea water.
The expression was introduced describing a desalination plant seamlessly integrated within a greenhouse-like superstructure. This superstructure does not resemble a common greenhouse in any way. The new type of facility, which is the IBTS, has its roots in design and engineering in contrast to agriculture and greenhouses. It is fundamentally different from seawater greenhouse
s.
The significance of the term lies within the efficiency that only systems integration can achieve.
Particular importance lies on the imitation of natural systems, especially closed cycles. The establishment of closed watercycles being the most crucial of all, because of the increasing severeness of the Global Water crisis
particularly in hot desert climate
s.
This article deals with the area of the terms origin - IBTSs incorporating seawater
desalination to buildings that serve as greenhouses (amongst others). This application is more or less bound to hot arid and semi-arid regions because it requires high amounts of solar thermal power. It has turned out to be very suitable in mitigation of the sinking of water table
s in agricultural areas of the Mena region and beyond.
The system comes at an investment cost typical for modern greenhouses, not for desalination plants. It is designed for large-scale desert-greening and is based on small, completely self-sufficient modules.
It is deemed "subtech" for its lack of any critical technology. That means it is low risk and low maintenance.
The IBTS works with natural processes hosted in a building. This way it never reaches natural, or physical limitations for growth like the desalination technology in the Persian Gulf already has because of brine discharge and temperature rise.
that integrated residential areas into a greenhouse which was designed to be self-sufficient.
An example for an IBTS that is foremost a residential home is an Earthship
. These two buildings incorporate water-purification on high levels.
A proposed example is "Lilypad" and the original IBTS
General examples for IBTSs (without desalination) include buildings that blend in with nature in contrast to buildings that host natural systems or certain amounts of biomass. These examples are plentiful. Principally any (small) building that blends in with nature without disturbing it on any level could be considered an IBTS. Earthhouses are great examples and can be found in many (historic) cultures.
"Green office-towers" or vertical farming
can not be labeled IBTS for the lack of integration. Highrise building is systematically detached from a resource-true approaches. The production of steel and concrete for the building does not allow for a positive Material input per service unit
(MIPS), or short resource productivity.
(MDE). The IBTS that led to the creation of the term is a MDE project incorporating 140 very different scientific topics. MDE project-planning and execution is only done by very few experts so far. It requires many years of scientific studies additional to the primary academic studies within the higher education
al system.
In some cases found in the design- and arts, amazing solutions for the most pressing challenges for our times, can be found developed by self-taught experts who would not even be considered for such tasks by the authorities and decision-makers.
MDE is a process best described by the process of invention
.
The expression was introduced describing a desalination plant seamlessly integrated within a greenhouse-like superstructure. This superstructure does not resemble a common greenhouse in any way. The new type of facility, which is the IBTS, has its roots in design and engineering in contrast to agriculture and greenhouses. It is fundamentally different from seawater greenhouse
Seawater Greenhouse
The Seawater Greenhouse is a technology that enables the growth of crops in arid regions, using a greenhouse structure, seawater and solar energy...
s.
The significance of the term lies within the efficiency that only systems integration can achieve.
Particular importance lies on the imitation of natural systems, especially closed cycles. The establishment of closed watercycles being the most crucial of all, because of the increasing severeness of the Global Water crisis
Water crisis
Water crisis is a general term used to describe a situation where the available water within a region is less than the region's demand. The term has been used to describe the availability of potable water in a variety of regions by the United Nations and other world organizations...
particularly in hot desert climate
Desert climate
A desert climate , also known as an arid climate, is a climate that does not meet the criteria to be classified as a polar climate, and in which precipitation is too low to sustain any vegetation at all, or at most a very scanty scrub.An area that features this climate usually experiences less than...
s.
This article deals with the area of the terms origin - IBTSs incorporating seawater
Seawater
Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% . This means that every kilogram of seawater has approximately of dissolved salts . The average density of seawater at the ocean surface is 1.025 g/ml...
desalination to buildings that serve as greenhouses (amongst others). This application is more or less bound to hot arid and semi-arid regions because it requires high amounts of solar thermal power. It has turned out to be very suitable in mitigation of the sinking of water table
Water table
The water table is the level at which the submarine pressure is far from atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the subsurface materials that are saturated with groundwater in a given vicinity. However, saturated conditions may extend above the water table as...
s in agricultural areas of the Mena region and beyond.
Performance
The desalination utility in the original IBTS developed by N.Berdellé requires 1.8 kWh per m³ of fresh water. It can desalinate 21 m³ per day using an area of one hectare. These are the lowest figures of all existing desalination technologies that do not require further research.The system comes at an investment cost typical for modern greenhouses, not for desalination plants. It is designed for large-scale desert-greening and is based on small, completely self-sufficient modules.
It is deemed "subtech" for its lack of any critical technology. That means it is low risk and low maintenance.
The IBTS works with natural processes hosted in a building. This way it never reaches natural, or physical limitations for growth like the desalination technology in the Persian Gulf already has because of brine discharge and temperature rise.
Examples
The most famous example is the Biosphere 2Biosphere 2
Biosphere 2 is a structure originally built to be an artificial, materially-closed ecological system in Oracle, Arizona by Space Biosphere Ventures, a joint venture whose principal officers were John P. Allen, inventor and Executive Director, and Margret Augustine, CEO...
that integrated residential areas into a greenhouse which was designed to be self-sufficient.
An example for an IBTS that is foremost a residential home is an Earthship
Earthship
An earthship is a type of passive solar house made of natural and recycled materials. Designed and marketed by Earthship Biotecture of Taos, New Mexico, the homes are primarily constructed to work as autonomous buildings and are generally made of earth-filled tires, using thermal mass...
. These two buildings incorporate water-purification on high levels.
A proposed example is "Lilypad" and the original IBTS
General examples for IBTSs (without desalination) include buildings that blend in with nature in contrast to buildings that host natural systems or certain amounts of biomass. These examples are plentiful. Principally any (small) building that blends in with nature without disturbing it on any level could be considered an IBTS. Earthhouses are great examples and can be found in many (historic) cultures.
"Green office-towers" or vertical farming
Vertical farming
Vertical farming is a concept that argues that it is economically and environmentally viable to cultivate plant or animal life within skyscrapers, or on vertically inclined surfaces...
can not be labeled IBTS for the lack of integration. Highrise building is systematically detached from a resource-true approaches. The production of steel and concrete for the building does not allow for a positive Material input per service unit
Material input per service unit
The concept of material input per unit of service originally developed at the Wuppertal Institute, Germany in the 1990s. The MIPS concept can be used to measure eco-efficiency of a product or service and applied in all scales from a single product to complex systems. The calculation takes into...
(MIPS), or short resource productivity.
Challenges
The discipline of integration, in the quality necessary for an IBTS, requires for another preliminary process of similar difficulty: Multi-disciplinary EngineeringMulti-disciplinary Engineering
The term multi-disciplinary engineering describes an interdisciplinary process on a highly cross-professional level.It summons a much higher number of areas for integration than common interdisciplinary, or system integrated projects. In these areas the combination of two different fields of...
(MDE). The IBTS that led to the creation of the term is a MDE project incorporating 140 very different scientific topics. MDE project-planning and execution is only done by very few experts so far. It requires many years of scientific studies additional to the primary academic studies within the higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
al system.
In some cases found in the design- and arts, amazing solutions for the most pressing challenges for our times, can be found developed by self-taught experts who would not even be considered for such tasks by the authorities and decision-makers.
MDE is a process best described by the process of invention
Invention
An invention is a novel composition, device, or process. An invention may be derived from a pre-existing model or idea, or it could be independently conceived, in which case it may be a radical breakthrough. In addition, there is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social...
.
See also
- Systems engineeringSystems engineeringSystems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over the life cycle of the project. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more...
- Earth systems engineering and managementEarth systems engineering and managementEarth systems engineering and management is a discipline used to analyze, design, engineer and manage complex environmental systems. It entails a wide range of subject areas including anthropology, engineering, environmental science, ethics and philosophy...
- Environmental managementEnvironmental managementEnvironmental resource management is “a purposeful activity with the goal to maintain and improve the state of an environmental resource affected by human activities” . It is not, as the phrase suggests, the management of the environment as such, but rather the management of the interaction and...
- SustainabilitySustainabilitySustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
- Industrial ecologyIndustrial ecologyIndustrial Ecology is the study of material and energy flows through industrial systems. The global industrial economy can be modeled as a network of industrial processes that extract resources from the Earth and transform those resources into commodities which can be bought and sold to meet the...
- Design reviewDesign reviewIn the United States military and NASA's engineering design life cycle, a phase of design reviews are held for technical and programmatic accountability and to authorize the release of funding to a project. This article describes the major phases of that systems engineering process...
- Systems integrator
- Multidisciplinary approachMultidisciplinary approachA multidisciplinary approach to problem solving involves drawing appropriately from multiple disciplines to redefine problems outside of normal boundaries and reach solutions based on a new understanding of complex situations....