Janine Benyus, writer behind biomimicry concept, inspires Cleveland designers

The Plain Dealer
November 13, 2007
by Peter Krouse
Plain Dealer Reporter

Stephanie Strong, the learning-programs manager at Entrepreneurs for Sustainability in Cleveland, is among the open-minded souls taking the crash course in biomimicry. Her job is to absorb all she can and report back to Northeast Ohio. Her group will hold a biomimicry workshop in Cleveland in January. This town may never look at plants and animals the same way again.

Who knows? Maybe someone here will invent another Velcro, the fab ric fastener inspired by the cockleburs that would cling to Swiss inventor George de Mestral`s pants.

Sustainability is all about finding smarter ways to do things so they last from one generation to the next. And biomimicry may be one way to achieve that goal. And if the movement has a leader, Benyus would be it. A self-described "nature nerd" growing up, Benyus wrote the influential book "Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature" 10 years ago. It`s her belief that 3.8 billion years of evolution trump the wasteful "heat, beat and treat" cycle of manufacturing we`ve come to embrace.

She also co-founded the Biomimicry Guild, a Montana-based organization that consults with companies like General Electric Co. and Boeing Co. She has personally shared her views with the European Commission and with England`s Prince Charles. 

Entrepreneurs for Sustainability - known as E4S - brought Benyus to Cleveland in September. She played to an audience of 400-plus in the theater at the Cleveland Institute of Art. The audience saw a fascinating, eye-opening and fre quently amusing slide presentation on the many ways business and science are try ing to mimic nature in the function of their products.

As is typical with an E4S crowd, which usually meets at Great Lake Brewing Co., there was beer on hand, and the occasional bottle would clank to the floor as Benyus spoke. But she hardly seemed to mind the confluence of education and brew.

Her first slide showed a turkey vulture in flight. Its primary feathers inspired the skyward-looking Wright Brothers as they contemplated their flying machine. But what more could be gleaned from the scavenging bird? Look at the head, Benyus urged. It goes places humans wouldn`t dream of going, and without antibiotics.

Biomimicry can occur in both form and process. The beak of the kingfisher bird inspired the redesigned Japanese bullet train, while the abalone shell and its alternating layers of hard and soft material might provide clues to self-assembling ceramics produced without kilns.

Industry already has developed some ultra-thin films inspired by nature. One changes colors depending on the angle at which it is viewed, like the wings of some butterflies. Another film, similar to the lotus plant`s natural cleaning mechanism, repels moisture and dirt from fabrics.

One of the Biomimicry Guild`s clients is Georgia-based carpet maker Interface Inc. It created a product that emulates the random yet aesthetically pleasing pattern of fallen leaves on a forest floor. Carpet tiles, each a little different from the other, can be arranged in any order. No lines or colors need to be matched up.

At first, the concept confounded the quality control people at Interface. "I mean, it completely blew their minds," said Interface executive Jim Hartzfeld, who calls himself "a recovering chemical engineer." The concept now accounts for 35 percent of Interface`s sales and has led to less waste on the factory floor and in the buildings where it`s installed.

Locally, faucet maker Moen Inc. of North Olmsted sought inspiration from nature when it redesigned its flagging showerhead line. Moen`s showerheads were in desperate need of a new look, so design managers Tim O`Brien and Jim Dempsey went to work, delving into broad concepts of beauty and efficiency. They found themselves contemplating something called the golden ratio, a mathematical formula repeated in nature.

Now, instead of water coming from the showerhead in concentric circles, it flows in a pattern that roughly mimics the seed formation on the head of a sunflower. The sustainable aspects of the new showerhead are still not clear, but O`Brien believes the alternative would probably have required more components to assemble.

"We were looking to engineer the heck out of this until it was the best thing we could make," O`Brien said.

Doug Paige, an associate professor of industrial design at the Cleveland Institute of Art, believes his students will find biomimicry to be a useful tool. Jessica Jurca, 21, of Seven Hills, wants to design a better rain barrel and has been paying close attention to the way water rolls off a leaf.

Meanwhile, fellow student Dan Rowe, 30, of Orem, Utah, is seeking a more-efficient design for a humidifier. He expects to learn something from the camel. In the camel`s desert habitat, its nose is a moisture-producing machine.

But there was something else in Benyus` talk that appealed to Jurca, beyond the benefits of biomimicry. Benyus sees a lot of potential in Cleveland. It`s unfairly maligned, she said, just like the turkey vulture.

"She really had a lot of faith in Cleveland," Jurca said, "which I really loved, a lot."

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