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Biomimicry at its Best

In my forthcoming book, Jump the Curve, I devote an entire chapter to the field of Biomimicry—or the idea that people in business can gain useful insights by studying Mother Nature. A recent edition of The Economist had a useful article along these lines entitled ”Borrowing from Nature”.

One sentence in particular caught my attention. It was about how today’s builders and architects don’t create closed-loop systems. It read: “Instead, man-made systems tend to be linear, consuming raw materials at one end and producing waste at the other. The result is a gradual depletion of natural resources.”

I would like to focus on the word “linear.” As I say in my book, if builders and architects (and other businesses as well) want to survive in the 21st century they need to start thinking different. In short, they can’t afford to think linearly, they need to think exponentially.

The article goes to highlight an architectural firm by the name of Grimshaw that offers a wonderful example of “jumping the curve” and thinking exponentially. The company is now designing a new building that will not only be carbon neutral, it will actually generate income by using waste to heat during the winter months. (When waste breaks down in large composting units it reaches temperatures of 75 Celsius or 167 Fahrenheit). Not only does this smart step cut down on the building’s energy bill, the owner will actually be able to make money because it can take waste that would normally cost $40 a ton to dispose at a landfill and instead pocket that money for itself—while at the same time is uses that waste to heat the building.

Jack Uldrich is a writer, public speaker and host of jumpthecurve.net. He is the author of seven books, including Jump the Curve and The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business, and speaks frequently on future trends, innovation, change management, nanotechnology, robotics, RFID technology and executive leadership to the architecture and building industries.

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