A3.

3 // Shannon Reece // Biomimetic Design

06/20/15

Lifes Principles Evaluation &

Recommendations Report
Featured product:
Fridgedaire Gallery Refrigerator

the principle in some way, and then

I will suggest an improvement to the
design.

Locally attuned and

Responsive
Resourceful and Opportunistic
Shape rather than material: The
refrigerator relies on material rather
than shape.
Design idea: A tensegrity structure
could be explored instead. One that
uses rounded shapes under tension.
Cellular and nested: The refrigerator has
drawers that are nested inside the main
compartment.
Design idea: This could be exploited
more. The fridge could be made up of
a series of modular cells.
This refrigerator came with the house
where we currently live. It does not
have an Energy Star rating. The 20
cubic inch appliance is divided into two
compartments; the refrigerator section
below and the freezer above. The compressor unit is in the back at the base of
the appliance. I do not know what year
it was manufactured.
I will go through each of Lifes Principles
and note first if the appliance exhibits

Simple, common building blocks: The

fridge is not designed around simple,
common building blocks.
Design idea: The fridge could be
designed as a series of small, modular,
and scalable units. More units could be
added to so that the size of the fridge
expands as needed. Units could be detachable so as to take away as coolers
or reconfigured as needed.

Free Energy: As of right now the fridge

does not use free energy. The fridge
runs on grid-supplied electricity and is
not designed to be energy efficient.
The demand would be too much for a
renewable system.
Design idea: It could however be designed so that it is well insulated and
much more energy efficient. It could be
built to harmonize with natural convection of hot air so that it would be even
more efficient.
Feedback Loops
Antenna, signal, response: A thermostat
inside senses the temperature inside
and switches the compressor on or off
depending on what is needed to
maintain a given setting.
Learns and Imitates: The fridge does
not have a learning thermostat (like the
Nest Learning Thermostat).
Design idea: It could be a feature to be
explored. A learning thermostat could
make micro adjustments in energy. For
example, using sensors, it could detect
when the sun is shining or wind is blowing and attempt to run the compressor
only during those times.

Integrates Cyclic
Processes
The refrigerator does cycle on and off
depending on the temperature required.

Cross-pollination and mutation: The

fridge does not have any semblance of
cross-pollination or mutation.
Design idea: It is possible that it could
be networked with other appliances in
the house and communicate with them
and cross-pollinate information in
order to adjust its function.

Resilient
Diverse: This is characteristic of the
appliance market in that there are
many different models of refrigerators
available.
Decentralized and distributed: The
appliance has separate fridge and
freezer compartments.
Design idea: This decentralization could
be expanded or exploited if the unit
was designed more like a group of
independently functioning cells each
about the size of a mini fridge.
Redundant: The unit does not have
multiple power supplies, no battery
back up.
Design idea: It could certainly be designed to make use of both solar and
wind energy and battery back-up.
Compartments could also incorporate
ceramics as a thermal mass to store the
cool temperature and maintain it for a
longer period of time. Finally, by dividing the fridge into more units, all of them
could function independently so that if
one fails, not all are lost.

Optimizing rather than

maximizing

compressor on the top of the unit. It

might be possible to change the shape
to complement the function more.

The unit does optimize in one sense in

that two separate compartments are
maintained at two separate temperatures.

Recycling all materials: The fridge has

very few materials that can be
recycled.

Design idea: It could be further optimized by dividing into at least three

compartments so that each one has
the appropriate temp: a cool box on
top at 50, a fridge in the middle at 40,
and a slide-out chest-type freezer at
30.
Using multi-functional design: The fridge
does not have this (well, maybe, in that
it refrigerates but also freezes).
Design idea: This could be expanded.
The unit could be designed so that
some compartments could be detached and used as coolers for travel.
Fitting form to function: The units form
is tied to function only in that a boxlike compartment is needed for food,
drinks, and condiments to stack or sit
neatly together. But the compressor
is in the wrong place. Its placed underneath or in the back. Heat rises up
through the unit so that the unit has to
work that much harder to maintain cool
temperatures. It is self-defeating. Also
the freezer is located on top. Again, hot
air rises so the freezer must work harder
to stay cold.
Design idea: It makes sense to put the
coldest compartment on the bottom
of the unit (and many other refrigerator appliances are designed this way
already). It is also possible to place the

Design idea: The insulation could be

mycellium based so that its fully
bio-degradable and compostable
within one year. Stainless steel might be
a good choice for the outside as might
some form of laminated bamboo.

Leveraging
Interdependence
Fostering cooperative relationships: The
appliance has no cooperative relationships.
Design idea: If networked with other
appliances, the result could be a
beneficial energy sharing. For instance,
if the washing machine was being used,
the refrigerator could receive a signal
so that it turns its compressor off for the
duration of the wash cycle.
Self-organizing: The unit has no self-organizing feature.
Design idea: Is it possible for a more
organic fridge to grow more insulation
during the hotter months of the year?
Gel walls might also expand as required
in order to accommodate more food
inside.

Using benign
manufacturing
Using life-friendly materials: Similar to
recycling all materials, the unit is presently made with materials that are characterized as beat, heat and treat.
Design idea: This could be changed
and the fridge could be made out of
more natural materials like mycellium,
bamboo. It might be possible to grow
the fridge compartments out of a
water-based gel-like material.
Using self-assembly: The unit has no
self-assembly characteristic.
Design idea: It may be possible to grow
the outer shell material of the fridge on
a wire-type matrix similar to the way
that crystals or coral reefs grow.
Using water-based chemistry: The unit
has no water-based chemistry.
Design idea: It is entirely possible to use
water-based adhesives to attach
materials together.

Conclusion
Although some of the design ideas presented here might seem a little wacky,
the truth remains that the common
refrigerator appliance, even those with
Energy Star ratings, remains one of the
largest energy drains within the home. A
radical and disruptive design approach
is needed to bring about the change
thats necessary.
Some sketches of my design ideas are
on the next page.