Designers can search for nature’s solutions to design challenges in the public library available on www.asknature.org – learning, for example, how organisms filter air and water, gather solar energy, and create non-toxic dyes and glues.

AsNature.org has been launched by the Biomimicry Institute in partnership with US 2D and 3D design software company Autodesk, and allows users to mine through 3.8 billion years of evolution and solutions to problems.

Designers are encouraged to ask the database “How would nature…?” and the answers are displayed organized by function, with illustrations and in language relevant to designers.

For instance, someone trying to solve the challenge of ‘how to glue to surfaces in moist environments’ would find information about barnacles, geckos and other organisms that have solved this problem in the ecosystem in which they live.

As well as providing a search engine function and being partly a manifesto for the Biomimicry Institute, the site is also intended to become a social networking site for designers, architects and engineers interested in developing and sharing design strategies.

Janine Benyus was a keynote speaker at Better by Design’s CEO Summit 2008 in September. As part of her keynote presentation she introduced her vision of biomimicry, a science that imitates or emulates designs and processes in nature to solve today’s human problems. Examples of several New Zealand scientists and designers working with coloured dyes and non-solvent glue systems, amongst others, were highlighted in her presentation.

“What you'll see on the site today is a starter culture of ideas—biological blueprints and strategies, bio-inspired products and design sketches, and biomimics you can talk to and collaborate with,” she says.

Autodesk Director of Sustainability Lynelle Cameron says the company sees biomimicry as a revolutionary design concept that can help influence better design decisions. The website is now being promoted to the more than nine million Autodesk users worldwide.

Visit AskNature.org here

Watch Janine Benyus’ presentation at the CEO Summit here

Visit the Biomimicry Institute here