Termite architecture : a wonder of technology

Social insects like ants, bees or termites are known for their perfectionist organization.

Watch the picture above. We can notice that the termite mound is made of soil, digged locally and raised as a tower with a chimney in the center and lateral openings, where the air comes in, gets a new temperature and ventilates the whole building.

+ The building is cheaper, because digging the soil and raising it as walls asks less work than importing materials ;
+ The building is cool in summer, mild in winter, because the underground temperature is always at the annual mean of the surface. This is particularly interesting for hot countries.
+ Ventilation naturally occurs everytime in the building, making it very comfortable.
+ Solar power (solar chimney) and wind power (badgir) provide the required energy for free.

If we take a good place like Thira in Santorini, it means that we can make cheaper buildings, that are at 18 °C all the year and ventilated, saving 69 % energy from the very beginning, thanks to termite architecture.

As you can see in this diagram, 69 % of energy, used for air heating and cooling, can be saved thanks to termite architecture.

This is why we can say that termite architecture is a wonder of technology, and should become a new standard in the field of architecture.