Inside a termite mound, there is a very fine balance occurring where gas concentration, ph regulation, temperature, moisture and humidity balances are critical. Termites need fresh supplies of oxygen, in the same way we do, whilst at the same time requiring the removal of stale air and excess carbon dioxide from the mound.

All air breathing animals use a tidal flow technique, not convection, to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide between the inside and outside of their bodies, which they do via the lungs. Muscles squeeze the lungs so that only a partial amount of air is pushed from the lung cavity. This in/out movement is called tidal flow. Tidal flow keeps O2 and CO2 exchanging between the inside and outside but enables the far reaches of the lung to maintain exactly the right balance of moisture, temperature and acidity to preserve life.

Instead of using muscles to drive the air in and out, the mound captures energy stored in light gusts of wind which sets the air oscillating within the mound helping to mix static nest air with wind-refreshed mound air. The fine capillaries in the spire tune the wind into notes, like organ pipes, making the air hum too low for us to hear. This resonating within the mound enables gas exchange, helping oxygen get to the nest and carbon dioxide get out - breathing, in a word.

Of all the animals on the earth, no other organism is known to engineer the environment to this level.

Ventilating our homes whilst conserving energy is one of our greatest challenges. Where humans struggle to obtain enough energy to thrive, even with all of our current technology, termites have evolved construction methods which only utilise renewable energy sources. If we want to survive future climatic changes, our own building methods need to change. What we see in termite mounds is a single material which has been cleverly modified so that it has the properties of many, many different materials. We too need buildings which utilise renewable energy sources and are more responsive to our environment.

The way we currently use wind energy is by turning it into electricity or by capturing it in tall buildings. Like our homes, termite mounds have no way to convert wind into electricity, yet they have learned how to capture wind in an entirely new way. If we can construct buildings which do the same thing, using light wind gusts to replace air conditioning and ventilation, things which we currently power with electricity or fossil fuels, we will change the future of construction.

Until now, sustainable construction has been reliant on green materials rather than on green design. Green design involves making the walls of our homes permeable, like termite mounds, which have the ability to harness energy from the environment and capture wind and solar power. New computer design programs allow architects to do this, but what technologies would we need to make such living buildings? There is only one capable of doing so, and that is the emergent and pioneering new technology of Freeform Construction.

Freeform Construction methods allow architects to 'print' complex and elaborate buildings by laying down materials in miniscule layers, one at a time, in much the same way a printer deposits ink on paper. It is possible, with this process, to embed channels and ducts within the walls of a house in ways which simply aren't possible with current construction methods. In time, these house printing machines will be made up of swarms of tiny robots which behave and simulate termites, using the same behaviour patterns which allows termites to build their spectacular mounds, and enable us to build habitats in any environment, against any backdrop, on the earth, the moon or mars.