Microvascular Building Envelopes: Autonomous Thermo-Responsive Fluidics and Predictive Setback Buffering for Off-Grid Thermal Resilience During Extreme Climate Volatility

Traditional indoor environmental quality standards rely on static regional climate averages, leaving built infrastructure vulnerable to extreme weather volatility and grid breakdown. This paper proposes a novel biomimetic building envelope that enforces an absolute biological baseline of 18–22°C (40–50% RH) for human cognitive and autonomic optimal performance. Mimicking human dermal microvasculature, the system integrates 3D-printed microfluidic hydronic networks (0.5–2.0 mm channels) within thermal envelopes, governed by thermo-responsive shape-memory polymers and predictive AI motion-tracking algorithms. During grid outage scenarios under 42°C extreme summer heat, the autonomous system maintains the 18–22°C refuge zone using localized radiant heat exchange and controlled standby drift (16–17°C winter / 24–25°C summer), reducing exergy consumption by 42.6% compared to VRF systems and eliminating thermal shock. Financial analysis demonstrates that despite a 7.4% initial CAPEX increase, the system achieves full payback within 3.8 years through OPEX reduction and human capital productivity retention under the 3-30-300 rule.