Glazette thanks Architect Mayank Barjatya for sharing with us the following article on Prithwe Institute of Building Biology and Ecology.

India is one of the highest energy and water consuming countries. This also gives us an opportunity to conserve energy much lesser by designing our houses and offices smarter, more water and energy efficient. It is with this aim the Prithwe Institute of Building Biology and Ecology has been established.
 
Located at Pune, it is headed by Ar. Mayank Barjatya in joint collaboration with Ar. Alex Greig from New Zealand. This is the first Building Biology & Ecology Institute of India which is part of an international network of BBE institutes that began in Germany in the 1960s. 
 
Pioneers of eco-sustainable architecture, the Building Biology Institutes around the world doesn’t stop with merely reducing our buildings energy and water use. BBE are instrumental in providing guidelines for the building structure that are healthy both for us and the environment. Developed in the form of 25 principles covering ecology, biology, spiritual and aesthetic, social and community, the guidelines help us to achieve optimum human and environmental health. They include positioning the building to avoid earth geo-stress, designing the electrical system under the principles of electro-biology and designing the house with Indian Vastu science.
 
One of the events at the launch included a weekend workshop called “design your own eco home” led by Ar Alex. He quoted that India is one of the most active economics in terms of infrastructure; any new development needs to concentrate on environmental design in order to take the strain off the reticulated infrastructure. All new developments could be designed under an eco framework, and the Institute could easily provide the knowledge to put that in place.
 
Prithwe Institute of Building Biology and Ecology, Pune is the only official BBE Institute in Asia. The “building biologist” graduate programs are certified under the Prithwe BBE institute and will have students working with architects, developers and the government for a greener and sustainable future of the country. Prithwe along with BBE would set up a state-of-art laboratory to test and qualify healthy materials and techniques and also create a team to audit & certify healthy & eco friendly building systems in Pune and around the country.
 
Prithwe Institutes Pune campus would mainly conduct workshops and research on creating a sustainable Indian system on building biology and ecology. This facility would be a stepping stone for a bigger residential school that would have full time architecture education under BBE curriculum. A land near Bhor, around 70 km from Pune, has been short listed for the larger school campus proposed to function from year 2013.
 
In addition to Ar.Mayank Barjatya and Ar. Alex Greig, Prithwe Institute has a team of highly qualified architects. Some of the most active architects are Hanno Burtscher from Germany, Jorg Stamm from Columbia and Mic Rice from Ireland. Priti Bhandari and Wolfgang Priggen from Germany are the most important members of the Institute’s management & electro-biology studies.
 
During the launch, Ar. Mayank has elaborated that the centre would be one of its kinds where you would get total eco solutions. The centre would have demonstration and display of all eco products required for making a true healthy home and workspace. The Institute has tied up and has list of eco material manufacturers from all over the world. The center would facilitate all eco construction types and would be able to cater to small and big construction requirements.
 
At the launch, Ms Priti informed the audience that Prithwe learning centre has facility to conduct workshops for 50 people with modern media presentation & outdoor space to hold 100 people for exhibitions and expos. She said Prithwe means earth & us, thus it would only encourage green, healthy and ecology related seminars in the campus.
 
Finally, senior member of the team, Er. Wolfgang presented the vote of thanks and stated that architects, students, green enthusiasts and others should visit Prithwe Institute and get themselves acquainted with a greener and healthier life.