ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kamal Meattle - Business owner and activist
With its air-filtering plants and sustainable architecture, Kamal Meattle's office park in New Delhi is a model of green business. Meattle himself is a longtime activist for cleaning up India's air.

Why you should listen

Kamal Meattle has a vision to reshape commercial building in India using principles of green architecture and sustainable upkeep (including an air-cleaning system that involves massive banks of plants instead of massive banks of HVAC equipment). He started the Paharpur Business Centre and Software Technology Incubator Park (PBC-STIP), in New Delhi, in 1990 to provide "instant office" space to technology companies. PBC-STIP's website publishes its air quality index every day, and tracks its compliance to the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact, a corporate-citizenship initiative.

Meattle has long been a environmental activist in India. In the 1980s he helped India's apple industry develop less-wasteful packaging to help save acres of trees. He then began a campaign to help India's millions of scooter drivers use less oil. His next plan is to develop a larger version of PBC-STIP, making a green office accessible to more businesses in New Delhi and serving as an example of low-cost, low-energy office life.

More profile about the speaker
Kamal Meattle | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

Kamal Meattle: How to grow fresh air

Kamal Meattle si ta rrisni ajrin tuaj te fresket

Filmed:
3,754,416 views

Kerkuesi Kamal Meattle tregon se si rregullimi i tre prej shtepive te bimeve, i perdorur ne vendet specifike ne shtepi apo zyre, mund te rezultojne ne nje ajer te papaster.
- Business owner and activist
With its air-filtering plants and sustainable architecture, Kamal Meattle's office park in New Delhi is a model of green business. Meattle himself is a longtime activist for cleaning up India's air. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
Some 17 years ago, I became allergic to Delhi's air.
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Para 17 viteve, u bera alergjik ne ajrin e Delhit.
00:17
My doctors told me that my lung capacity
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Doktori me tregoi se kapaciteti i mushkerive te mia
00:20
had gone down to 70 percent,
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ka shkuar 70 perqind me posht,
00:22
and it was killing me.
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dhe ishte duke me mbytur mua.
00:23
With the help of IIT,
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me ndihmen e IIT,
00:26
TERI, and learnings from NASA,
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TERI, dhe duke mesuar nga NASA,
00:28
we discovered that there are three
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ne zbuluam se atje ka tre
00:31
basic green plants,
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bime themelore te gjelberta,
00:33
common green plants, with which
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bime jeshile te perbashketa, me te cilat
00:35
we can grow all the fresh air
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ne mund te rrisim te gjithe ajrin e fresket
00:36
we need indoors to keep us healthy.
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qe na nevojitet brenda per te na mbajtur te shendetshem.
00:39
We've also found that you can
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Ne gjithashtu gjetem se ne mund
00:41
reduce the fresh air requirements
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te reduktojme kerkesat e ajrit te fresket
00:43
into the building, while maintaining
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brenda ndertesave, nderkohe qe mbajme
00:45
industry indoor air-quality standards.
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standartet e industrise se ajrit te brendshem.
00:48
The three plants are Areca palm,
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Tri bimet jane Palma Areca,
00:50
Mother-in-Law's Tongue and money plant.
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Gjuha e nenes se ligjit dhe bima e parave.
00:54
The botanical names are in front of you.
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Emrat botanik jane para jush.
00:58
Areca palm is a plant which
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Palma Areca eshte nje bime qe
01:00
removes CO2 and converts it into oxygen.
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largob CO2 dhe e konverton ate ne oksigjen.
01:04
We need four shoulder-high plants per person,
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Neve na duhen kater mbajtes te bimeve per person,
01:08
and in terms of plant care,
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dhe persa i perket perkujdesit te bimeve,
01:10
we need to wipe the leaves
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na duhet te zhdukim mbetjet
01:11
every day in Delhi, and perhaps
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cdo dite ne Delhi, dhe ndoshta
01:13
once a week in cleaner-air cities.
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njehere ne jave ne pastrimin e ajrit te qytetit.
01:15
We had to grow them in vermi manure,
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Ne duhet ta rrisim ate ne nje menyre te vecante,
01:18
which is sterile, or hydroponics,
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qe eshte sterile, apo hidroponike,
01:21
and take them outdoors every three to four months.
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dhe ti nxjerrim ato jasht cdo tre apo kater muaj.
01:25
The second plant is Mother-in-law's Tongue,
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Bima e dyte eshte gjuha e nenes se ligjit,
01:28
which is again a very common plant,
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qe eshte prape nje bime shume e perafert,
01:30
and we call it a bedroom plant,
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dhe ne e quajme ate bima e dhomes se gjumit,
01:32
because it converts CO2 into oxygen at night.
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sepse e konverton CO2 ne oksigjen gjate nates.
01:35
And we need six to eight waist-high plants per person.
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Dhe neve na duhen gjasht deri ne tete bime per person.
01:40
The third plant is money plant,
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Bima e trete eshte bima e parave,
01:42
and this is again a very common plant;
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edhe ky eshte gjithashtu nje bime shum e perafert;
01:45
preferably grows in hydroponics.
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i preferuar per tu rritur ne hidroponiket.
01:48
And this particular plant removes formaldehydes
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Dhe kjo bime e vecante heq ajrin e nxier
01:51
and other volatile chemicals.
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dhe kimikatet e tjera te panevojshme.
01:52
With these three plants,
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Me keto tri bime,
01:54
you can grow all the fresh air you need.
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mund te rrisni te gjithe ajrin e fresket qe ju duhet.
01:56
In fact, you could be in a bottle
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Ne fakt, ju mund te jeni ne nje shishe
01:58
with a cap on top, and you would not die at all,
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me nje tap siper, dhe nuk do te vdisni fare,
02:02
and you would not need any fresh air.
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dhe nuk do te ju duhet ndonje ajer i fresket.
02:05
We have tried these plants at our
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Ne i kemi provuar keto bime tek
02:07
own building in Delhi, which is a
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ndertesat tona ne Delphi, e cila eshte
02:10
50,000-square-feet, 20-year-old building.
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50,000 metra katrore, 20 vjet e vjeter.
02:13
And it has close to 1,200 such plants for 300 occupants.
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Dhe ka afersisht 1,200 bime per 300 persona.
02:17
Our studies have found that there is
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Studimet tona kane gjetur se ka
02:19
a 42 percent probability of one's blood oxygen
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ndoshta 42 perqind prej oksigjenit te gjakut
02:23
going up by one percent if one stays indoors
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duke shkuar ne nje perqind nese njeri qendron brenda
02:25
in this building for 10 hours.
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ne kete ndertese per 10 ore rradhazi.
02:28
The government of India has discovered
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Qeveria e Indise ka zbuluar
02:31
or published a study to show
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apo publikuar nje studim per te shfaqur
02:33
that this is the healthiest building in New Delhi.
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se kjo eshte ndertesa me e shendetshme ne New Delhi.
02:36
And the study showed that,
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Dhe studimi shfaqi qe,
02:39
compared to other buildings,
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duke u krahasur me ndertesat e tjera,
02:40
there is a reduced incidence of
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eshte nje incidence e zvogeluar
02:42
eye irritation by 52 percent,
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e irritimit te syrit me 52 perqind,
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respiratory systems by 34 percent,
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sistemi i respirimit me 34 perqind,
02:48
headaches by 24 percent,
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dhimbja e kokes me 24 perqind,
02:49
lung impairment by 12 percent and asthma by nine percent.
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demtimi i mushkerive me 12 perqind dhe azma me nente perqind.
02:53
And this study has been published on September 8, 2008,
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Dhe ky studim eshte publikuar me 8 Shtator te vitit 2008,
02:57
and it's available on the government of India website.
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dhe eshte i disponueshum ne faqen e qeveris se Indise.
03:00
Our experience points to an
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Eksperienca jone drejtohet tek
03:02
amazing increase in human productivity
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nje rritje e mahnitshme e produktivitetit njerezor
03:06
by over 20 percent by using these plants.
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me mbi 20 perqind duke perdorur keto bime.
03:09
And also a reduction in energy requirements in buildings
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Dhe gjithashtu ne zvogelimin e kerkeses se energjis ne ndertesa
03:13
by an outstanding 15 percent, because you need less fresh air.
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me nje lartshmeri prej 15 perqind, sepse ju duhet me pak ajer i fresket.
03:19
We are now replicating this in a
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Ne jemi duke e zevendesuar tani me nje
03:20
1.75-million-square-feet building,
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1.75 milion metra katrore ndertese,
03:23
which will have 60,000 indoor plants.
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qe do te kete 60,000 bime brenda.
03:25
Why is this important?
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Pse eshte kjo e rendesishme?
03:27
It is also important for the environment,
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Eshte gjithashtu me rendesi per ambjentin,
03:29
because the world's energy
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sepse kerkesa e energjise se botes
03:30
requirements are expected to grow
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jane parashikuar per tu rritur
03:32
by 30 percent in the next decade.
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me 30 perqind ne dekaden e ardhshme.
03:34
40 percent of the world's energy is taken
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40 perqind e energjis se botes eshte marre
03:35
up by buildings currently,
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nga ndertesat e tanishme,
03:37
and 60 percent of the world's population
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dhe 60 perqind e popullsise boterore
03:39
will be living in buildings in cities
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do te jetoje ne ndertesat ne qytete
03:42
with a population of over one million in the next 15 years.
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me nje popullsi mbi nje milion ne 15 vitet e fundit.
03:46
And there is a growing preference for living
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Dhe eshte nje rritje e preferences se jeteses
03:48
and working in air-conditioned places.
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dhe punes ne vendet me ajer te kondicionuar.
03:52
"Be the change you want to see in the world,"
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"Behu ndryshimi qe deshironi te shihni ne bote,"
03:54
said Mahatma Gandhi.
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tha Mahatma Gandhi.
03:55
And thank you for listening.
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Dhe falimidnerit qe me degjuat.
03:56
(Applause)
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(Duartrokitje)
Translated by Liridon Shala
Reviewed by Amantia Gjikondi

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kamal Meattle - Business owner and activist
With its air-filtering plants and sustainable architecture, Kamal Meattle's office park in New Delhi is a model of green business. Meattle himself is a longtime activist for cleaning up India's air.

Why you should listen

Kamal Meattle has a vision to reshape commercial building in India using principles of green architecture and sustainable upkeep (including an air-cleaning system that involves massive banks of plants instead of massive banks of HVAC equipment). He started the Paharpur Business Centre and Software Technology Incubator Park (PBC-STIP), in New Delhi, in 1990 to provide "instant office" space to technology companies. PBC-STIP's website publishes its air quality index every day, and tracks its compliance to the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact, a corporate-citizenship initiative.

Meattle has long been a environmental activist in India. In the 1980s he helped India's apple industry develop less-wasteful packaging to help save acres of trees. He then began a campaign to help India's millions of scooter drivers use less oil. His next plan is to develop a larger version of PBC-STIP, making a green office accessible to more businesses in New Delhi and serving as an example of low-cost, low-energy office life.

More profile about the speaker
Kamal Meattle | Speaker | TED.com