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 fala sobre como gerar seu próprio ar fresco

Filmed:
3,754,416 views

O pesquisador Kamal Meattle mostra como uma combinação de três plantas comuns, usadas em pontos específicos de uma casa ou escritório, podem gerar ar mensuravelmente mais puro em ambientes interiores.
- 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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Há cerca de 17 anos me tornei alérgico ao ar de Nova Delhi.
00:17
My doctors told me that my lung capacity
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Meus médicos me disseram que minha capacidade pulmonar
00:20
had gone down to 70 percent,
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havia baixado a 70 por cento,
00:22
and it was killing me.
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e isso estava me matando.
00:23
With the help of IIT,
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Com a ajuda do IIT - Instituto de Tecnologia da Índia,
00:26
TERI, and learnings from NASA,
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do TERI - Instituto de Energia e Recursos, e com os conhecimentos da NASA
00:28
we discovered that there are three
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descobrimos que existem três
00:31
basic green plants,
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plantas verdes básicas,
00:33
common green plants, with which
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plantas comuns, com as quais
00:35
we can grow all the fresh air
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podemos gerar todo o ar puro
00:36
we need indoors to keep us healthy.
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para ambientes interiores de que necessitamos para nos mantermos saudáveis.
00:39
We've also found that you can
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Também descobrimos que se pode
00:41
reduce the fresh air requirements
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reduzir a quantidade de ar puro necessária
00:43
into the building, while maintaining
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no interior de um edifício, embora mantendo
00:45
industry indoor air-quality standards.
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o nível de qualidade de ar desses interiores.
00:48
The three plants are Areca palm,
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Estas três plantas são: Palmeira Areca ("Chrysalidocarpus Lutescens"),
00:50
Mother-in-Law's Tongue and money plant.
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Espada-de-São-Jorge ("Sansevieria Trifasciata") e Dama do Lago (ou Jibóia) ("Epipremnum Aureum").
00:54
The botanical names are in front of you.
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Os nomes botânicos estão aqui para vocês.
00:58
Areca palm is a plant which
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A Palmeira Areca é uma planta que
01:00
removes CO2 and converts it into oxygen.
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elimina o CO2 convertendo-o em oxigênio.
01:04
We need four shoulder-high plants per person,
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São necessárias quatro plantas por pessoa, à altura do ombro
01:08
and in terms of plant care,
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e quanto aos cuidados com tais plantas
01:10
we need to wipe the leaves
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é necessário limpar suas folhas
01:11
every day in Delhi, and perhaps
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todos os dias em Nova Delhi, talvez
01:13
once a week in cleaner-air cities.
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só uma vez por semana em cidades onde o ar é mais limpo.
01:15
We had to grow them in vermi manure,
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Tivemos que cultivá-las con adubo estéril,
01:18
which is sterile, or hydroponics,
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hidroponicamente,
01:21
and take them outdoors every three to four months.
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e colocá-las ao ar livre a cada quatro meses.
01:25
The second plant is Mother-in-law's Tongue,
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A segunda planta é a Espada-de-São-Jorge,
01:28
which is again a very common plant,
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que também é uma planta comum,
01:30
and we call it a bedroom plant,
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e é conhecida como planta de dormitório
01:32
because it converts CO2 into oxygen at night.
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porque converte CO2 em oxigênio durante a noite.
01:35
And we need six to eight waist-high plants per person.
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Necessitamos de seis a oito plantas por pessoa, que cheguem à altura da cintura.
01:40
The third plant is money plant,
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A terceira é Dama do Lago (planta do dinheiro, em inglês),
01:42
and this is again a very common plant;
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e, novamente, esta é uma planta muito comum;
01:45
preferably grows in hydroponics.
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cultiva-se, de preferência, hidroponicamente.
01:48
And this particular plant removes formaldehydes
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E esta planta, em especial, elimina o formaldeídeo
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and other volatile chemicals.
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e outras substâncias químicas voláteis.
01:52
With these three plants,
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Com estas três plantas,
01:54
you can grow all the fresh air you need.
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você pode gerar todo o ar puro de que necessita.
01:56
In fact, you could be in a bottle
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De fato, se pusermos pessoas dentro de uma garrafa
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with a cap on top, and you would not die at all,
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com a tampa fechada e com essas plantas dentro, elas não morreriam
02:02
and you would not need any fresh air.
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e não necessitariam de ar externo.
02:05
We have tried these plants at our
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Experimentamos estas plantas em nosso
02:07
own building in Delhi, which is a
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próprio edifício em Nova Deli, o qual tem
02:10
50,000-square-feet, 20-year-old building.
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4.645 metros quadrados e 20 anos de existência.
02:13
And it has close to 1,200 such plants for 300 occupants.
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E temos cerca de 1.200 destas plantas para 300 ocupantes.
02:17
Our studies have found that there is
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Nossos estudos descobriram que existe
02:19
a 42 percent probability of one's blood oxygen
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uma probabilidade de 42 por cento de que o oxigênio do sangue de um indivíduo
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going up by one percent if one stays indoors
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aumente em um por cento se permanecer dentro
02:25
in this building for 10 hours.
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deste edifício durante 10 horas.
02:28
The government of India has discovered
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O governo da Índia descobriu
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or published a study to show
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ou publicou um estudo que mostra
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that this is the healthiest building in New Delhi.
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que este edifício é o mais saudável de Nova Delhi.
02:36
And the study showed that,
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E tal estudo mostra que,
02:39
compared to other buildings,
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comparado com outros edifícios,
02:40
there is a reduced incidence of
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há uma redução na incidência de
02:42
eye irritation by 52 percent,
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irritações dos olhos em 52 por cento,
02:44
respiratory systems by 34 percent,
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problemas respiratórios em 34 por cento,
02:48
headaches by 24 percent,
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dores de cabeça em 24 por cento,
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lung impairment by 12 percent and asthma by nine percent.
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deficiência pulmonar em 12 por cento e asma em 9 por cento.
02:53
And this study has been published on September 8, 2008,
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E este estudo foi publicado em 8 de setembro de 2008,
02:57
and it's available on the government of India website.
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e está disponível na website do governo da Índia.
03:00
Our experience points to an
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Nossa experiencia mostra
03:02
amazing increase in human productivity
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um incrível aumento na produtividade humana
03:06
by over 20 percent by using these plants.
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de mais de 20 por cento, devido ao uso destas plantas.
03:09
And also a reduction in energy requirements in buildings
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E também uma extraordinária redução na demanda de energia destes prédios
03:13
by an outstanding 15 percent, because you need less fresh air.
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de 15 por cento, como resultado de necessitar menos ar puro.
03:19
We are now replicating this in a
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Agora estamos repetindo a experiência em um
03:20
1.75-million-square-feet building,
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edifício de 163 mil metros quadrados
03:23
which will have 60,000 indoor plants.
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que terá cerca de 60 mil plantas de interior.
03:25
Why is this important?
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Por quê isto é importante?
03:27
It is also important for the environment,
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É importante também para o nosso meio ambiente,
03:29
because the world's energy
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porque se espera que a demanda
03:30
requirements are expected to grow
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de energia do mundo cresça
03:32
by 30 percent in the next decade.
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cerca de 30 por cento na próxima década.
03:34
40 percent of the world's energy is taken
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Hoje em dia 40 por cento da energia do mundo
03:35
up by buildings currently,
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é consumida por edificios;
03:37
and 60 percent of the world's population
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e por mais 15 anos, 60 por cento da população do mundo
03:39
will be living in buildings in cities
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estará vivendo dentro de edifícios, em cidades
03:42
with a population of over one million in the next 15 years.
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com uma população de mais de um milhão de pessoas.
03:46
And there is a growing preference for living
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E existe uma tendência crescente de viver
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and working in air-conditioned places.
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e trabalhar em lugares com ar condicionado.
03:52
"Be the change you want to see in the world,"
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"Seja a mudança que queres ver no mundo"
03:54
said Mahatma Gandhi.
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disse Mahatma Gandhi.
03:55
And thank you for listening.
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E obrigado a vocês por me ouvirem.
03:56
(Applause)
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(Aplausos).
Translated by Elisa Santos T.
Reviewed by Fabio Ceconello

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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