How to grow fresh air

Researcher Kamal Meattle shows how an arrangement of three common houseplants, used in specific spots in a home or office building, can result in measurably cleaner indoor air.

Some 17 years ago, I became allergic to Delhi's air.

My doctors told me that my lung capacity

had gone down to 70 percent,

and it was killing me.

With the help of IIT,

TERI, and learnings from NASA,

we discovered that there are three

basic green plants,

common green plants, with which

we can grow all the fresh air

we need indoors to keep us healthy.

We've also found that you can

reduce the fresh air requirements

into the building, while maintaining

industry indoor air-quality standards.

The three plants are Areca palm,

Mother-in-Law's Tongue and money plant.

The botanical names are in front of you.

Areca palm is a plant which

removes CO2 and converts it into oxygen.

We need four shoulder-high plants per person,

and in terms of plant care,

we need to wipe the leaves

every day in Delhi, and perhaps

once a week in cleaner-air cities.

We had to grow them in vermi manure,

which is sterile, or hydroponics,

and take them outdoors every three to four months.

The second plant is Mother-in-law's Tongue,

which is again a very common plant,

and we call it a bedroom plant,

because it converts CO2 into oxygen at night.

And we need six to eight waist-high plants per person.

The third plant is money plant,

and this is again a very common plant;

preferably grows in hydroponics.

And this particular plant removes formaldehydes

and other volatile chemicals.

With these three plants,

you can grow all the fresh air you need.

In fact, you could be in a bottle

with a cap on top, and you would not die at all,

and you would not need any fresh air.

We have tried these plants at our

own building in Delhi, which is a

50,000-square-feet, 20-year-old building.

And it has close to 1,200 such plants for 300 occupants.

Our studies have found that there is

a 42 percent probability of one's blood oxygen

going up by one percent if one stays indoors

in this building for 10 hours.

The government of India has discovered

or published a study to show

that this is the healthiest building in New Delhi.

And the study showed that,

compared to other buildings,

there is a reduced incidence of

eye irritation by 52 percent,

respiratory systems by 34 percent,

headaches by 24 percent,

lung impairment by 12 percent and asthma by nine percent.

And this study has been published on September 8, 2008,

and it's available on the government of India website.

Our experience points to an

amazing increase in human productivity

by over 20 percent by using these plants.

And also a reduction in energy requirements in buildings

by an outstanding 15 percent, because you need less fresh air.

We are now replicating this in a

1.75-million-square-feet building,

which will have 60,000 indoor plants.

Why is this important?

It is also important for the environment,

because the world's energy

requirements are expected to grow

by 30 percent in the next decade.

40 percent of the world's energy is taken

up by buildings currently,

and 60 percent of the world's population

will be living in buildings in cities

with a population of over one million in the next 15 years.

And there is a growing preference for living

and working in air-conditioned places.

"Be the change you want to see in the world,"

said Mahatma Gandhi.

And thank you for listening.

(Applause)