| Address from the 2008
IBE Conference - Nashville, Tennessee, USA Good
morning. The Board of Director
and the staff of the International Institute for Building Biology and Ecology
Welcomes each and every one of you to the second biannual Building Biology Conference.
The Institute has put together
an excellent program with presentations by experts that will substantially increase
your knowledge and understanding of the important health challenges presented
by our built environment. Before moving into the main part of our program we wanted
to tell you about the current state of IBE starting with a some background information.
Building Biology was born in
Europe in the early 1970s when architects, doctors and builders became aware of
negative health consequences apparently associated with post WWII building materials
and methods. Building Biology brought together the separate disciplines of engineering,
architecture, construction and medicine to serve the greater good by creating
health and spirit supporting housing for people. This
fundamental shift in thinking was noticed by a young, German Architect, Helmut
Ziehe. Helmut worked for a firm that was contracted with the government of Muammar
Gaddafi to create a new Libyan city. This city would showcase western architecture,
building practices and materials in the desert of North Africa. While this project
never progressed past the planning stages it served to open Helmut’s eyes
to the folly of importing western construction material and methods to a desert
culture. Creating
built environments that were good for people in all aspects made the strings of
Helmut’s heart sing. He studied building biology and then took the building
biology movement to England. The English were not ready for Building Biology,
so, luckily, Helmut brought building biology to the United States in 1986.
A few weeks ago during a long
drive I was musing about Helmut’s & IBE’s journey over the intervening
22 years as I listened to The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyer.
Joe Campbell, the pre-eminent western mythologist, was talking about the Hero’s
journey. The Hero's
Journey in all cultures and in all times follows a template. First, the proto-hero
faces separation from their own, familiar world. Once separated, they undergo
initiation and transformation, where the old ways of thinking and acting are altered
or destroyed, opening the way to a new level of awareness, skill and freedom.
After successfully meeting the
challenges of the initiation, the hero-to-be takes the journey's final step and
returns to the world where they find that they are more confident, perceptive,
and capable. The
hero returns bringing gifts for the people. Gifts like insight, leadership, understanding
and expertise. These gifts are applied by the hero for the benefit of the greater
community sometimes at great sacrifice in terms of health or wealth or popularity
or life itself. Certainly,
stories of the heroic soldier, policeman or fireman are often told. But far less
recognized is that this pattern repeats itself throughout all recorded human history,
on every content, in every culture, in every city, in every community, on every
street, in every family, in every life. This IS the pattern of human experience,
this is the pattern of our experience. We live it now, and we will live it for
the rest of our lives. It
has been said that the first heroic journey is the journey of birth; the transformation
from the world of spirit and unity to the world of physicality and separateness.
Surely each one of us had to rise to a heroic level to even attempt that journey.
Hero’s journeys do not end with our arrival on this mortal coil. We take
them again and again through out our lives. The
journey of the Building Biology Movement and the people who have been and will
be central to carrying this Movement forward all take the Hero’s journey.
1. This is a journey
of growing awareness that there is another way of thinking about and acting to
create our built environment. 2.
This is a journey of education leading to transformation in attitudes and resulting
in rejection of the accepted paradigm. 3.
This is a journey of returning to the world at large, more perceptive, more confident,
more capable and highly motivated. 4.
This is a journey that results in application these new gifts to reducing suffering
of people in the community with some sacrifice in income, or comfort or easy acceptance
in the community. 5. This
is a journey of satisfaction that you can earn an income being engaged in Right
Livelihood. Those
of you who are involved in this Building Biology Movement are on the Hero’s
journey. I salute each of you. We
made the journey of transformation before it was widely recognized that a transformation
was needed. Fortunately, for us and the planet, a general awakening has finally
taken place. Suddenly it’s chic (sheik) to be green and it’s profitable
to be green. This
green is about reducing the impact people make on the Earth. This green is about
reducing energy consumption by more insulation, better windows, CFLs and more
efficient furnaces and water heaters. This green is about reducing waste by redesign
processes and by recycling materials. This green is about ECOLOGY- protecting
the environment from pollution. The
greening of America is good because it’s good for the planet. And what’s
good for the planet is good for the people - Right? Well, yes and no. Green is
only part of the story- an important part of the story, but only part.
BIOLOGY is the rest of the story.
This BIOLOGICAL component considers the effect of the built environment on people.
If you only consider ecology you promote CFLs. If people consider the effect of
the electric and magnetic fields and the dirty electricity generated by these
lights they might not be so quick to embrace this technology. Ecology
AND Biology, this has been the fundamental concern of Building Biology since its
inception. Building Biology has been waiting in the wings working quietly so that
today, a core group of dedicated Certified Building Biology Environmental Consultants
stand ready to help people improve their home and work environments.
The Institute itself stands ready
to fill the need for wider public education. And the Institute stands ready to
educate and certify more professionals to meet growing demand. And finally, the
Institute stands ready to join in mutually beneficial alliances with like-minded
groups. In order
to meet these needs IBE has undergone amazing changes in the last 18 months. In
the area of Alliance Building: 1.
We are in the process of finalizing contracts with University of Colorado and
Maharishi University in Fairfield, Iowa. 2.
IBE seminars will be offered in Australia. More on this from your next speaker
Alison Wilson. 3. We have
developed a relationship with the Safe Wireless Initiative and Dr George Carlo
to provide training in Electromagnetic Radiation Detection and Assessment for
people interested in becoming Certified Electromagnetic Radiation Safety Advisors.
You will hear more about this later in the program. In
the area of Program Development: 1.
We have developed six introductory level classroom courses suitable for people
from a variety of backgrounds including the general public. These seminars are
to be presented through out the country to minimize the travel impact of attendees.
So far this year we have had seminars in Los Angeles and seminars are planned
for Seattle. Paraphrasing the inspirational words of John F. Kennedy: Ask not
what the Institute can do for you, rather ask what you can do for the Institute.
We need you to organize and promote seminars in your hometown. Please contact
Institute staff during the next break. 2.
We have revised our certification to include three certification tracks a.
Building Biology Practitioner b.
Building Biology Environmental Consultant c.
Building Biology Accredited Professional 3.
We have totally revised our old curriculum and developed new materials to support
these certification tracks with level 100, 200 and 300 seminars. 4.
All seminars including Indoor Air Quality and Electromagnetic Radiation feature
a written book in prose style with coordinated power points- all available electronically
for students and for easy updating. 5.
Professional level seminars now have 50% of the time devoted to hands-on practice
of what is being taught. 6.
We have developed a new level 200 seminar Natural Building & Remodeling Practices
taught by an architect. This workshop fills a critical need for information on
how to build biologically and ecologically sustainable homes. 7.
We have developed a new level 300 advanced seminar Electromagnetic Radiation Detection
and Assessment that will be offered for the first time Monday, thru Wednesday
next week. 8. We have added
closed book exams at the end of every certification track seminar to assure the
public of the value of the IBE certification. And we have instituted a continuing
education requirement for maintaining certification. 9.
We have moved forward with the rewriting and updating the correspondence course. 10.
We have added new modules to our on-line offerings. 11.
Finally, we have organized this conference with a stellar list of presenters.
Most are volunteers. People who have selflessly devoted their time to the development
of presentations for the good of all. I hope you appreciated, enjoy and find useful
all the information to come. If
you haven’t already, the Board and staff of the Institute invites you to
join us in taking this Hero’s journey for the benefit of humankind.
Thank You Larry
Gust, Chairman of the IBE Board
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