Alexander Greig
Chair and Trustee
Practising architect and BBE Chair, who has taught eco architecture workshops in New Zealand and India.
Wellington
027 446 5146
[email protected]
About the Building Biology and Ecology Institute
We are a New Zealand charitable trust sharing the knowledge of healthier, more sustainable building since 1990.
What We Do
Building Biology is the study of how the built environment affects the health of people. Building Ecology is the study of how it affects the environment.
Through education, advocacy and research, the BBE Institute makes people aware of the health and environmental hazards of modern buildings and construction, and shows them how to create healthier, more sustainable places to live and work.
A New Zealand Charitable Trust
Registration No. CC35100. The Institute is not for profit and is made up of trustees, practising regional representatives around New Zealand, and a panel of advisors in related fields.
Our Objectives
- Make information on healthier and more sustainable building, materials and services available to the public and the building industry
- Endorse or teach courses, workshops and seminars, and endorse or produce publications on healthier and more sustainable building and lifestyle
- Endorse or carry out research and development in healthier and more sustainable building
- Advise and support people who are committed to a healthier, more sustainable building industry
- Co-operate with environmental, research, health, community and government organisations to encourage a healthier built environment and lifestyle
- Push the current boundaries of sustainability and ecological building towards a truly regenerative built environment
Our History
Building Biology and Ecology is a relatively new field. It grew from the need for a more holistic approach, as the harmful biological and ecological effects of conventional building practices became clear.
Early civilisations practised it without knowing, because the only materials they had were natural ones. It is worth looking back at what generations of trial and error taught them, and applying that knowledge wherever we can.
The Institute continues to expand what we believe living and building can be. Geobiology, electrobiology, bio-harmonic design and sympathetic vibrational physics sit at the core of BBE teaching.
- 1960s, GermanyBuilding Biology and Ecology begins.
- 1970The Gesundes Bauen, Gesundes Wohnen (Healthy Building, Healthy Living) Society begins collecting all existing knowledge on healthier, more sustainable building, including practices that had been disappearing for fifty years.
- Late 1989Architect Reinhard Kanuka-Fuchs introduces Building Biology and Ecology to New Zealand. For over ten years he leads awareness, education and change, including the Waitakere City Council Eco Home and its Sustainable Home Guidelines.
- 1990The New Zealand Institute becomes active in education and research. Many health practitioners, builders, architects, designers and manufacturers train through university classes and the original German correspondence course.
- TodayThe Institute is run by some of those graduate students, with affiliated offices across Europe, Australia, India, the UK and the USA.
The People Behind BBE
Trustees
Jenny Rattenbury
Education Co-ordinator and Trustee
Trained as an architect and involved with BBE since 1990, who now runs the online Certificate.
Wellington
[email protected]
Ingo Ratsdorf
Trustee and Auckland Representative
Registered architect and certified Building Biologist in New Zealand and Germany, with over 14 years of experience.
Regional Representatives
Brighid Critchlow
Nelson
UK registered architect working in ecological design, education and sustainable housing.
021 101 5166
[email protected]
Sean Harris
Taupo
Registered architect with 30 years of experience in mudbrick, strawbale and light earth homes.
Murray Laird
Waikato
Certified Building Biologist and registered electrician who designs alternative energy systems and inspects buildings.
Alexander Pert
Gisborne
Building designer who was among the first students to take the Certificate, in 1991.
Advisory Panel
Steve Jaycock
Straw Bale Design and Construction
Master's in architecture on low-cost strawbale construction, and designer of several strawbale homes.
Mary Redmayne
Electro-biology
PhD researcher on the health effects of electromagnetic fields, and an adjunct research fellow at Victoria University of Wellington and Monash University.
Paul Waddel
Electro-biology
Trained in EMF testing, with a background in aircraft engineering and business.
Ready to Learn More?
Explore our courses on healthier, more ecological building and design.