Susan Lange, Oriental medical doctor and licensed acupuncturist, is so convinced that by using the healthy building principles of bau-biologie she obtained a new lease on life, that she decided to dedicate herself professionally to helping patients and
other clients make similar choices for themselves.
Last fall, a few months after she completed a unique correspondence course from the International Institute for Bau-Biologie & Ecology, Inc., which teaches people to create healthy environments at home, work, and play, Lange and her husband, Julian
Lange, O.M.D., opened the Meridian Center for Personal and Environmental Health in Santa Monica, California. She believes that it is the first earth-conscious medical center in the country built and
operated with the principles of bau-biologie inherent in its design, and adds that the facility itself actually becomes part of the healing process for its patients.
Bau-iologie originated in Germany about twenty years ago and is, according to IBE President Helmut Ziehe, "a German concoction that can be as difficult for Germans to understand as it probably is for you. `Building Biology', the direct translation into
English, does not fully clarify the term." The definition used by IBE students and advocates of the process is first, "The study of the impact of building environment upon the health of people, and
the application of this knowledge to the construction of healthy homes and workplaces." And second, "The science of holistic interactions between life and living environment."
Ziehe, a German architect who ventured to bring baubiologie to the United States four years ago, writes that there's more to the concept than the study of nontoxic building materials, clean indoor air, shielded electric installations, avoidance of electromagnetic
radiation and radon, etc.
Other aspects, which he describes as the "holistic side of the coin," include such broad fields as ecology, biology, medicine, engineering, education, and economy. "In other words, bau-biologie is not a narrowly specialized subject. Inter-relationship
and synthesis arc the special characteristics of this living subject which often combines isolated fields of study as no other does."
Practical applications of bau-biologie become evident just through the subject titles of twenty-two course packs, which include baubiologie and building culture, ecology and building sites, biologically sound building materials, heating and thermal insulation,
house inspection, and construction and building
Some have built or renovated homes using principles of baubiologie. Others have chosen to modify their lifestyles and businesses, and some have gone on to act as consultants and/or inspectors in the field.
For Lange, at age thirty-seven, bau-biologie's impact on her life has been transformative. "I grew up in the Far East and was trained in Oriental medicine in England, China, and America. While in India during the early 1970s I became ill and was in pain
all the time. No one could help me. That's when I discovered acupuncture, and knew I wanted to pursue it. I went to the International College of Oriental Medicine outside London
and returned to China.
"Not long after, I went to California to get married, and when I arrived, I became environmentally ill. My whole system broke down. I couldn't eat, I was allergic...someone would walk by me with perfume and I'd collapse. Today I know it was chronic fatigue
syndrome, but then I was told it was psychological."
Lange was determined to research everything about her problem to discover why, as she believed, the environment was affecting her. A March, 1987 article in East West about IBE prompted her to contact Ziehe. "Today I'm perfectly healthy.... The course
was a guide for me that worked so well in combination with other forms of Oriental medicine. My husband and I got the basis and courage to build this clinic from what
we learned. Since opening, we've been inundated with people wanting to work here because it's so free of the external disturbances experienced in ordinary living environments.
It's also an educational center with information available to anyone who visits. We treat people for numerous ailments, and many of their symptoms are made worse by toxic
emissions, such as formaldehyde. It can come from common household and workplace substances like paint, wallpaper, and carpeting. Our facility and bau-biologie's principles
demonstrate that it is possible to use materials that are environmentally safe and easily available."
For more information, contact: International Institute for Bau-Biologie & Ecology, Inc., Box 387, Clearwater, FL 34615; (727) 461-4371.
To contact Dr Susan Lange or for a free report on the "Seven Simple Steps To ECO-fitness", an introduction on how to ECO-fit your home and your office, by going "Beyond Green", go to:
www.MeridianHolistic.com or contact: info(at)MeridianHolistic.com
tel: 310 395 9525