Dr. Prem Jain, Father of Green Building movement in India, was instrumental in single handedly creating a GREEN BHARAT. He ushered in a shift in the way buildings are conceived, designed and built in our country. His vision was to make his beloved INDIA to be JAGAT GURU in SUSTAINABILITY and every INDIAN to contribute 1 sq.ft. of GREEN footprint to his beloved Bharat. Today, this story is unparalleled amongst all members of World Green Building Council.
Born in Old Delhi on 26 January, 1936 in an ORTHODOX JAIN family, his MOTHER was his GURU and gave him a passion for education, despite their conservative value system.
Dr. Jain took over as Chairman of Indian Green Building Council in 2007, when India was at meager 13 MILLION sq.ft. of GREEN footprint. A passionate missionary, he envisioned India emerge global leader in green buildings, and took INDIA to 2nd PLACE IN THE WORLD, after USA. He led INDIA to 5.7 BILLION sq.ft GREEN FOOTPRINT by 2018, when we lost him.
His passion for BHARAT and SUSTAINABILITY facilitated 8.1 MILLION tons p.a. REDUCTION in CARBON EMISSION, 8.71 BILLION KWH p.a. ENERGY SAVINGS, 26.7 BILLION Lt. WATER SAVINGS, 1 MILLION TONS of WASTE REUSE and 500 MW RENEWABLE ENERGY Generation, across Indian building industry.
He brought to India 60 PLATINUM and 40 GOLD Awards from IGBC and USGBC for Green Buildings. He continued relentlessly on his mission till 2018, driving awareness amongst India about a GREENER EARTH, and is often referred to as BHISHMA PITAMAH of INDIA.
In 1959, he was 1st INDIAN ENGINEER to join American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, Air conditioning Engineers, ASHRAE. He created ASHRAE India Chapter at large in 1989. ASHRAE bestowed highest FELLOWSHIP as 1st INDIAN PRACTICING ENGINEER in 1995. He was FIRST AND ONLY INDIAN to receive ASHRAE honor Distinguished Fellow, 2005 and ASHRAE International Award, 2009 for Outstanding Services in Bringing ASHRAE to the International Forum.
He founded ISHRAE, Indian Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers in 1980 with 5 members. Today it is WORLD’S LARGEST HVACR society with 42 Chapters and 20,000 members across India.
He designed services for DMRC, DELHI and HYDERABAD INTL AIRPORT, RASHTRAPATI BHAWAN, PMO, VIGYAN BHAWAN, AIIMS, IGNCA, ISRO, WHO, MoEF HQ, BAHAI TEMPLE, SIDDHI VINAYAK TEMPLE, OSHO ASHRAM, SHIV NIVAS PALACE, RAJ VILAS, UDAI VILAS, VANYA VILAS, AMAR VILAS. He designed over 2500 eminent projects spanning Hotels, Hospitals, Monuments, Airports, Institutions, IT Parks, Residential and Commercial Complexes.
He was Advisor to President of India for Rashtrapati Bhawan. He was also Technical Advisor to Prime Minister of India. He was Convener of HVAC section for NATIONAL BUILDING CODE of India, 2005. He was Convener for 2nd section of NATIONAL BUILDING CODE 2016, Approach to Sustainability, CED P19, and CODE for GREEN BUILDINGS, written first time in the world.
Dr. Jain was a distinguished teacher and sustainability champion for Indian building industry. He taught at School of Planning & Architecture, Delhi for 43 years. SPA awarded him Best Faculty of the Year in 1990.
His MOTHER and GURU taught him the passion for education, despite their orthodox family set up. He studied at a small school in Pahari Dhiraj, graduating on Merit List. He was invited to Banaras Engineering College, premier institution for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. He then completed Masters in Mechanical Engineering at University of Minnesota, USA.
He worked on designing Air conditioning for Mayo Memorial Hospital, Ochsner Clinic, Royal Medical College and Hospital. He went on to his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Minnesota, USA, graduating with highest distinction and worked with legendary Dr. Threlkeld to design Air conditioning systems for NASA and John F Kennedy Center.
He worked on NASA Project of APPOLLO for Neil Armstrongs maiden flight to Moon in 1969. With Ayurveda wisdom, he placed Sansevieria plant in the cabin for oxygen generation during orbit. This was his beloved Bharats contribution to first FLIGHT TO MOON. Later, University of Minnesota awarded him Distinguished Leadership for Internationals.
He worked with revered architect Frank Lloyd Wright on services of Johnson Wax Building, Wisconsin. His vast achievements soon brought an offer by legendary Dr. Willis Carrier’s Group, where he began his career.
During his Chairmanship of IGBC, 40 STUDENT CHAPTERS were launched across the country. He facilitated 25 GREEN BUILDING RATING SYSTEMS, championing 23 chapters, and building 2,500 members strong organization. Green your school was his brain child, in greening 1000 schools by 2016, and build homes for LIG and EWS categories. He institutionalized Green Building Congress, Indias flagship event on Green built environment, facilitating green products and technologies, todays market potential being approximately USD 300 billion.
