Indoor Plant Wellbeing Benefits

Read a recent review of a UK psychological research project where participants in four different office environments of either “lean”, “enriched”, “empowered” or “disempowered” by Prof Margaret Burchett.

Participants were analysed for Involvement, Autonomy, Workspace satisfaction, Psychological comfort, Job satisfaction, Physical comfort and Organisational citizenship behaviour.

Participants tested under the enriched and empowered office conditions performed significantly better on the desk tasks than those in the lean condition, with those the empowered group recording highest scores. But the results are interesting, since they certainly suggest that removing plants from offices after staff have become accustomed to having them there, are likely to result in significant losses in productivity and job satisfaction, the costs of which may well exceed the costs of maintaining the plants.

Click here to read the report summary.

Plants at Work

Aug-Sep 2011 – Plants have both aesthetic and therapeutic value, writes Dr Hilary Davies, leading to measurable improvements in workplace productivity and the health of staff.

We all like plants – even if they are merely viewed from a window. They have recognised benefits for removing pollutants from the air. This is an extremely important attribute considering that most buildings are better sealed these days to reduce energy losses, and, consequently, they have higher pollutant loads. Introducing plants is an ideal and natural way of getting better quality air without having to increase ventilation rates. Indeed, a former NASA scientist, who studied the benefits of plants for air quality in space labs, believes that the building industry needs to adopt plants as an essential part of the air recycling system – reducing reliance on often poor-quality outside air for the ‘fresh air’ intake.

Click here to read more on Plants at Work

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Interior Plants for Sustainable Facility Ecology & Workplace Productivity

Margaret Burchett, Fraser Torpy & Jane Tarran
Plants and Indoor Environmental Quality Group
Faculty of Science, University of Technology, Sydney

Abstract
Human ecology (i.e. humans in their relationships with the environment) has a history extending up to two million years. Our species has continued to be biologically well adapted to ‘nature’ as we have encountered it over that period. We are reliant on plants for everything we need - from food to shelter, and also, (unknown to our ancestors) plants supply our oxygen, and are the sink for carbon dioxide. Our ancestors also recognised an essential role for plants in providing pleasure, perfumes, peace, piety and glimpses of ‘paradise’. We still have the same requirements as our forebears. In contrast, the increasingly rapid growth of modern cities has been only over the last two hundred years.

How well adapted are we to our new, urban ecology?

Click here for more information on Sustainable facility ecology and workplace productivity

www.fma.com.au

Margaret Burchett