The benefits of office plants

Interior plants offer businesses a simultaneously natural and beautiful addition to their interior while benefiting the overall well-being of employees. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans spend up to 90% of their time indoors. By incorporating plant life into the design of your space, your staff will be able to enjoy nature’s beauty and the many physical and psychological benefits of office plants.

Plants not only bring varying rich shades of green to the workplace, they also offer the visually-meditative experience that, ultimately, leads to happier and healthier employees that are more productive. Providing plants for the office offers both customers and colleagues alike a visually enhanced perception of your space. An office teeming with vibrant greenery will also convey a positive brand image to visitors.

A number of studies have been conducted that indicate indoor plants can reduce stress levels in work environments. Washington State University researchers found that study participants' blood pressure levels were lower when plants were present in the interior. Study participants also reported feeling more attentive in the room containing plants. Multiple other studies have produced evidence that stress levels are reduced by the presence of plants and even improve productivity among office workers.

Modern office buildings, with predominantly sealed air, can contain up to ten times more pollutants than the air outside. Common toxic culprits found in the office such as mold, formaldehyde, dust mites, carbon monoxide and chemical cleaning agents. Plants in the office improve air quality by removing harmful pollutants. Plants also stabilize humidity levels. Indoor plants have also been shown to reduce the symptoms of “sick building syndrome” or SBS.

Plants are commonly used to reduce noise pollution along highways and interstates. Using the same concept, plants in the workplace change room acoustics by reducing reverberation time. Plants placed in areas with hard surfaces such as hardwood floors, concrete and marble walls, will effectively absorb noises which can be distracting and hurt employee productivity.

Harvard biologist, E.O. Wilson, in his book: Biophilia (1984) proposed that humans have a natural tendency to affiliate with nature and other life-forms. The term, Biophilia, has since been used described humanity's innate need for nature. It is hardly surprising that numerous members of the cubicle crowd have adopted a similar philosophy. The need to return to nature is as natural as the "cycle of life."