THE ZONE

50 per cent of workers have no natural
light. Yet a third of us say that workplace
design would affect our decision to join a
company. There’s a big disparity here
and one that hints at workplace design
only recently rising to prominence as a
crucial factor.”
5Plants in the office
clean the air
While humans need oxygen to
survive, plants absorb a gas we don’t need
– carbon dioxide – and combine it with
water and light to produce energy in a
process called photosynthesis.
In the 1980s, scientists at NASA
discovered that plants were adept at
removing chemicals such as benzene,
trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde
from the air, making it cleaner for
humans to breathe.
More recent research led by Dr Fraser
Torpy, director of the University of
Technology, Sydney, Plants and Indoor
Environmental Quality research group,
has found that indoor plants can help
reduce carbon dioxide levels by about
10 per cent in air-conditioned offices, and
by about 25 per cent in buildings that
don't have any air conditioning.
“We found palms beat everything else
for carbon dioxide,” said Torpy. “But when
it comes to volatile organics everything is
the same – it doesn’t matter… A mediumsized
plant (one that is more than about
20cm) will make big reductions to those
particular chemicals.”
6They help to reduce
noise levels
By absorbing sounds (rather than
insulating against noise pollution), plants
help to reduce the distracting effects of
background office chatter. Positioning
larger plant pots in multiple locations
in the edges and corners of a room has
a positive benefit, according to a 1995
paper by researchers at London South
Bank University.
7They can boost creativity
The 2015 Human Spaces report
also found that employees whose
offices included natural elements scored
15 per cent higher for creativity than
those whose offices didn’t include them.
Attention restoration theory discussed
on the website, theconversation.com
suggests that looking at nature – and
even just images of nature – can shift the
brain into a different processing mode,
making employees feel more relaxed and
better able to concentrate.
Choosing the right office
plants for your workspace
If you've read this article and it's made
sense to you, now's the time to take
action. Remember that not all plants
will love to live in your workplace.
When choosing the best plants you
need to consider restrictions such as the
availability of daylight, and how often
they can and will be watered – and who
will take responsibility. The kind of
plants that will thrive in workplaces
include succulents (such as aloe and
cacti), rubber plants and peace lilies.
This article was first published in
August 2013. It was updated in
February 2018 and originally appeared
on CIPHR: ciphr.com/advice/plants-inthe-office/.
“ Images of nature can shift the
brain into a different processing
mode making employees feel
more relaxed ”
14
12-15_Why plants matter(FINAL).indd 11 12/03/2020 11:09