Tags: Air quality, Plants, Workplace wellness

How To Improve Office Air Quality With Plants

In the pursuit of fostering a healthier and more productive environment, improving office air quality stands as a crucial objective. Addressing office air quality concerns can be achieved through simple yet effective measures, with the incorporation of air-purifying plants emerging as a noteworthy solution. This guide will outline practical steps to optimise office air quality, emphasising the role of office plants in creating a fresher and more pleasant workspace.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is defined as the degree to which the air in a particular place is pollution-free. Most of us think of pollution as something that occurs outdoors and beyond our control, but it is arguably even more important to be aware of pollution that could be occurring indoors. This is especially significant given the fact that many of us spend the majority of our time inside at work or home.

According to DEFRA, air pollution can cause both short and long term effects on our health. This mainly affects the respiratory and inflammatory systems, but can also lead to more serious conditions such as heart disease and cancer. People with lung or heart conditions may be more susceptible to the effects of workplace air pollution. Pollution affects our wellbeing on many levels – physically, mentally and emotionally.

Poor air quality is related to Sick Building Syndrome, decreased productivity and other symptoms such as poor concentration and fatigue. According to the NHS, Sick Building Syndrome is defined as:

‘A range of symptoms thought to be linked to spending time in a certain building, most often a workplace, but no specific cause can be found’.

Some common causes of poor air quality are inadequate ventilation, airborne particles (also known as particulate matter, or PM) such as dust or fungal spores, exposure to computers and wireless devices, poor lighting and even ozone produced by photocopiers and printers.

How To Improve Indoor Air Quality In The Office

With evidence building that this problem is increasing in cities globally, and the far-reaching implications for health and wellbeing, it is more important than ever to take action. This is the very reason facilities management companies, hospitality specialists & cleaning companies, along with general businesses are looking for effective solutions to this issue. After all, a business is only as strong as the people within it and this is one of the easiest ways to ensure improved health and wellbeing for everyone involved. An investment in air quality is an investment in your company.

5 Ways to Improve Indoor Air Quality:

Circulate fresh air through the office.

By regularly opening doors & windows for proper ventilation. This sounds pretty simple. And it is. Many indoor spaces have heating or air conditioning that circulates stale air. Simply opening doors or windows for 30 minutes a day can have a positive impact. However, be aware that if your office is on a busy road or if windows do not open. It is important to utilise other options, such as having a variety of plants to help naturally filter the air.

Add indoor plants to filter the air and remove toxins.

According to research conducted by NASA, it is recommended that at least one plant per 100 square feet is all it takes for efficient air-cleaning. Companies such as Planteria offer a free quote and services to install and maintain plants and flowers for businesses, chosen specifically to improve air quality whilst also providing other benefits (see ‘5 Benefits of Indoor Planting’). You can also learn “How to Grow Fresh Air” by using an arrangement of common air purifying plants for office desks, as explained by Kamal Meattle in his TED Talks video.

Avoid synthetic fragrances, air fresheners, scented candles & scented cleaning supplies.

Many of today’s artificial fragrances contain powerful chemicals known as VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) which can be toxic to skin and lungs. VOCs are dangerous to human health and cause harm to the environment, especially indoors where the concentration is high and ventilation usually low. If you really want to have welcoming fresh scents indoors consider natural alternatives such as fresh flowers. Companies such as JungleWorld and Planteria specialise in providing fresh flower deliveries suited to the specific needs and budget of businesses. Another option is choosing an air diffuser with natural scents from pure essential oils.

Ensure your environment is thoroughly cleaned by professionals

Particularly carpets, surfaces, and furniture. Use a specialist cleaning company that uses eco-friendly cleaning products. Encourage staff to keep workspaces tidy and de-clutter regularly to minimise dust, mould and other airborne particles. Where possible choose floor surfaces that are non-absorbing and easy to clean. Carpets can be unsanitary and trap particles, mould and other contaminants. If you need to tidy your workspace yourself, dust with a damp cloth to remove particulate matter (PM) rather than just spreading it around.

Control Moisture & Humidity

Dampness creates a breeding ground for dust mites, mould, mildew and other irritants. Air conditioners, de-humidifiers and air filters can help keep your workplace at a healthy humidity level, which is between 30-50% humidity. Ensure drip pans, vents, filters and air ducts are regularly emptied and cleaned to proactively improve air quality. Note that although air conditioning can help control moisture and humidity, it can also over-do this job by causing the air to be too dry. If not correctly monitored, air conditioning and heating can cause several issues indoors causing dry skin and dry eyes, among other things.

Here is another area plants can help by increasing the humidity to counteract the perils of air conditioning and heating. Houseplants increase humidity in the air through a process known as transpiration. Plants absorb water through their roots, then circulate the moisture through stems and leaves with a vascular system that’s comparable to human veins and capillaries. Water reaches the leaves, evaporates into the air and increases indoor humidity. A study by NASA also showed that certain high-transpiration plants could remove up to 87 percent of indoor air pollutants within 24 hours.

Office Air Quality

If you’d like to regularly measure the quality of the air in your environment you can do so using a special tool called a VOC sensor, which measures volatile organic compounds. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of different chemicals, some of which may have adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. VOCs are emitted by a wide array of products numbering in the thousands (EPA definition).

There are several companies out there that can measure IAQ on your behalf or you can also purchase your own VOC sensor if required. If you have a third party managing this on your behalf, be sure you understand where the sensor has come from and how to read the data captured.

Once you know the state of your building, get in touch with a business dedicated to improving office atmosphere. At Planteria, we can provide you with plenty of hints, tips and free quotes.

Tags: Environment, Nature, Nature & Environment, Plants

Top Ten Scary Plants

We love plants; they’re calming, they improve your décor, and they reduce C02 levels in the home and office. But there are plenty of plants that you wouldn’t want to find in your office at 9 am on a Monday morning. With Halloween fast upon us, this blog will take a look at nature’s finest arboreal warriors. Perhaps you’ll appreciate your office peace lily a little more after seeing these horrors.

10) Cuscuta – Strangle Tare

Often appearing overgrown and tangled, Strangle Tare isn’t harmful to human beings, but it is certainly scary to read about. Occupying a ghost-like role in plant life, the Strangle Tare will leech the life out of its host plant(s), detaching itself from its own roots in order to survive solely on the hard work of other vegetations. Strangle Tare thrives in hot climates, and there are only four species native to Northern Europe.

9) Utricularia – Bladderwort

Everyone has heard of venus fly traps, but did you know about Bladderwort? Bladderwort flowers, like venus fly traps, feed on whatever prey they can catch in their snapdragon-esque maws. You won’t see bladderwort on land though, Bladderwort lives in fresh water, so next time you go wild swimming, remember the carnivorous Bladderwort!

8) Dering Woods – Screaming Wood

Dering Woods sits next to Pluckley, England’s most haunted village, in Kent. Dering and Pluckley purportedly house between twelve and sixteen ghostly residents between them, alongside the 1,069 living people who reside there. However, the trees themselves don’t seem to have any bearing on how this woods came to be a hotspot for the supernatural; if anything, what’s really scary is how its ghoulish reputation has led to its destruction. Campers looking for a thrill descend on the Screaming Wood with hopes of meeting a famous ghost, leaving a trail of litter in their wake. Pluckley village has spent £6,000 on litter clearing, and a further £41,000 has been sunk into trying to protect Dering Woods from future ghost hunters. So if you go down to the woods today, you’d better go with an eco-friendly attitude, the ghosts and residents will both be grateful!

7) Armillaria Solidipes – Humongous Fungus

The colloquially named Humongous Fungus spreads itself in the American underground of Malheur National Forest. A mushroom that transcends millennia, the Humongous Fungus is considered to be somewhere between 1,900 and 8,650 years old and covers an area of 3.7 square miles. If you ever get to see these Oregon woodlands, try not to think too much about the expanse of mushroom growing secretly beneath you.

6) Actaea Pachypoda – White Baneberry, Doll’s Eyes

These creepy berries are aptly named; looking like eyeballs on flesh-red stems, these berries will watch you unceremoniously as you walk through hardwood forests in the USA or Canada. As if they weren’t already unsettling enough, these plants are highly toxic to human beings, causing cardiac arrest or death upon their ingestion.

5) Hydnellum Peckii – Bleeding Tooth Fungus

Mushrooms are already rather odd-looking plants, known for having multiple poisonous variants, but mushrooms can be somewhat charming in the context of being described as fairy houses. The Hydnellum Peckii, by contrast, isn’t going to be considered a suitable home for any fairy. Like its nickname implies, this fungi produces a gross, jammy substance from its pores.

4) Nicotiana Tabacum – Tobacco

All parts of the Tobacco plant are incredibly poisonous, especially its leaves. Even though it’s so poisonous, tobacco continues to be used worldwide, and is estimated to cause more than five million deaths per year. Tobacco might not be visually scary, but it is deadly.

3) Amorphophallus Titanum – Corpse Flower

The Corpse Flower is infamous. It is known for having the largest flower on Earth, but also for emitting the most foul aroma of rotting flesh! The Corpse Flower can reach a whopping three metres in height. The Corpse Flower’s odd aroma is an evolutionary effect which grew to attract carnivorous insects in order to achieve pollination. Even weirder, the Corpse Flower can warm itself up to further resemble dead flesh when attracting flies and dung beetles.

2) Mammillaria Elongata Cristata – Brain Cactus

Just as the name implies, the brain cactus looks freakishly similar to a human organ – the brain. Brain cacti aren’t actually dangerous to humans (aside from the prickly spikes) so you could keep them as indoor office plants if you wanted, but you should first consider the history of how the Brain Cacti develop.

Brain cacti are a type of ‘Cristata’ cacti that form into these brain-esque shapes if they are injured at a young age. Unable to grow past the painful experiences of their youth, the brain cacti grow into a twisted and convoluted shape.

1) Algae Bloom – Red Tide

‘Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight. Red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning.’ This old saying, was a way for shepherds to predict the next day’s weather. The Red Tide, however, is always an omen of ill portent, irrelevant of what time of day it strikes. Red Tide is toxic algae rising up from the sea floor, which can occur after a particularly bad storm. The Red Tide isn’t especially pleasing to look at, being somewhat reminiscent of the shower scene in Psycho, but what’s more horrifying is the destruction that reveals itself two weeks following: fish and marine life will begin to wash up dead on shores and beaches, having been killed by the toxic algae in their water.

These are the top ten scariest plants in the world. Insect-pollinated plants are good greenery for hay fever and asthma sufferers, but your employees would probably not be too happy if they had to share their workspace with the magnificent Corpse Flower. When looking to choose the perfect indoor office plants, consider getting in contact with Planteria instead.

If you’re looking for more material on scary plants, why not to turn to literature and film?

1) 1907, The Willows, by Algernon Blackwood

2) 1962, The Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson

3) 2000, House of Leaves, by M. Z. Danielewski

4) 2008, The Happening, by M. Night Shyamalan

5) 2011, A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness

6) 2015 (Uk), The Vegetarian, By Han Kang (translated by Deborah Smith)

7) 2016, The Forest, by Jason Zada

Tags: Advice, Plants, Workplace

The Best Plants for Your Office Environment

In our office, if you want to take a break, there is no better way to re-charge your batteries and stretch your legs than with a couple of laps around our greenhouse. Filled with lush plants in every hue – from the broad glossy leaves of a Croton Petra, dappled with gold and red, to the soft fronds of bright green palms – there are so many varieties in every imaginable shape and size.

Run by Martin Collins and Robert Gilder, our greenhouse covers approximately 5,500 square feet and gives us the perfect conditions for housing our carefully managed stock.

When we visit a new client, we discuss their ideas, colour preferences and corporate branding. We then suggest the best varieties of plant to enhance their interior décor; working with the lighting conditions and heat levels of a building is paramount. Particularly sunny offices will need very different plants to dark offices, and we need to ensure both kinds will thrive. When we are happy that we’ve got it just right, we will order our plants in from specialist growers to arrive in time for installation.

Having our fantastic greenhouse means we have plenty of space and the perfect environment to plant-up our new installations, in-house rather an on-site. With this approach the Plants are already beginning to become established in their planters or containers before they are delivered to the client. It’s also safer and more stable for the plants to be transported in this manner.

Our plant technicians will continue to care for our clients’ plants, even after they have been installed; their tasks may involve cleaning, feeding, cutting-back and sometimes replacing plants. In this case, a technician will use their smart phone to alert the service team and order a new plant. The plant is then placed in the technician’s own individual bay in our greenhouse, ready for the next visit to the client.

One of the biggest benefits of our greenhouse is the variety of office plants that we’re able to keep in stock. Our wide selection of plants ensures that we can respond quickly to problems, guaranteeing that our clients always have perfect plants in their offices and receptions.

Here’s a small selection of the office plants we keep in our greenhouse:

Ficus Benjamina – commonly known as weeping fig, benjamin fig or Ficus tree
Howea Forsteriana – commonly known as Kentia palm
Dracaena Janet Craig – commonly known as dragon tree
Dracaena Marginata – commonly known as Madagascar dragon tree
Yucca – specifically perennial shrubs and trees, often confused with root vegetables by the same name
Agloenema – commonly known as Chinese evergreens
Sanseviera – Common names include mother-in-law’s tongue, devil’s tongue, jinn’s tongue, bow string hemp, snake plant and snake tongue
Guzmania – commonly known as tufted airplant
Plus a wide variety of indoor orchids

Along with our greenhouse at our Henham HQ, we also have polytunnels for storing exterior planting, such as the popular Buxus and seasonal bedding plants, plus a floristry workshop which is approximately 2000 square feet and specialist cold-stores to ensure optimal storage for fresh flowers.

So, as you can see, we’re fully equipped to store and maintain the very best plants for your office environment. If you’d like us to create some beautiful interior planting for you, give us a call to find out more about our office plant service. We love what we do and would love to help you.

Tags: Happiness, Plants, Workplace wellness

Forest Bathing

Everyone has those days, you know the ones – those days when you knock your coffee over at work, get bumped into in the street and forget to send a time-sensitive email. For that week when things are not going well and you’ve missed the bus home, you need to consider a forest bath.

Forest bathing is a rising trend, and with good reason – it could be an eco-friendly solution to the bottled-up stresses experienced by workers across the country, and it’s incredibly easy to do. In this article, we discuss the joys of forest bathing and where it comes from.

Where Did Forest Bathing Originate

As a country that prizes self-improvement practices and simplicity, Japan has a lot to teach the West about the pursuit of health and happiness and one of the best places for the uninitiated to start is with ‘shinrin-yoku’ – forest bathing. Shinrin-yoku literally translates to ‘forest bathing’, is a fun but very accurate description of this relaxing activity.

The practice of forest bathing under the label of shinrin-yoku began in Japan in 1982 as part of a public health programme, but, truthfully, humans have been practising variants of the activity unprompted for hundreds of years. The poetry from the era of British Romanticism the 19th century can attest to the benefits that nature had on the soul, but never before has this activity been undertaken by thousands as part of a knowing trend.

Some have linked the current popularity of forest bathing to recent surges in mindfulness. Shinrin-yoku is about learning to put your mental-wellbeing first and foremost, and it just so happens that nature is a free and accessible resource which can help us to achieve this.

How to Forest Bathe

Forest bathing is a simple process requiring you to take a few hours out of your day, occasionally, to go and wander in nature. It really is as easy as that. Some schools of thought will put an emphasis on leaving all your electronics at home, but it is understandable that not everyone would feel safe doing this and if you don’t feel safe you will struggle to relax. Instead, it is important to remember that you only get out what you put in, so, by all means, bring your mobile phone, but try to resist the temptation to start texting during your session.

To begin, head out towards a forest or wood and the rest is up to you. You could spend the time walking, resting or investigating plant life – acting on these desires can help to improve your self-confidence, especially after a long week of holding back frustration at work. Try to act on all of your senses, sight, smell, touch and hearing, enjoying a fully immersive experience of the forest.

Why Forest Bathing is Good for Your Health

Shinrin-yoku is very relaxing, which also means that it will reduce heart rate and blood pressure in those practising it. This can be very important for people who struggle with heart problems as the ability to unwind can be more than mentally beneficial, it could have lasting effects on predicted lifespan.

An added effect of forest bathing is that it encourages people to get out and enjoy taking physical exercise in nature. Instead of appreciating it from watching it on television. Forest bathing gets people off the sofa and out walking in the fresh air which is so important. However well ventilated your home or workplace may be, nothing can rival the positive effects of clean air on the body. This means that you should try to make wellness trips to clean air spaces like forests every now and then.

In any fitness regime, or diet, the majority of people see their best results near the beginning when they have the most weight to lose, and you can view your mental wellbeing as a similar muscle; while you may see the best effects from forest bathing if you engage only on your most stressful days, you could succeed in making long-lasting changes to your outlook if you practice shinrin-yoku regularly.

Problems in the UK

It is estimated by nhsforest.org that if Central Bedfordshire encouraged 10% of its population to exercise, by providing better access to good quality green spaces, it would save around £2.9m in healthcare costs. Currently, a lack of green space is preventing more people from enjoying the benefits of shinrin-yoku.

The NHS also reports that green spaces have huge benefits to physical, mental and social health, meaning that the public should aim to protect and improve its health by protecting its plants, woods and forests. If this isn’t convincing enough, then perhaps the statistic reported by Natural England regarding our children can convince you that we need to be putting plants in our cities;

‘more than 10% of children have not set foot in a park, forest, or other natural environment over the previous 12 months’ (2016)

This is termed by many as ‘Nature Deficit Disorder’, and it is something that we need to fix. If not by making the effort to travel to green spaces, then by incorporating more greenery into our cities, offices and homes.

We can do this by improving our collective respect for plant life, and our connection of nature, by adding planting to both indoor and outdoor spaces where we can. From window boxes and trough planters to desktops and cabinet tops. This begins with individuals, especially those in prominent positions. Perhaps you have the opportunity to raise the health, output and mood of your workforce by introducing some indoor office plants to your workplace?

Planters, Containers and Your Office Aesthetic

When we talk about biophilia, we are referring to how adding plants and nature to your working environment can help staff to feel happy, creative and more productive all at the same time, but did you know that changing up the container of a plant can drastically change its appearance? In this article, we consider the effects that different containers can bring to plants and how we can match them to your business’ aesthetic.

Planting Can Change How You Feel & Behave

Smart biophilic design can create a workplace which improves employee performance, health and wellbeing. For many, the aesthetic of their office may seem like a luxury that should be the last thing to be considered in current financial climates, but when it comes to biophilic design, you should be asking yourself whether your business can afford not to implement these strategies.

It’s well known that some of the biggest businesses in the world use biophilic design to maximise their output. Google, Amazon and Apple are all filled to the brim with plants, living walls and health schemes, and when you consider the statistics that plants in the office make you 15% more productive, you can understand why. Can your company afford to be losing out on that 15%?

By adding just a few desk plants to your office environment, you can positively alter the aesthetic to benefit your employees. It’s not all down to desk plants, however, as you should also try to maximise natural light, natural materials and scenic views if you’re lucky enough to have any.

If you have any further questions regarding biophilia, we recommend that you read one of our blogs on the subject:

Biophilia – What Is It and Why Is It Important?

Biophilic Design in the Workplace

Biophilia White Paper

How Containers Can Change Plants

Plants come in all shapes and sizes, and the containers they come in can also substantially alter their image, whether you’re looking for plants which add a bit of fun and colour, or something a little more sophisticated which exudes style in the lobby or meeting room, we have it all.

For example, a group of bespoke ‘statement’ planters, like the ones in the image at the top of this blog, in a variety of finishes and in a complimentary colour palette can provide the perfect finishing touch to a space and can tie a design scheme together perfectly. Whilst some fresh white planters with a mix of different plant specimens can add light and vibrancy to an office that might otherwise feel too corporate.

We can source almost any plant or container, so you are limited only by your imagination. We can even match containers and planters to your company’s corporate colour-scheme.

Move on to the next section for some examples of beautiful plant containers that you could enjoy from your office soon:

Attractive Containers Made to Inspire

Planters and containers come in all shapes and sizes. Tiny planters can be dotted around on desks and reception areas to create a homely feel, adding detail that shows you care, and allowing all your colleagues to benefit from biophilia. Small planters are perfect for succulents which are very popular at the moment and come in a wide variety, and in different shades. A selection has been used in the workspace below, with stunning effect, in this ‘industrial design’ style using a palette of black, stone and copper:

– Artistic Design Using Mixed Planting

These plants work especially well on a smaller budget, and they show just how important quality products and design planning are when incorporating plants in your décor.

– The Perfect Partner to the ‘Industrial Design’ Trend

Staying with the Industrial Design trend, this image showcases the benefits of vertical storage for getting those biophilic themes into your office or social space. This plethora of planting is bright, vibrant and friendly, which is sure to motivate and brighten the day of anyone using the area. The containers for these plants are uniform which juxtaposes with the individual nature of each plant in the frame, contrasting the symmetry against the soft natural greenery.

The use of mirrors at the back of the space also maximises the amount of light in the area and gives the illusion of doubling the number of plants, further proving that quality of product and smart planning can go a very long way to creating the perfect biophilic atmosphere.

– Pots on Legs

Pots with Legs are all the rage! We love them too. These containers stand out, and you can choose from brass, wood or metal for contrast to the pot colour. Plants are elevated to a new height and given the same status as a prized piece of art. This trend brings a sense of class to the plants, giving them a modern edge that would look stylish in almost any room. There are plenty of innovative ideas, so don’t doubt that we can find something to suit your setting.

We can provide a range of planters and containers in any colour and a variety of sizes. The only thing limiting you is your imagination, and we can offer you our design assistance to help overcome any struggles with space or budget. Simply contact us for more information regarding our indoor plants.

Tags: Office, Plants, Tips & Advice, Workplace

The Top 5 Plants for Your Office

Everyone who has ever worked in an office knows that plants and flowers add to the atmosphere of a workplace. The buzz of background noise can not only be distracting, but can also increase levels of stress – particularly in open-plan offices where space is at a premium. You can reduce noise problems with plants because they absorb sound, making your office quieter and calmer.

Positioning plants in strategic locations around your office will create natural sound barriers. Even if you’re not buying plants for their sound reduction benefits, their potential to improve staff productivity and well-being means that even the smallest tree could work wonders for your office. This was discovered by a research experiment at Texas A&M University, which explored the link between flowers, plants and workplace productivity during an eight-month study.

Those taking part in the study performed creative problem solving tasks in a workplace with plants and flowers, a setting with sculptures, and an environment with no additional planting or decoration at all.

Participants were found to demonstrate more innovative thinking and generate more ideas and original solutions to problems in the office that included plants and flowers. Men who participated in the study generated 15% more ideas, whilst women generated more creative, flexible solutions to problems when plants and flowers were present.

With this in mind, we thought we’d share with you the top 5 office plants requested by our clients.

1. Sansevieria Fernwood or Sansevieria Mikado

Sansevieria is a genus of about 70 species of flowering plants, native to Africa, Madagascar and southern Asia. Common names include snake plant, mother-in-law’s tongue, devil’s tongue, jinn’s tongue, bow string hemp and snake tongue. These are great air purifiers, making them perfect for offices.

2. Succulents

These plants have thick and fleshy leaves which are used to retain water in the arid climates where they are native. The word “succulent” comes from the Latin word sucus, meaning juice, or sap. They come in a variety of sizes, colours and shades, which can allow for many beautiful combinations.

3. Phalaenopsis Orchid

Also known as moth orchids, phalaenopsis is one of the most popular indoor orchids and is native to southern China, Taiwan, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Queensland. These elegant plants make a real impact on an office environment, and are fairly hard to kill – great for a busy office!

4. Ficus Ginseng (bonsai)

Ginseng bonsai are also known as ficus retusa, Banyan fig or ficus ginseng. Bonsai art appeared over a millennium ago in the Chinese Empire and was then known as Penzai. It was later adapted by the Japanese and its popularity spread all across South-East Asia. These are probably the most famous and easily recognised bonsai trees and are easy to care for.

5. Dracaena Lemon & Lime (branched)

Native throughout Africa and also known as ‘Dragon Tree Lemon and Lime’, their brightly coloured leaves are a sight for sore eyes in a dreary office on a Monday morning. These plants can get quite tall; we recommend placing one or two around the corners of your office so that they are visible without taking up too much room.

Think of your interior designs as investments in your staff – you’ll start to see some returns when their productivity increases. Improving the atmosphere of your office has never been easier, there are so many varieties and styles of planting available. So if you like the look of these ever popular favourites, you’re looking for something different, or you have haven’t a clue where to start, contact us to find out more about our office plants for hire and our selection of flowers for offices, we’ll help you pick out the perfect plants for you.

Tags: Plants, Tips & Advice, Workplace wellness

CO2 Levels in Offices Are ‘Damaging UK Productivity’

Competitiveness and productivity in the workplace are of paramount importance, with more emphasis on this than ever as the outcome of Brexit looms on the horizon. Research shows that the UK is lagging behind in the productivity tables, currently 26.2% lower than Germany and 22.8% lower than France based on GDP per hour worked. Whilst solving the productivity puzzle is an ongoing issue, a recent study into UK indoor office environments has considered environmental factors for the first time.

This headline-grabbing study found that employee performance declines when CO₂ levels are high and also creates the impression of a stuffy office environment among many workers. With businesses wanting to boost their productivity, understanding how carbon dioxide impacts your employees’ work life is crucial.

As we look for solutions to this problem, one simple thing to consider is the inclusion of beautiful, lush plants. These are not just something that is nice to look at – though biophilia tells us we love the sight of living things and crave to be in contact with the natural world – they’re also effective for purifying and oxygenating the air.

The Study

The research commissioned by Emcor, was carried out over a two-year initiative led by academics at Oxford Brookes University and LCMB Building Performance, and supported by Innovate UK, a government agency which aims to boost economic innovation. Several workplaces were tested over a period of two years, with sensors monitoring fluctuating CO₂ levels during this time. Employees were sent numeral, proofreading and Stroop tests three times a day to complete. Read the full study here.

The results of the study corroborate the idea that the more carbon dioxide there is in the air, the lower the productivity. Employees worked 60% faster with lower levels of carbon dioxide and their test scores improved by up to 12%.

The Importance of Oxygen in the Office

Poorly ventilated offices can have an average carbon dioxide level of 1000 ppm (or parts per million). In some meeting rooms, this can go up to 3000 ppm, as many people use them, and they’re often sealed, smaller environments. To put these figures into perspective, keep in mind that our outdoor environment tends to have a CO₂concentration of 405 ppm.

But how exactly can high levels of carbon dioxide impact your office? An increased intake of CO₂ can actually lead to poor decision-making, and thinking processes this means that people’s mental capacity decreases. Reaction times are also slower, so employees may find it challenging to react properly and swiftly to things such as a fire evacuation or even simple, everyday tasks. CO₂ tends to increase tiredness as well, meaning your employees will not be at their best and find it harder to cope with workloads and stresses. All of this contributes to a low-productivity environment.

Oxygen is fundamental for the optimal functioning of our bodies. Our cells use both glucose and oxygen, and brain function quickly declines when we don’t take in enough oxygen. It is commonplace that office windows are sealed, and not able to be opened, this is often for safety and security reasons as much as to prevent impairment of AC efficiency. And, as air pollution increases, it doesn’t come as a surprise that many offices across the nation suffer from lower percentages of oxygen and higher CO₂ in the air.

To compound this problem further, UK office workers only spend an average of fifteen minutes outside in addition to their daily commute, so they are not exposed to much time in ‘fresh’ air, getting much-needed oxygen, on a daily basis.

Best Oxygen-Producing Plants for the Office

How can you get more oxygen into your office? One simple solution is to add oxygen-producing and air-cleaning plants into the workspace. Plants are ideal for increasing air quality and nurturing the health and well-being of your employees. The following are just a few of the best indoor plants for boosting productivity in your office:

Areca Palm

This beautiful plant stands out for its ability to remove dangerous chemicals such as formaldehyde, xylene and toluene from the air, resulting in a purer office environment. Studies show that if you were to add four shoulder-height Areca palms per person to your office, and assuming the space was completely sealed off from the outside, everyone would still have enough oxygen to survive on during the day.

Snake Plant

Also called Mother-In-Law’s Tongue, this plant is highly efficient in transforming CO₂ into oxygen at night. It also has the fantastic ability to purify the air by removing substances like benzene, formaldehyde, xylene, toluene and trichloroethylene. So, not only would your employees benefit from more oxygen, but the air would also be cleaner.

Peace Lily

Another plant that is perfect for cleaning the air is the Peace Lily. This species flourishes best in the shade, making it ideal for indoor environments, including your office. They’re also low maintenance, needing to be watered only once per week. You should never let the soil dry out and must use only chlorine-free water but, apart from that, this is an incredibly easy plant to take care of – perfect for a busy office. Peace lilies also remove acetone, ammonia, benzene and other harmful substances from the air.

The benefits of having several of these plants in the office are better air quality and beautiful flowers, as the peace lily blooms periodically.

There are many other office plants that will perfectly complement your workspace and elevate your current décor. If you’re looking to grow your productivity, make sure your employees can work in an environment with clean air. Our plants don’t just look great, they will also improve the air quality of your office, boosting your employees’ productivity. Have a look at how our beautiful plants can transform an office space by browsing through our case studies.