Tags: Air quality, Plants, Workplace wellness

How To Improve Office Air Quality With Plants

Office opening with communal area with red chairs and white coffee table, walkway is lined with a white wall with stone boarder on one side and trees in large planter on the other 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.

Planteria group

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.

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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

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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: Biophilic design, Workplace wellness

World Health Day Is Getting Greener

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April 7th is World Health Day; an important day for individuals, families and businesses to look a little more introspectively at how they live and whether there are any areas for improvement. For the individual, this could be as little as a resolution to improve fitness levels or to reduce their sugar intake. For a business, it could be as big as a new office refit decked with office plants with the purpose of improving indoor air quality, reducing stress levels and improving wellbeing.

Whether your ideas are big or small, this article will teach you about how stress became the enemy of public wellbeing and how nature can be used to fight against its unwanted effects on the mind and body.

Stressed About Stress?

The World Health Organisation [WHO] cites poor mental health and cardiovascular disease to be two prime factors of worldwide illness by 2020 and at the heart of both issues is stress. Work is a large part of most people’s lives and many workers will attest that their work environment puts an emphasis on physical well-being, also recognised as the physical ability to get into the office and do the work.

This mentality, however, is proving to be quite old fashioned in the modern office; since 1986, WHO have been stating that health ‘is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity but a positive state of complete physical, mental and social well-being’. This means that a healthy working environment is one that does not only judge its employees on their physical well-being alone but also cares for their mental well-being.

Aerial view of two colleagues chatting at a round table

This means listening to your employees when they are struggling with anxiety or heavy workloads and considering what you can do to make your workplace a happier environment. You might just find a rise in overall productivity when you make employee well-being one of your aims.

It should be understood by managers that the aim is not to remove all the pressures faced by the individual. After all, it is expected that employees will need to battle with emergencies and business-wide problems from time to time. If you feel that your company could improve its mental health awareness, you could start by considering ways to dilute the excessive stresses frequently felt by individuals. Offering more options to improve work life balance such as flexible working or allowing staff to organise their own working schedule can also be very useful. Encouraging people to talk about what is going on and offering moral support is also appreciated by your workforce.

Taking a look at the bigger picture, how can you make changes company-wide? This could be by updating your office look with some indoor office plants for a morale boost, or it could be that you introduce some new health-orientated perks for your workers.

Small coloured vases with pink roses in on balcony overlooking city

How Can Nature Help?

The fight against stress is real; the British Heart Foundation speculates that high stress at the very least contributes to your risk for developing heart and circulatory diseases. One of the biggest dangers is that individuals will seek to assuage their feelings of stress with bad behaviours like alcoholism or overeating. If you want to keep a healthy business, it is equally important to spread the word about how individuals can adopt healthy ways to release their stress, as well as tackling their work-related pressures head-on.

You can do this by getting your business or team to spend more time in nature. It has been proven by a Dutch study that surrounding yourself with natural elements can lower stress hormones, so in turn, nature can be considered as a holistic measure against developing heart disease.

Indeed, some doctors in Shetland are already prescribing nature to tackle high blood pressure and anxiety. It should be remembered that these measures should not replace an individual’s pre-existing medications, but that many health experts are seeing benefits by adding a dose of nature to their patient’s prescribed treatment. The nature prescription has now been rolled out to all ten GPs across the Shetland, including the distribution of leaflets to help locals to understand the importance of outdoor therapy.

Woman and dog walking on rural path with mountainous backdrop

You can encourage your workers to spend more time in nature and increase their exercising by organising softball games in your local park, or by arranging an office hike. It can be hard to encourage all your workers to take walks in their own time if they are not already sold on nature’s beauty.

There is another way to connect them to the benefits of nature, you can introduce natural elements to their lives within your own office through our office moss walls and office flowers. Improve both their mental- and physical health with plants that fight dust levels and improve air quality. There are plenty reasons to have plants in the workplace which you can learn about through our infographic, and with our expertly trained plant technicians to take care of your office’s new plants throughout your contract, you won’t have to worry about finding time to manage their upkeep.

Office Moss Wall by Planteria

Let’s make World Health Day greener by spreading the word about the success of modern holistic practices together. We’re calling for more hikes and picnics at an individual level and a greater awareness of the benefits of biophilic design in the workplace business-wide. Please contact us for more information about how we can help you with an office refit that will not only boost employee morale, but health, too.

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.