Plant Facts

Plants are essential in creating and maintaining a healthy and profitable environment. Live plants improve business. Plants in the workplace offer more than aesthetics value. Studies have shown that they help reduce stress, enhance employees' attitudes, increase productivity and improve indoor air quality.

Aesthetics Value

Employees and visitors alike enjoy and appreciate the visual stimulation that plants provide along with their pronounced calming effect. Plants are used to draw our attention; a grouping of trees together in an atrium provides a pleasant atmosphere for us when we take our breaks from the workday. Plants make every room more attractive by providing a natural flowing shape that contrasts with walls to soften the appearance.

Live plants used indoors, add colour and human scale to open lobby areas, emphasize building architectural features, direct traffic flow within large open areas, and moisten and freshen building air. Studies showed that people work better when their work environments are aesthetically pleasing.

Cost Saving

Proper selection and placement of plants can lower heating and cooling costs by as much as 20%. Plants reduce air temperature through evaporation and transpiration, one or two medium sized plants per 100 sq.ft. of floor space could have a dramatic effect on indoor air quality.

Employees' Health

Common Pollutant	Source	Air Cleaner
FORMALDEHYDE (common irritant to the eyes, nose and throat)	Plywood, clothes, carpet	Azaleas, Liriope, Pittosporium
BENZENE ( a serious skin and eye irritant)	Household cleaners, water repellents, synthetic fibres, plastics, inks and oils	Chrysanthemum, Dieffenbachia, English Ivy, Marginata, Janet Craig (Dracaena)
TRICHLOROETHYLENE (considered a potent liver carcinogen by the Cancer Society)	Rubber, dry cleaning, paints, varnishes, lacquers and adhesives.	Dracaena Warneckei, Peace Lilly, Chrysanthemums and Marginata

Plants are like nature's air filter. They remove carbon dioxide from the air and replace them with needed oxygen. With new technological developments and energy efficient attitudes, buildings are becoming more and more airtight. This increases the level of germs and toxins in the air, due to improper circulation. Also "sick building syndrome", in which toxins from furniture, carpet, wall covering and other office décor etc. are linked to ailments ranging from upper respiratory problems, to eye irritations, allergies, cold or viruses. Trace chemicals in the atmosphere are absorbed and biodegraded by plant leaves, roots, the soil and micro-organisms. Virtually every tropical foliage and flowering plant works to remove pollutants from the interior office environment. One study verified that 40% of all sick days are Indoor Air Quality related.

One poll indicated that two thirds of the workforce likes gardening as their favourite hobby. This "green thumb" passion explains why humanizing work spaces with plants can help promote employee's satisfaction.