Healthcare
Benefits of plants in buildings
Plants can help promote well-being
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| Above: Gollings Photography, BVN Architecture |
If you’re sitting near a plant, go up and taker a closer look. If you can, run your fingers over its stalk, smell its scent and listen to the sound as you rustle its leaves with your hands. You’ll probably agree - plants make you feel good. But did you know that plants go even further? Studies have shown that plants:
- Are effective in cleaning the air by helping to absorb volatile organic compounds.
- Can help reduce the physical symptoms of sick building syndrome.
- And help to reduce dust pollution.
Find out more by reading about: Greener Buildings and Benefits of Plants in Buildings
Sounds incredible but it’s true. Most work environments and public buildings are 'sealed' from the real world and are usually designed to prevent fresh air from outside coming in. Air-conditioning is commonplace.
There is a wide body of research from the United States and here in Australia which clearly shows the contribution that indoor plants make to improving air quality. At the University of Technology Sydney, researchers have produced very positive results showing different varieties of indoor plants really improving air quality.
The body of research is growing on the other positive effects such as the cooling effect they have and increasing and stabilising humidity in air-conditioned spaces.
So what do they do? In essence the plant system - leaves, roots and potting media - take Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from the air such as benzene and formaldehyde released by furnishings, carpets, photocopiers, printers and many modern building materials. They contribute oxygen back into the environment.
In the 1980s, Professor Roger Ulrich and his colleagues in the USA showed that hospital patients recovering from major operations suffered fewer post-operative ill effects if they had a view of nature, as opposed to a view of buildings, through their window.
They were discharged sooner, had fewer post-operative side effects, such as nausea and headaches, needed fewer and weaker painkillers and were less demanding of nursing personnel.
Further studies, using volunteers and pictures of urban and rural landscapes, confirmed that scenes of nature lower stress levels, facts that have both economic and healthcare implications.
More recently, researchers have studied the effects of interior plants. Scientific reports from universities in the US, the UK, Norway, and the Netherlands have concluded that plants may help reduce stress levels and engender feelings of wellbeing.
The reason? Apparently, it may have something to do with the fact that man’s survival has always been linked to nature.
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| Above: Gollings Photography, BVN Architecture |
To find out more about plants for your healthcare environment, call 1300 AMBIUS or enquire now.
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