Living plant walls are undeniably spectacular. Cascading greenery is a big feature wall in an office, atrium or conference space, and they can make a big impression on anyone who passes by.
But indoor living plant walls are more than just great to look at, they are scientifically proven to benefit people in commercial spaces.
Working from biophilic design principles, an approach to interior decor that is based on humans’ affinity for nature, living walls bring the best of the outdoors, inside. Here are five ways that using plant walls as a biophilic design element can benefit your office.
1. Living plant walls increase air quality
Offices that take employee wellbeing and productivity seriously can’t maximize their results without considering greenery indoors. While filters, ventilation and HVAC systems work wonders, plants can be a key piece of the puzzle to improve air quality even in well-managed buildings.
Poor air quality is a major contributor to sick building syndrome, and decreases focus in office workers. Luckily, studies show that indoor plants decrease CO2 and improve air quality, which can contribute to workers feeling healthy and better able to tackle daily tasks.
And, while plants in general give great benefits, living walls specifically have been proven to improve air quality across several studies. This backs up what we have seen directly with our clients: whether you want a quieter, eco-friendly way to clean your building’s air or want to boost employee wellness, plant walls have a big impact on any space without sacrificing style.
2. Nature and greenery improves moods
If you’ve ever gone on a walk through a park or sat for a few minutes in your backyard to de-stress, you’re onto something big: nature works wonders for how we feel.
In 2022, Time reported on multiple studies that prove being around plants makes people happier and more satisfied, and even increases self-esteem.
This benefit holds even if you are stuck at the office. In a paper published by the Horticultural Research Institute, researchers wrote that biophilic elements and indoor plants reduced depression and mental health symptoms and promoted relaxation and even retention in offices.
And, job and coworker satisfaction was higher for employees with indoor plants or outdoor views of nature, in one study conducted on Texas and Midwestern workers.
Most companies can’t control whether their office is next to a lush park, an inviting lake, or a quiet forest. In truth, most urban offices sit on crowded, central streets that lack green spaces. But you can improve your indoor environment. A living wall can bring some of the benefits of the outdoors to your employees, no matter where your building is located.
3. Living walls improve energy efficiency
Having a high density of plants, like a living wall, can significantly impact your office’s energy expenditures –– for the better.
Because living walls introduce a high density of plants into one area, they can affect your office’s temperature regulation. Results in one study showed that indoor vertical living walls improved cooling. After a year and a half of monitoring the impacts of living walls, these university researchers concluded that living walls “can save up to 20 percent of the energy used for air circulation in closed offices and spaces.”
They also report that living walls transpire water vapor into the air, which may reduce the need for humidity systems.
Meanwhile, the American Society of Landscape Architects reports that living walls can improve cooling, noise pollution and air quality indoors and out.
While any indoor plants can benefit an office space, living walls can bring marked improvements to your reliance on more energy-intensive systems for cooling, humidity and air quality.
4. Greenery reduces unwanted noise
In an office, noise can come from all sides: cars whizzing past outside, colleagues talking in a conference room, co-workers typing, creaking office chairs, and quick phone calls all add up to a general din.
It’s no surprise, then, that noise is a hot button issue in the workplace. In fact, a UK study done in 2019 found that noise was the single biggest source of dissatisfaction at work.
Not only were people unhappy, they were inefficient, with 65% of people reporting in the same study that noise “impacted their ability to complete work in an accurate and timely manner.”
And when noise levels dropped, things improved dramatically. A University of Arizona study found that a lower noise level for offices improved workers’ stress response, lowered distraction and improved their wellbeing.
If you are looking to reduce noise in your office, living walls are a great solution. A comprehensive review of living walls found that outdoor living walls significantly reduced noise pollution, sometimes by several decibels. This principle also holds true for indoor walls, which do so while enhancing decor, unlike some wall solutions for sound-dampening.
5. Indoor plants can lower stress
Given all that we’ve covered, so far, it’s probably no surprise that living walls can reduce stress. If you have less noise, better air quality, a better mood and generally improved office health, your stress is probably going to go down.
But we don’t have to assume here, as there are also studies that show stress specifically is reduced. A meta analysis of research on indoor plants found that they both reduced negative feelings and also increased positive emotions.
In the workplace, specifically, a study done in Japan found that a small office plant reduced worker stress when completing tasks.
The principles of these studies work just as well for living walls as they do for potted plants. Bringing greenery and nature in doors likely affects humans because we have an innate connection with nature. Living walls are an impactful way to get some of the benefits of nature into offices, making you, your employees, and your customers or clients more relaxed.
The benefits of living walls are in your reach
Taking a dull, lifeless surface and transforming it into a verdant garden can uplift a space and the people in it. In our experience with clients in Baltimore, DC and Northern Virginia, we’ve seen living walls absolutely transform offices.
All of these benefits, taken together, add up to a better working environment, happier workers and better business. And you don’t have to take our word for it –– a comprehensive study in Frontiers of Psychology of the effects of indoor plants shows that incorporating nature indoors improves people’s quality of life by many key metrics.
If you are interested in finding out more about how to incorporate a living wall into your office space, check out our living walls to see the work we do or contact us today.
