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"Using Plants to Address Issues Dear to FMs' Hearts
Colleen Smith of Plants for People demonstrates how plants
can make a financial difference.
Have you ever thought of yourself as a holistic doctor for the
workplace? After all Facilities Managers are assigned many tasks
to not only keep the building in good order, but to keep everything
running smoothly. And yet historically FM’s attitude to
interior planting was definitely subjective ie those that like
plants supported interior landscaping and those that didn’t
– well, I’m sure you know the answer.
And this is despite the fact that plants and interior landscaping
could be the answer to many an FM’s prayers – effective
and potentially budget saving.
Plants can help reduce energy costs and equally importantly help
reduce absenteeism. Contentious? Perhaps not when you look at
the research that backs it – but more of that later.
What’s in a name?
The recent American study, the Whitehall Report published in
the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, questioning
the existence of Sick Building Syndrome has been well reported.
But whether buildings can be sick or not, the symptoms that have
been linked to this syndrome since the 1980s can certainly be
‘treated’ with plants, and a recent report suggests
that as many as four out of ten workers could be SBS sufferers.
The ailments linking buildings to this diagnosis are linked to
the emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). VOCs are released
into the air by man-made materials and solutions, electronic equipment,
and such everyday products as personal hygiene improvers! This
toxic soup from upholstery, carpets, paint, paper, cleaning products
and adhesives, surrounds us.
This is where healthy plants can help. They may look as though
they are just sitting pretty but all the time they working for
our good. They absorb they VOCs whilst emitting oxygen for us
to breathe – a perfect symbiosis!
The Environmental Protection Agency has claimed that measurements
of polluted air inside buildings can be up to ten times higher
than outdoor air. A fact that may shock some but come as little
surprise to regular sufferers from minor ailments.
Plant doctors
Research in Norway showed these symptoms were alleviated by interior
planting. In her four studies, Professor Tove Fjeld found symptoms
reduced – for headaches, skin irritations, blocked sinuses
and fatigue – by an average of 25%. Headaches were lowered
by almost 50% in one study.
The knock on effect was a lower absenteeism, leading to cost
reductions for sick play and temporary staff. In the Oslo x-ray
hospital study, staff absenteeism dropped by two third, from 15%
to 5% not just for a few months but for longer than five years.
How does this occur? Plants absorb VOC emissions through their
leaves and their growing medium (compost or hydroponics); most
VOCs are taken down into the plant’s roots where the minute
organisms that live there turn them into plant food. A perfect
example of natural recycling!
It amazes me that, as 30%* of Britain’s 187 million sickness
days are due to SBS sufferers, so little focus has been given
to this.
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Case
studies prove the point
A point proved again at Aerospace in Dorset. They had complaints
and absence due to minor ailments linked to SBS, so a local landscaper
was called to plant this section and miraculously the ailments
disappeared. But when subsequent budget cuts demanded the removal
of the plants, the symptoms returned. No surprise then that the
plants were reinstalled.
In BMW’s HQ in Munich, the HR Department asked for planting
to address complaints of many SBS-linked ailments, but Management
was sceptical. They eventually agreed but set up a monitoring
study. The results were amazing – 93% of the computer workforce
felt better, absenteeism was reduced and higher humidity was achieved,
further improving working conditions. Management conceded and
the plants stayed.
Fjeld would acknowledge that there are many contributory factors
to our health and well-being. A key point is that essentially
our physiology hasn’t changed in 10,000 years when we have
mostly lived and worked in the great outdoors, ‘at one’
with nature. But since the industrial and technological of the
last 150 years, our bodies have had to adapt and are still trying
to acclimatise.
Now we spend most of our time at work, and less than half an
hour outdoors every day! A few years ago NOP found that 70% of
the workforce in London spends more time looking at a computer
screen than they spend indoors. No surprise there.
Considering we spend all that time indoors and we breathe in
6-10 litres of air per minute (that’s a staggering 15,000
litres a day) then the quality of the air we breathe should be
the best it possibly can be.
How many plants do we need to clean the air?
For 12m² room by one person
Three specimen (floorstanding) plants
OR
Six desk top size plants
Will adequately reduce toxins in the air to safe levels.
Not 5 a day, just 1 per desk
Besides cleaning our air, making us feel better and reducing
absenteeism, plants also improve concentration, motivation, creativity
and productivity.
Research by John Berg at the engineering company DHV in Amersfoort,
found that workers who used a computer for four hours or more
a day – were able to concentrate better and were more productive
with a plant by the computer.
A call for a plant on, or by every desk in every workplace methinks.
A natural solution to improve wellbeing at work and one that every
company or corporation could benefit from.
Plants as part of stress management initiatives
UK research backed up in the USA, showed that plants can help
to keep us calm.
Helen Russell at the University of Sussex had her study group
perform mental arithmetic in a planted and non-planted room. Virgina
Lohr at Washington State University, performed tailored computer
programmes, again in a planted and a non-planted room.
Both studies showed that the physical signs of stress ie pulse
rates and blood pressures, were reduced or returned to normal
more quickly in the delegates working in the planted rooms. What’s
more Virginia Lohr measured productivity increases of 12% in the
delegates working in the planted rooms.
So these natural stress busters will keep employers and employees
happy.
Stress is a big cause for absence. Statistics collected by the
aforementioned NOP research found that almost half of workers
felt stressed during an average day and this figure rose to 65%
amongst 25-24 year olds.
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Keep
it clean and comfortable
Dry air is known to cause much discomfort and yea, plants can
come to the rescue here too. But another little known fact is
that they can also lower dust pollution.
These natural miracle workers return well over 90% of the water
we give them back into the air. This raises humidity levels (we
are most comfortable in humidity levels of about 50%), makes us
more at ease and the dust quickly sinks the floor, making it easier
to clean up.
Obviously water-loving plants are best for this – bamboos,
ferns, umbrella plants but even standard houseplants can increase
humidity levels by 2.5%.
Plants reduce energy meltdown?
As fuel prices soar and supplies dwindle, plants have an energy
conservation role too. Planting has long been used to shade buildings
on the outside but interior landscaping can also help. Plants
create their own mini micro-climates around them, so helping to
solve or reduce the amount of air conditioning necessary.
German solar architect Dieter Schempp finds that planting can
reduce temperatures by 3-5°C and trees and shrubs placed around
buildings, inside and out, can save hours of air-con, absorb heat
and provide necessary shade.
In Schempp’s words “A well-planned interior planting
scheme combined with adequate methods of ventilation, will take
over the tasks of air-conditioning without the need for technical
aids and little maintenance. During the summer, the plants must
cool the room by providing shade and transpiration. Plants with
large leaf surfaces are needed for this job.”
In Herten, Germany, Schempp designed a circular glass atrium
to form the Cultural Centre extension to the library. Here the
air, complete with VOCs, is filtered into the Centre, where the
plants absorb and clean it to produce oxygenated air, which in
turn is filtered back into the reading rooms. No wonder they claim
the air feels pure!
Building energy costs have been reduced by 50% and temperatures,
which can reach 22°C in winter and 30°C in summer, are
controlled by opening doors and ventilation flaps. Improved atmosphere
and visitor reactions as well as cost savings.
Plant benefits in brief
• Make us feel well
• Reduce symptoms linked to SBS reduce absenteeism
• Improve concentration
• Improve productivity
• Motivate us
• Can be used to help reduce energy costs
• Can improve humidity levels
• Reduce dust and make it easier to clean
• Keep us calm – reduce symptoms of stress
• Improve our creativity
• Improve behaviour
• Reduce noise
• Encourage shoppers to stay almost half an hour longer
in shopping centres
Plants work in buildings. Forward thinking FMs could do worse
than take a fresh look at their interior landscaping and speak
to one of the many professional landscapers. Take a look at www.efig.eu.com
to source a landscaper. Or contact Indoor Garden Design who have
very kindly supplied many of the images from their work: www.indoorgardendesign.com
More information on the research and case studies can be found
on www.plantsforpeople.org.
Click here to view the original article
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