Desirable Amounts of Greenery

In a study relevant to the design of offices everywhere, at home and elsewhere, Elbertse, and Steenbekkers report that their “study aims to explore the effect of different volumes of indoor greenery on perceived stress, stress, perceived productivity, productivity and perceived workplace satisfaction to support employees’ well-being. . . . Different volumes of indoor greenery were added to the experiment room (0%, 0.5% and 8%) . . . .  perceived stress and heart rate (physical stress) are lower in the 8% condition. Productivity scores did not improve significantly, however perceived productivity did in the 8% condition. . . . 2/3 of the participants preferred the 8% condition, whereas the other 1/3 preferred the 0.5% condition. Overall, 1/3 of the participants mentioned that their optimal volume of greenery would be more than 0.5% but less than 8%. This research shows that the implementation of 8% indoor greenery contributes to a happier and more relaxing office place where employees get the feeling of being less stressed and more productive.”

Elbertse, and L. Steenbekkers.  “The Effect of Three Different Volumes of Indoor Greenery on Employee Well-Being.” Facilities, in press, https://doi.org/10.1108/F-11-2022-0151