Green office environment, increased office productivity, says researchers

Researchers undertook a study in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to determine the impact of plants in the office environment (WellBeing No. 154, 2014; wellbeing.com.au – Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied). Primarily, they wanted to find out if productivity increased.

The study took place in large corporate offices. Researchers conducted a baseline by measuring workers’ perceptions of air quality, concentration, productivity, and workplace satisfaction. They also measured the workers’ actual productivity. Plants were introduced into the workspaces and over subsequent months the factors were measured again.

The results showed that the introduction of plants improved all of the factors as well as boosting productivity by 15%. The researchers concluded that a greener workplace helps workers by boosting happiness, helping them feel more emotionally involved in their work, and making them feel their employer cares about them. Hence, happiness and improved workplace satisfaction leads to increased office productivity.

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