As part of our Wellness at Work campaign – we are looking into Biophilia and how the love for the natural world can affect our working life. Most offices nowadays, contain electronic devices which can emit gases into the air in office buildings. It has been scientifically proven that having plants in the office can help to remove these kinds of gases from the air – which is why we have sent you your very own plants for your office. Not sure what Biophilia is? Click read more to read our article and download our ‘Top 10 plants for the office’ document attached #Feelgoodfoliage #Poweroftheflower #Plantasmileinyouroffice

‘Biophilia: 1. an innate love for the natural world, supposed to be felt universally by humankind’

The term biophilia is now most commonly linked with building design – new buildings are often being designed with biophilia in mind, and studies have shown that nature inspired changes in the office can have a dramatic impact on worker’s wellbeing.

At BVP we want to promote ‘Wellness at Work’ and think that having plants in the office will help us to do so. Most offices nowadays, including the offices at BVP, contain many electronic devices such as printers, computers, phones and more. These kinds of electronic devices can emit gases into the air in the office buildings, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) comprising of gases like benzene and xylene which can be released into the air when photocopying. Nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide are also gases found in office environments.

It has been scientifically proven that having plants in the office can help to remove these kinds of gases from the air. Below is some research that supports this theory and the idea of biophilia, demonstrating that plants can increase our wellness in the workplace…

NASA conducted a study and found that houseplants benefit us psychologically. NASA believe that because people spend on average 90 per cent of their day indoors, our daily stress may be caused by “nature deprivation”, therefore bringing nature into the office should help to reduce our stress levels. Another study undertaken by Cardiff University found that having greenery in the office can increase worker’s productivity. Marlon Nieuwenhuis, from Cardiff University’s School of Psychology said “simply enriching a previously Spartan space with plants served to increase productivity by 15 per cent”. The study, which conducted experiments in the UK and The Netherlands, found that having plants in the office increased workplace satisfaction, focus levels and air quality.