Plants Bring New Life to Green Building Council Office

The Green Building Council is enjoying the benefits of indoor plants thanks to its members - Rentokil Tropical Plants - who have sponsored the office by donating plants in stylish stainless steel 100% recyclable and VOC free planter boxes with recycled glass pebble as surface cover.

The Plantscape design was developed from the Green Star - Office Interiors IEQ-15 'Indoor Plants' credit to actively improve the indoor environment quality and provide physiological and psychological benefits for occupants. The Plantscape design solution considered the existing office layout enhancing the interior. The greenlife forms were selected for their suitability to our office environmental conditions and for their aesthetic qualities.

Rentokil Tropical Plants supply and maintain the plants in optimum condition and the planters are supplied by Fabulous Foliage Plantscaping.

Research has found that indoor plants contribute to the health and wellbeing of building occupants. Two (2) points are available in Green Star - Office Interiors Indoor Environment Quality Credit IEQ-15 'Indoor Plants' to encourage and recognise the installation of indoor plants that improve indoor environment quality.

The potted-plant microcosm has been shown to reduce air-borne concentrations of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). The health effects of exposure to VOCs are consistent with Sick Building Syndrome effects - i.e. eye/nose/skin irritation, headache, lethargy etc. The research findings demonstrate that the ability of plants to metabolise VOCs increases with extended exposure to VOCs, provided the potted-plant system is kept in optimum condition.
The presence of indoor plants has also been shown to decrease complaints of symptoms associated with respiratory illness and poor indoor air quality. Several studies have also shown lower workplace stress, a decrease in fatigue and enhanced productivity.

According to Rentokil Tropical Plants Operations Manager, Mario Panetta, plants should be considered an integral part of an office fitout. "Plants are not naturally 'indoor' and they work hard to survive. In this process the plant system - leaves, roots and potting media - take VOCs from the air such as benzene and formaldehyde released by furnishings, carpets, photocopiers, printers and many modern building materials."

Mario notes the body of research is growing on other positive effects such as the cooling, increasing and stabilising humidity in air-conditioned spaces, and acoustic benefits.
"If you ask people to close their eyes and imagine themselves in a rainforest, one of the first things they say is that they can feel the coolness and freshness in the air. It is the plants that create that atmosphere" says Mario.

"We research and trial new varieties on a regular basis - we need to consider lower light and the range of environments they can be in - air-conditioned spaces vary considerably. With breeding, good growing media -the 'soil' they're in - and regular servicing - watering, dusting, etc - they need only change most varieties over once in six months or even a year."
Rentokil Tropical Plants, one of Australia's biggest suppliers of indoor plants has witnessed a resurgence in indoor plant use, driven by the greater recognition of the health benefits, but also by the introduction of more 'designer' containers.

Rentokil source some of their containers from Fabulous Foliage who donated the stainless steel planter boxes used in the Green Building Council of Australia's office. Peter Shields, Fabulous Foliage, is an Executive of the National Indoor Plantscape Association - dedicated to promoting the benefits of indoor plants http://www.nipa.asn.au

For more information about the benefits of indoor plants you may with to refer to the documents below:

NGIA Nursery Paper 'Using Pot Plants to Clean Indoor Air' October 2004 Issue no. 9. Copyright ownership of the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and Horticulture Australia Limited (HAL). Contributors: Nursery & Garden Industry Australia (NGIA), HAL and UTS.