IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0305956.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of indoor plants on CO2 concentration, indoor air temperature and relative humidity in office buildings

Author

Listed:
  • Junzhiwei Jiang
  • Peter Irga
  • Robert Coe
  • Philip Gibbons

Abstract

This experimental study investigates the influence of indoor plants on three aspects of air quality in office spaces: relative humidity, indoor air temperature, and carbon dioxide concentration. Employing a Latin square design, we rotated three different treatments across three offices over six time periods. These treatments included a control (no plants), a low-volume treatment (five plants), and a high-volume treatment (eighteen plants) of Nephrolepis exaltata (Boston fern). Air quality parameters were continuously monitored at five-minute intervals using Trace Gas Analyzers. Generalised linear mixed modelling (GLMM) was employed to examine the effect of each treatment on relative humidity, indoor air temperature and CO2 concentration. We observed a significant positive correlation between the number of indoor plants and relative humidity levels. In offices without any plants, the median relative humidity was 29.1%. This increased to 38.9% in offices with 5 plants and further to 49.2% in offices with 18 plants. However, we did not find significant associations between the number of indoor plants and indoor air temperature or corrected CO2 concentration. Our research provides support for the use of indoor plants to increase relative humidity, which can have health benefits in dry climates, but does not provide support for using indoor plants to regulate indoor air temperatures or CO2 concentration in office environments.

Suggested Citation

  • Junzhiwei Jiang & Peter Irga & Robert Coe & Philip Gibbons, 2024. "Effects of indoor plants on CO2 concentration, indoor air temperature and relative humidity in office buildings," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(7), pages 1-13, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0305956
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305956
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0305956
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0305956&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0305956?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mendell, M.J. & Fisk, W.J. & Kreiss, K. & Levin, H. & Alexander, D. & Cain, W.S. & Girman, J.R. & Hines, C.J. & Jensen, P.A. & Milton, D.K. & Rexroat, L.P. & Wallingford, K.M., 2002. "Improving the health of workers in indoor environments: Priority research needs for a National Occupational Research Agenda," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(9), pages 1430-1440.
    2. Alexander Pichlhöfer & Eldira Sesto & Jutta Hollands & Azra Korjenic, 2021. "Health-Related Benefits of Different Indoor Plant Species in a School Setting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-28, August.
    3. Amit Kant Kaushik & Mohammed Arif & Matt M. G. Syal & Muhammad Qasim Rana & Olugbenga Timo Oladinrin & Ahlam Ammar Sharif & Ala’a Saleh Alshdiefat, 2022. "Effect of Indoor Environment on Occupant Air Comfort and Productivity in Office Buildings: A Response Surface Analysis Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-24, November.
    4. Ke-Tsung Han, 2019. "Effects of Indoor Plants on the Physical Environment with Respect to Distance and Green Coverage Ratio," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-19, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mustafa Shetaw & Louis Gyoh & Michael Gerges & Nenpin Dimka, 2024. "A Bibliometric Review of Indoor Environment Quality Research and Its Effects on Occupant Productivity (2011–2023)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-32, November.
    2. Yue Yang & Kai Hu & Yibiao Liu & Zhihuang Wang & Kaihong Dong & Peijuan Lv & Xing Shi, 2023. "Optimisation of Building Green Performances Using Vertical Greening Systems: A Case Study in Changzhou, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-30, March.
    3. Ke-Tsung Han & Li-Wen Ruan, 2019. "Effects of Indoor Plants on Self-Reported Perceptions: A Systemic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-26, August.
    4. Erica Cochran Hameen & Bobuchi Ken-Opurum & Young Joo Son, 2020. "Protocol for Post Occupancy Evaluation in Schools to Improve Indoor Environmental Quality and Energy Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-23, May.
    5. Florian Teichmann & Azra Korjenic & Marijana Sreckovic & Hannes Veit & Dominik Hartmann, 2023. "Financing Green Infrastructure in Schools: A Case Study in Austria," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-23, October.
    6. Fernando Fonseca & Marina Paschoalino & Lígia Silva, 2023. "Health and Well-Being Benefits of Outdoor and Indoor Vertical Greening Systems: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-18, February.
    7. Itai Danielski & Åsa Svensson & Kerstin Weimer & Lena Lorentzen & Maria Warne, 2022. "Effects of Green Plants on the Indoor Environment and Wellbeing in Classrooms—A Case Study in a Swedish School," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-23, March.
    8. Won-Ji Kim & Tae-Kyung Lee, 2022. "Greenness Index and Preferences for Interior Landscapes in Residential Spaces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-14, April.
    9. Ma, Zhihao & Cui, Shuang & Chen, Jianli, 2024. "Demand response through ventilation and latent load adjustment for commercial buildings in humid climate zones," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 373(C).
    10. Paulína Šujanová & Monika Rychtáriková & Tiago Sotto Mayor & Affan Hyder, 2019. "A Healthy, Energy-Efficient and Comfortable Indoor Environment, a Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-37, April.
    11. Ke-Tsung Han & Li-Wen Ruan & Li-Shih Liao, 2022. "Effects of Indoor Plants on Human Functions: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analyses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-41, June.
    12. He Zhang & Ravi Srinivasan, 2020. "A Systematic Review of Air Quality Sensors, Guidelines, and Measurement Studies for Indoor Air Quality Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-38, October.
    13. Gyu-Bae Lee & Seung-Min Lee & Seung-Eon Lee & Jae-Weon Jeong & Jong-Won Lee, 2022. "A Comparative Field Study of Indoor Environment Quality and Work Productivity between Job Types in a Research Institute in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-17, November.
    14. Jutta Hollands & Azra Korjenic, 2021. "Indirect Economic Effects of Vertical Indoor Green in the Context of Reduced Sick Leave in Offices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-18, February.
    15. Felipe Quesada-Molina & Sebastián Astudillo-Cordero, 2023. "Indoor Environmental Quality Assessment Model (IEQ) for Houses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
    16. Maria P. Kaltsidi & Ignacia Bayer & Christina Mitsi & Danilo Aros, 2023. "Potential Use of Chilean Native Species in Vertical Greening Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-25, March.
    17. Chua, K.J. & Chou, S.K. & Yang, W.M. & Yan, J., 2013. "Achieving better energy-efficient air conditioning – A review of technologies and strategies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 87-104.
    18. Ma, Nan & Aviv, Dorit & Guo, Hongshan & Braham, William W., 2021. "Measuring the right factors: A review of variables and models for thermal comfort and indoor air quality," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0305956. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.