Is your office green? No, not the environmentally friendly kind of 'green'. Does your office have greenery? A new Harvard study shows there are big benefits to having green, or plant-filled, spaces in your office. Some of the benefits may even follow employees home.
Benefits of Green Space
Employees in green offices saw improvement in a lot of areas. The Harvard study found greenery in the office led to increases in cognition and fewer illness-related absences. Employees even reported sleeping slightly more at night. This isn't the first time a study has found that employees benefit from green environments. Similar studies have shown increases in productivity, concentration, and engagement for employees who work in a green office. Some studies have even found that looking at greenery improves decision-making. Researchers in the Netherlands showed two groups two sets of photos. One group saw photos of urban environments, and one saw photos of greenery. After, the groups played against each other in a game. The green photo group typically outperformed the urban photo group.
How to Go Green
There are a ton of benefits to having green space in an office environment. Studies have shown that an office doesn't need to be a jungle for employees to see improvement. Adding even a few plants makes a big difference. You may be wondering how to incorporate more green into your office. If you're working with a small space, it may not be so easy. That's where custom office design could help. Check out our projects page to see how we've incorporated green in the past.
If you're worried about cost, consider it an investment. With a more green office, your employees will be more productive. A custom office design will pay for itself. Contact us if you want to know more about how to design an office that maximizes productivity.
