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The effect of indoor plants on human comfort

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The effect of indoor plants on human comfort

Jun Qin, Chanjuan Sun, Xin Zhou, Hanbing Leng and Zhiwei Lian
Indoor and Built Environment published online 22 April 2013
DOI: 10.1177/1420326X13481372

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DOI: 10.1177/1420326X13481372
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Jun Qin1,2, Chanjuan Sun3, Xin Zhou3, Hanbing Leng2,4

and Zhiwei Lian3

Abstract
There is growing evidence to support the notion that plants can play an important role in providing a
higher quality living environment. This study conducted a series of experiments to investigate the
effects of characteristics, such as colour, odour and size of plants on human comfort, which was
evaluated by a satisfaction survey and physiological measurements. Different kinds of plants with
different levels of colour (green, tint and multicolour), odour (no odour, slight scent and strong
scent) and size (small, medium and large) were chosen for the experiment design. A survey of partici-
pants’ satisfaction degree as well as measurements from electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardio-
gram (ECG), oxyhaemoglobin saturation, fingertip blood flow, skin resistance and respiration rate were
utilized to illustrate the response of participants to the environments either with different plants or
without plants. The results demonstrated that an interior office with plants was preferred over an office
without plants. The environments with green, slightly scented and small plants were reported as the
most favourite conditions. The EEG and oxyhaemoglobin saturation showed significant changes when
plant conditions varied. These outcomes provided design strategies for incorporating the plants into
the interior office spaces and also provided the physiological variables to evaluate human comfort in
the outside environment.

Keywords
Plants, Comfort, Survey, Physiology measurement, EEG
Accepted: 12 February 2013

satisfaction4 and perceptions of workplace quality

Introduction
A working environment that provides comfortable con-
ditions for employees to do their work optimally is a
fundamental requirement for a healthy work environ-
ment, whether or not plants were present. Concerns
have grown surrounding the quality and effectiveness
of office working environments on employee product-
ivity and happiness.1
The relevant research shows that plants are used not
only to bring a number of aesthetic as well as psycho-
logical benefits, better air quality and higher work
productivity to the indoor environment but also
to improve the climate and decoration outside the
buildings.2 Research has indicated that improving
the working environment could reduce complaints
and absenteeism and would increase productivity.3
Workplace satisfaction has been associated with job
have a significant effect on building users’ psychology.
Experiments that had three conditions focusing on one
specific element, indoor plants, were conducted by
Larsen.1 The results proposed that the presence of
1
East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
2
3
Shanghai Botanical Garden, Shanghai, China
Department of Architecture, School of Naval Architecture,
Ocean & Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai, China
4
Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Plant
Innovation, Shanghai, China
Corresponding author:
Chanjuan Sun, Department of Architecture, School of Naval
Architecture, Ocean & Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong
University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, China.
Email: sunchanjuan@sjtu.edu.cn

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2 Indoor and Built Environment 0(0)
indoor plants would increase the comfort and attract-
iveness of office environments and the absence of
plants can have a negative impact on perceived
attractiveness. Studies conducted in Germany in the
1960s asserted that improved employee morale,
decreased absenteeism and increased worker efficiency
would result when plants are installed to office spaces
compared to traditional offices without plants.5,6
Other researchers focused on the human response to
indoor plants in the workplace.7 The effects of the
plants on human psychophysiology were recorded by
using the electromyography (EMG), electroencephal-
ography (EEG) and by blood volume pulse (BVP) and
state-anxiety. The results revealed that due to the pres-
ence of indoor plants, participants were less nervous
or anxious than when they were in the offices without
plants.
Most of the researchers investigated the effects of
plants on human psychology or physiology by concen-
trating on whole environments with plants. However,
the separate effects of plants’ inherent characteristics,
such as colour, odour and size, on human comfort have
not been sufficiently investigated. The need for a thor-
ough understanding of the relationship between these
features of plants and human comfort is increasingly
important. Besides the preference and satisfaction
evaluation scales, the appropriate sensitive physio-
logical parameters are worthy of discussion.
The research on the physiology of humans has indi-
cated that human will undergo adaptative changes to
adjust to variations in their environment. This was
investigated in the indoor environment and thermal
comfort studies, as well as in the studies of window
and plants.7,8 Heart rate variability (HRV) index and
the EEG were proposed as indicators of thermal com-
fort. Experiments were performed by Yao et al.9 to
investigate how the environmental temperature would
influence the HRV and EEG of the participants and
what potential relationship could exist between the
two factors and the thermal comfort sensations. The
study indicates that the value of low frequency (LF)
norm/high frequency (HF) norm and EEG analysis may
become potential physiological variables to evaluate the
thermal comfort of humans. Currently, brain activities
can be conveniently recorded through electrodes in an
electroencephalogram or EEG. EEG is a medically
useful recording for brain function studies.10,11 For
the environment with plants, it is necessary to search
for the responding indexes for evaluating the effects of
plants on human comfort.
The purpose of the present research is to examine the
effects of plants’ inherent characteristics on human
comfort. The physiological experiments, as well as the
survey, were designed to find out the relationship
between plants and human comfort.
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Methods
Approach
An experimental design was conducted to evaluate the
possible effects of indoor plants on participants’ com-
fort in an office environment. The objective measure-
ments and subjective questionnaires of participants
were used in the experiment which was carried out in
December, 2010. Two identical offices located on the
third floor of the graduate building at Shanghai Jiao
Tong University in China were selected. The one with-
out plants was used as a comparison office, the other
one was used to layout different kinds of plants. The
furnishings and decorations both of the offices were
maintained exactly the same except for the arrangement
of plants. Each of the offices contained one north-
facing window. It provided consistent interior light con-
dition, yet it prohibited direct sunlight, which would
increase the probability of uncomfortable glare.
The thermal condition setting
The objective in designing the environment’s conditions
was to make the space as unaffected and non-distract-
ing as possible. By doing so, the specific environmental
effect of the plant characteristics on human comfort
could be separated and focused on and the responses
to other environmental variables could be removed. In
order to eliminate the fluctuation of responses due
to thermal variation, the thermal condition was set
as uniform and non-transient during the whole experi-
mental stage.
The environmental parameters related to human
thermal comfort, such as air temperature, velocity,
humidity and radiant temperature, were detected and
recorded by responding thermometers. They were mea-
sured at the height of work plane when participants
were sedentary. Each of the measurement lasted for
about 30 min including the adaptation stage. The inter-
val of the measurement was set as 10 min. Furthermore,
the place in front of the participants and the return air
area were detected, as well as the zone with plants. The
dry and wet bulb thermometer with precision of 0.05 C
was used to record the air temperature. The black bulb
thermometer with precision of 0.1 C detected the radi-
ation temperature and the hot-wire anemometer
(Testo-425) with the precision of 0.05 m s–1 was
adopted to test the air velocity. All of the values were
kept in accordance with comfortable requirements for
winter investigated in previous research.12 Table 1
shows the specific readings for the environmental par-
ameters of the two offices during the experiments.
The precision of the room temperature was main-
tained within 0.5 C and velocity of the air was about
Qin et al.
Table 1. Thermal condition in experimental office.
Temperature Humidity
Offices ( C) (%)
Comparison office 22.1  0.2 43.3  2.3
Testing office 22.4  0.3 40  1.1
0.2 m s–1. The relative humidity was controlled to be
around 40%.
The experimental plants
According to the previous research, there are some
characteristics of plants, such as colour, scent (flower
fragrance) and size, which have effect on human com-
fort, task performance and mood.13–16 Therefore, these
three basic factors of plants were chosen in current
research. The three features of plants (colour, odour
and size), which formed the independent variables in
the present research, were inspected. When we come
to the plant selection, the three features with significant
difference in levels should be taken into consideration,
as well as the growth season of different plants.
Moreover, the interaction between any two factors
should be avoided to investigate the variables separ-
ately. We took into consideration three different levels
for each feature. The effort to provide three different
levels of one factor while keeping the other two factors
at the same level has been taken to eliminate the inter-
relations among these three factors. The amount of
design experimental conditions was more than that
requested by orthogonal test method. In other words,
the inter-relations among different factors were con-
sidered by the design combinations of plants that
have mathematically the same efficacy as with orthog-
onal test.
In this way, the plants growing in cold weather and
providing the properties mentioned above were selected
(see Figure 1). The detailed features of each plant are
discussed in the following section.
Participants
Referring to the existing studies on physiology param-
eters,17 the number of participants ranged from 4 to 8.
A priori power analysis18 was made to determine the
required number of participants. The parameters, just
like the statistical power, the significance level and the
effect size, were specified on the basis of the empirical
value and calculated by the software G*Power.12,19,20
First, the physiological parameter of human was speci-
fied to be considered. Second, the within-subjects
design was used and the ANOVA for repeated meas-
ures was applied. Third, the statistical power level and
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3
significance level were determined. The statistical power
of 80% was maintained. As to the significance level,
Velocity
0.05 was used. Fourth, based on the previous experi-
(m s–1)
ence with research of physiological parameters, the
0.2 effect size was 0.4 referring to large effect. All of the
0.2 specifications needed for using the priori power analysis
were obtained, then with G*Power, the minimum
sample size was calculated to be 12. In this experiment,
16 college-age students (8 males and 8 females) were
selected with the age of 23.5  0.3, the height of
165.5  1.5 cm and the weight of 56.7  2.5 kg; all par-
ticipants were healthy non-smokers who were not
taking prescription medication and had no history of
cardiovascular disease; they dressed in light sweaters
and trousers (0.79 clo)21 and remained sedentary
during exposure to the experimental conditions.
Design of experiments
The within-subject design, i.e. each participant partici-
pated in all experimental conditions, was adopted in
order to reduce the error variation. Responding to the
purpose of this research, the three factors were respect-
ively inspected on three different levels; there were
green, tint and multicolour for colour investigation,
non-odour, slight scent and strong scent for odour
investigation and small, medium and large for size
research. The objective of the design was to maintain
two of these factors at a certain level, while manipulat-
ing the remaining one, varying through it at three
levels.
Table 2 demonstrates the conditions of experimental
design in which 1,2,3 represent the levels value of each
influential factor. The experimental conditions were
classified as three groups consistent with three factors.
For colour group, 1–3 represents green, tint and multi-
colour; for odour group, 1–3 stands for non-odour,
slight scent and strong scent; for size, 1–3 refers to
small, medium and large. Moreover, the tests under
different conditions were conducted separately. Some
of the conditions with odorous plants were arranged
at the end of the day to avoid the odour effect. For
others, there was long enough interval, 2–3 h, to elim-
inate the effect of odour with the door and window
opening.
Due to the limiting condition of the season and
inherent characteristics of plants, several plants, such
as the Lavender and the Sansevieriatrifasciata, were
included in two or more groups, to reduce the limita-
tions. We also kept the fixed factor balance by adjusting
the quantity of plants. Take the lavender for example,
when it was contained in the colour group, we removed
its flower so there would be no scent, the same as
Sansevieriatrifasciata and poinsettia. At the same time,
we arranged enough plants in the office to make them
4 Indoor and Built Environment 0(0)

Figure 1. Selected plants.

Table 2. Design conditions of experiments.

Condition
number Classification Colour Odour Size Plants

1 Comparison
3 Odour group
2 Odour group
8 Odour group
3 Colour group
5 Colour group
6 Colour group
3 Size group
7 Size group
4 Size group
— —
1 1
1 2
1 3
1 1
2 1
3 1
1 1
1 1
1 1
— None
1 Lavender
1 Menthahaplocalyx
1 Pelargonium odouratissimum
2 Lavender
2 Sansevieriatrifasciata
2 Poinsettia
1 Lavender
2 Sansevieriatrifasciata
3 Alocasia Rhizome

the same size as the other two kinds of plants. In this evaluate the occupants’ sensation on the environment
way, the factors except colour were maintained at the with plants, and the latter measured the variation in
same level (odour was 1 and size was 2). The same participants’ physical parameters to illustrate the
situation happened with the Sansevieriatrifasciata. effect of indoor plants on human comfort.

Measurements Survey questionnaire. The evaluation on satis-

faction of the whole environment with plants, the
The measurement in this research consisted of two plants’ factors (colour, odour and size) and the favour-
parts: the subjective survey and the objective physical ite layout were included in the survey questionnaire.
testing. The former used a questionnaire study to They were separately reported on 6-point scales

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Qin et al.
Figure 2. Satisfaction voting scales.
Figure 3. Biological signal measurement device.
(see Figure 2). This voting scale was adopted from ther-
mal comfort evaluation research which was proposed
by Zhang.22 It has been validated in other research that
it was convenient and accurate to reflect the human
sensation on the environment.23 The evaluation of
each environment and how it contrasted with the com-
parison condition was also included in this part. The
choices given in the questionnaire for the occupants
were unpleasant, no difference or pleasant, which
were represented respectively by 1, 0 and 1.
Moreover, the basic thermal comfort survey was
conducted by researchers to regulate the thermal envir-
onment in a timely manner. Thermal sensation and ther-
mal comfort were included based on previous
studies.23,24 Within this method, 80% was taken as
the satisfaction ratio.
Physiological testing. The parameters, such as
EEG, electrocardiogram (ECG), oxyhaemoglobin sat-
uration, fingertip blood flow, skin resistance and
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5
respiration rate were recorded with the biological
signal measurement device, called PowerLab
(see Figure 3).
The negative lead (red) and the positive lead
(brown) were attached to the right and left wrist,
respectively.25 And the ground lead (green) was
attached to the right ankle. The EEG measurements
were conducted on two positions of the forehead with
electrical potential (voltage) difference. The EEG and
ECG waves were first filtered within the Powerlab
program to remove the noises. The low-pass filtering
was used for ECG wave for which the upper limit was
35 Hz. For the EEG wave, four frequency waves
were separately filtered. They were d-band (0.5–
2 Hz), y-band (3–7 Hz), a-band (8–13 Hz) and b-band
(14–35 Hz). The right thumb was sandwiched by oxy-
haemoglobin saturation sensor for readings. Two
fingertip blood flow sensors were attached to the
middle and ring finger of right hand. The skin resist-
ance sensor was clamped on the left ring finger and
the respiration rate band was wound on the
6 Indoor and Built Environment 0(0)
Figure 4. Measurements.
participants’ waist. Figure 4 depicts the physiological
measurements under different conditions.
Procedures
Each experimental condition lasted for 30 min, during
which except the researchers and participants, no other
persons were allowed to enter into or exit the experi-
mental office space. The detailed experimental proced-
ure was as follows. As mentioned before, the conditions
could be considered as two different kinds, in which one
was the comparison condition without plants and the
other was the condition with plants. For the compari-
son condition, upon the participants’ arrival to the
office without plants, they sat on the chair in front of
the table and began to adapt themselves to the envir-
onment which took about 15 min, then answered the
thermal comfort and satisfaction questionnaires for
1–2 min. Subsequently, the researcher placed the
physiological detectors at relevant sites on the subjects’
body. Meanwhile, the data acquisition program col-
lected readings from the 6 detectors. After 5 min of rec-
ording, the measurement was finished. Furthermore
for the condition with plants, participants first spent
15–20 min in the office without plants and answered
the thermal comfort questionnaires. When they fin-
ished, they were led to the office with plants next
door. After 5–10 min, they were requested to report
their sensation of and satisfaction with the environ-
ment. Subsequently, the physiological measurement was
conducted in the same way as in the comparison room.
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The change of subjective evaluation appeared when the
environment changed, so it did not take much time to
adapt the new condition. For the physiological meas-
urements, the EEG waves were sensitive to any change
of the environment, so it should balance the adaptation
time and the transit time. Based on the previous
research,23 it took 20 min for adaptation in the thermal
environment. In this research, in order to consider the
sensitivity of the parameters, the adaptation time was
set as 15–20 min.
Data processing method
Outlier analysis was made first to remove exceptional
values from the obtained results. The range between
25th-1.5IQR and 75th + 1.5IQR (IQR–inter quartile
range) was used as non-outlier range.26 Data collected
in the tables (with removed outliers) were then summar-
ized with descriptive statistics.
A one-way analysis of variance tested whether the
sensation scores varied significantly between all the
plants conditions.
Results
Questionnaires
The degree of overall satisfaction and pleasant
sensation.
The participants’ self-evaluated responses of
satisfaction degree and pleasant sensation in the
Qin et al.
Figure 5. Degree of satisfaction and pleasant on the environment.
experimental office were statistically analyzed. The sat-
isfaction degree of participants was high in the envir-
onment with plants (see Figure 5).
The survey showed that most of the participants
kept slightly satisfied or satisfied (scoring more than
1.4) with the environment; even an evaluation of very
satisfied emerged. Compared with the condition with-
out plants, participants in the environment with plants
reported a higher happiness/pleasant sensation with a
score that was almost equal to 1.
Figure 6 presents the voting percentage of satisfac-
tion degree and the pleasant sensation under all the
conditions with plants. The majority of participants,
up to 60% or more under every condition, reported
that they were satisfied (value of 2) with the environ-
ment. There were a certain number of participants
selecting ‘‘slightly dissatisfied’’ with the environment,
although the ratio was small. As can be seen from the
results of pleasant sensation evaluation, the partici-
pants who considered the condition with plants to
be more pleasant than that with no plants accounted
for 80%.
Evaluation on colour
The results of satisfaction evaluation on the plants’
colour, classified as green, tint and multicolour, were
statistically analyzed on basis of experimental design.
Moreover, the percentage of every evaluation level was
calculated as the supplemental explanation for degree
of satisfaction, as shown in Figure 7.
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7
This illustrates that the green plants obviously pro-
vided the highest degree of satisfaction, the average
value of which was up to 2.1. Almost 70% of the par-
ticipants were ‘‘satisfied’’ with the green plants, and
20% of them ‘‘very satisfied’’ (score equal to 3) with
this condition. However, no one voted for dissatisfac-
tion. The results also demonstrated that the condition
with multicolour plants was controversial. Although
the average degree of satisfaction for multicolour
plants (0.6875) was higher than that for tint plants
(0.375), the distribution of voting percentage represents
that the ratio of ‘‘slightly dissatisfied’’ (–1) with multi-
colour plants took a larger proportion of 30% than
that with tint plants. Therefore, it was reasonable to
evaluate the condition based on the average satisfaction
degree combined with questionnaire percentage.
Evaluation on odour
The results of satisfaction evaluation on the plants’
odour, classified as non-odour, slight scent and strong
scent, were statistically analyzed on the basis of experi-
mental design, as well as the voting ratio (see Figure 8).
As can be seen from the results, the satisfaction
degree of participants under the condition with slight
scent plants was the highest one among all the three
conditions, with the average value up to 1.44. Almost
60% of them felt satisfaction (score 2) and more than
15% were very satisfied with this condition (score 3).
The condition with strong scent plants was subse-
quently a favourite one, with the average value of 1.3.
8 Indoor and Built Environment 0(0)

Figure 6. Percentage of satisfaction and pleasant under all conditions with plants.

Figure 7. Colour satisfaction evaluation and percentage of voting.

There were 15% of the participants who were ‘‘very

satisfied’’ with the condition. However, the lowest sat-
isfaction degree emerged under the non-odour condi-
tion, with which 30% participants reported ‘‘slightly
dissatisfied’’.
Evaluation on size
The results of satisfaction evaluation on the plants’ size,
classified as small, medium and large, were statistically
analyzed, as well as the voting ratio (see Figure 9).

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Qin et al. 9

Figure 8. Odour satisfaction evaluation and percentage of voting.

Figure 9. Size satisfaction evaluation and percentage of voting.

The satisfaction degree of participants under the
condition with small size plants was the highest one
among all three conditions, with the average value
of 2. Over 60% felt satisfaction (score 2) and almost
20% of them very satisfied with this condition (score 3).
None of the participants felt dissatisfaction. The second
pleasant condition was created by medium-size plants
with the average satisfaction value of 1.8. In this envir-
onment, 80% participants felt ‘‘satisfaction’’ and none
of them dissatisfied. The large-size plants brought the

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10
Figure 10. Variation on ratio of electroencephalography (EEG) bands between conditions with and without plants.
lowest satisfaction degree with the average of 1.4 and
20% of the participants dissatisfied with the current
condition.
Physiological measurements
All the physiological readings were exported from the
program and analyzed using the method mentioned
above.
Electroencephalography
The variation of EEG band could sensitively reflect the
situation of human neural activity, from which we can
indirectly acquire the information on human comfort
through the data transformation. The EEG could be
separated into four categories in the form of frequency:
d-band, y-band, a-band and b-band.27 It was influenced
by multiple exterior factors. The slight change of the
external environment or the variation of participants’
psychological situation could result in a huge disturb-
ance on the EEG. The spectrum analysis method was
adopted for calculating the ratio of four EEG bands.
Figure 10 shows the EEG variation between the con-
dition with plants and condition without plants. It indi-
cates that d-band, a-band and b-band had a significant
difference under the two conditions, with paired t-test P
equal to 0. In other words, the EEG band was the most
sensitive parameter based on the fact that the three
band parameters had significantly changed due to the
environmental variation.
Figure 11 illustrates the ratio of EEG bands under
different experimental groups. First, in the colour
group, the office with green plants evoked the most
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Indoor and Built Environment 0(0)
a-band and b-band. Corresponding to this, the
least a-band and b-band accompanied by the most d-
band, y-band occurred under the multicolour condi-
tion. Second, in the odour group, the plants with
slight scent led to the highest ratio of a-band and b-
band and the plants with strong scent provided the
lowest. Thirdly, in the size group, the small size
evoked the most a-band and b-band and the medium
size plants evoked the most d-band and y-band.
Table 3 represents the p value of EEG bands under
different conditions calculated with paired t-test. The
significant difference of the effect on d-band, a-band
and b-band (p < 0.05) was discovered between tint
plants and multicolour plants. Simultaneously, the
effect on b-band was also different between plants
with small size and medium size. Overall, the ratio of
EEG bands had a strong sensitive variation in relation
to the change in plants.
Electrocardiogram
The heart rate (HR) and HRV were calculated and
exported from the ECG recorded by the physiological
program. The participants’ HR (beats per min – b/min)
under experimental conditions is shown in Figure 12 in
which the column represents the average value of HR.
It varied slightly from 75 b/min to 80 b/min.
Figure 13 shows the participants’ HR and HRV
when they were in the office with plants and without
plants. Neither showed significant difference (with
p ¼ 0.91 and 0.775 > 0.05) between those two condi-
tions. In order to investigate the HRV difference
within each parametric group, Table 4 illustrates the
Qin et al. 11

Figure 11. Relative electroencephalography (EEG) power of different bands under experimental conditions.

the maximum quantity, was calculated. The results of

Table 3. P value of EEG bands under different conditions. difference analysis are shown in Table 5.
The p values in Table 5 show there was significant
Colour Odour Size
difference which existed among several conditions
Bands Levels group group group
respectively in odour and size group, which means the
d-band 1–2 0.220 0.425 0.105 oxyhaemoglobin saturation was sensitive to the vari-
2–3 0.057 0.133 0.184 ation of plants.
1–3 0.414 0.177 0.701
y-band 1–2 0.522 0.108 0.499 Fingertip blood flow, skin resistance and
2–3 0.616 0.065 0.995 respiration rate
1–3 0.839 0.336 0.184
Analysis using the same method as above was con-
a-band 1–2 0.162 0.542 0.069
ducted for fingertip blood flow, skin resistance and res-
2–3 0.024* 0.170 0.099 piration rate; and then the results are given in Table 6.
1–3 0.458 0.257 0.807 Only one significant difference on fingertip blood
b-band 1–2 0.277 0.777 0.054 flow happened when the plants changed from small to
2–3 0.040* 0.302 0.098 medium size. Results indicate that there were almost no
1–3 0.236 0.310 0.942 changes with the plant variation. Results for skin resist-
ance and respiration rate illustrate that there is no sig-
EEG: electroencephalography.
*Represents significant difference between two conditions. nificant difference in relation with these two parameters
when the environment with plants changed.

p value of HRV under different conditions calculated

with paired t-test.
Although the HRV slightly fluctuated when the
plants were changed, no significant difference was dis-
covered between any two conditions. Results indicate
that the HR and HRV were not sensitive to the plant
variation on colour, odour and size.
Oxyhaemoglobin saturation
The oxyhaemoglobin saturation, the percentage of the
actual oxygen quantity combined by haemoglobin to
Discussion
The subjective survey and the objective physiological
measurements were separately conducted. However,
these two parts were not independent. The integration
of the survey and measurements could on the one hand
provide the participants’ evaluation and perception on
the environment and on the other hand, it reflects the
variation on physiological parameters under different
conditions.
The score for evaluating the overall sensation in the
environment with plants was almost equal to 1, which

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12 Indoor and Built Environment 0(0)

Figure 12. Heart rate under experimental conditions.

Figure 13. Heart rate and heart rate variability under the conditions with and without plants.

Table 4. P value of HRV under different conditions.

Colour group Odour group Size group

Conditions p Conditions p Conditions p

Green–tint 0.438 Noodour–slightscent 0.931 Small–medium 0.330

Tint–multicolour 0.088 Slightscent–strong scent 0.553 Medium–large 0.107
Green–multicolour 0.305 Noodour–strong scent 0.483 Small–large 0.036
HRV: heart rate variability.

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Qin et al. 13

Table 5. p Value of oxyhemoglobin saturation under different conditions.

Colour group Odour group Size group

Conditions p Conditions p Conditions p

Green–tint 0.871 Noodour–slightscent 0.021* Small–medium 0.059

Tint–multicolour 0.248 Slightscent–strong scent 0.839 Medium–large 0.906
Green–multicolour 0.167 Noodour–strong scent 0.004* Small–large 0.023*
*Represents significant difference between two conditions.

Table 6. p Value of fingertip blood flow, skin resistance, and respiration rate under different conditions.

Colour group Odour group Size group

Condition pF pS pR Condition pF pS pR Condition pF pS pR

Green–tint 0.59 0.39 0.60 Noodour–slightscent 0.42 0.90 0.14 Small–medium 0.04* 0.16 0.67
Tint–multicolour 0.81 0.91 0.65 Slightscent–strong scent 0.50 0.20 0.99 Medium–large 0.06 0.57 0.96
Green–multicolour 0.73 0.21 0.72 Noodour–strong scent 0.11 0.09 0.56 Small–large 0.49 0.38 0.60
pF, pS, pR respectively denote the p values of paired t-test for fingertip blood flow, skin resistance, and respiration rate measurement.
*Represents significant difference between two conditions.

demonstrated that the participants were happier in any
environment with plants than in the environments with-
out plants. It confirmed the standpoint presented in
former research3–6 that plants planted and optimized
in the office conditions could affect the occupants’
mood, as well as would improve the occupants’
productivity.13
Accompanied with the overall evaluation on the
environment, the preference and satisfaction on the
colour, odour and size of plants were reported. For
the colour group, the green plants brought the highest
degree of participants’ satisfaction compared with tint
and multicolour plants. The high ratio of ‘‘slightly dis-
satisfied’’ for multicolour plants implied some negative
effects caused by this condition. The comments and
suggestions from participants on the colour were inves-
tigated, suggesting two reasons for this dissatisfaction;
some did not prefer multicolour, while the others just
did not enjoy the colour itself, because the red colour of
the poinsettia may cause visual fatigue when partici-
pants concentrate on it for a long time.28 For the
odour group, the plants with slight scent provided
more satisfaction and higher ‘‘satisfied’’ percentage
than the plant with no odour and strong odour. For
the size group, the participants reported the most sat-
isfaction for the small-size plants.
Consistent with the evaluation on comfort and sat-
isfaction level of the environment, the physiological
parameters, such as EEG and oxyhaemoglobin satur-
ation, displayed the significant variation responding to
the environment change. Especially, the ratio of EEG
bands was linked to the influence of positive and nega-
tive effects on human comfort situation. Take the
change between the condition with plant and that with-
out plants for example; the participants in the environ-
ment with plants reported a higher pleasant sensation
with a score that was almost equal to 1. Corresponding
to the change of evaluation, there was also a significant
difference in the ratio with the EEG bands. With the
increasing of satisfaction degree, the ratio of a band
and b band increased significantly. It provides the evi-
dence that the consistence existed in the subjective sen-
sation and physiological reaction. Furthermore, the
similar situation also happened when recording the oxy-
haemoglobin saturation. When the odour or the size of
the plants changed, the difference of oxyhaemoglobin
saturation was shown to be significant, which can be
bigger or smaller than before. Based on the collection
data in this research, there was significant difference
between some selected conditions, yet there was no par-
ticular pattern reflecting the change trend. The oxy-
haemoglobin saturation is an important physiological
parameter of respiration cycle. It could be easy to
understand the difference among odour conditions.
However, there would be complexity in the factors to
identify the reasons for causing the differences among
other groups.
Usually, when the d band dominates, people are in a
deep sleep or unconscious. The quality of sleeping has a
direct and inseparable relationship with the d band.
Research has indicated that people could relax them-
selves from insomnia to deep sleep.9,17 When the y band

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14
dominates, the consciousness of people is interrupted
and the body is deeply relaxed in the way when they are
under hypnotic condition.9 In this case, the y band is
very helpful for triggering deep memories and
strengthening long-term memory. When the a-band
dominates, people are in a state of awareness and the
body is relaxed. This state of awareness could play the
role of a bridge between consciousness and sub-con-
sciousness. In this state, the energy exhausted by the
physical body would be the least in comparison to the
energy supplied to the brain, which would be the most.
Therefore, the action could be more rapid, smooth and
acute. Finally, b band just only appears at the frontal
area of the brain. When people’ eyes are open or when
they are thinking, more b band would appear.
As seen in Figure 11 shown before, under the con-
dition with green plants, the ratio of a + b band was
the highest and that of d band was the lowest. This
illustrated that participants were active and the aware-
ness was clear, which provided the appropriate condi-
tion for office tasks. The same situation could be found
in the conditions with slight scent and small size plants.
However, when the participants were under the condi-
tion with multicolour plants, the situation was opposite
to the former. Instead of high ratio of a + b band, the
ratio of d band which emerged in large numbers during
sleeping was the highest. It indicated that the con-
sciousness was relatively static and the condition was
disadvantageous to improve the occupants’ productiv-
ity and satisfaction due to the environment. The same
situation happened under the condition with no odour
and large-size plants.
The significant difference of oxyhaemoglobin satur-
ation under different conditions demonstrates that it
could be taken as a sensitive index to evaluate the com-
fort of participants. More studies should be conducted
to ascertain how it is related to comfort sensations.
Conclusions
Subjective questionnaires on the comfort sensation and
satisfaction degree as well as objective physiological
measurements were made in different conditions
(office with different plants or without any plants).
The following conclusions can be drawn.
1. The high satisfaction degree and comfort sensation
demonstrate that an environment with plants can
effectively improve human comfort.
2. The environment assessed to be the most comfort-
able condition was the one with green, slightly
scented and small-size plants.
3. The EEG and oxyhaemoglobin saturation in selected
six physiological indexes (EEG, ECG, oxyhaemoglo-
bin saturation, fingertip blood flow, skin resistance
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Indoor and Built Environment 0(0)
and respiration rate) illustrated significant difference
when the environment changed and these are pro-
posed as indicators of human comfort.
4. The relative EEG power of a- + b-bands would
increase when accompanied by that of d-band
decrease when participants were under the comfort-
able condition, which illustrated that it may become
an important variable to estimate the comfort
sensations.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the major projects of National
‘‘Eleventh Five-Year plan’’ of China [NO. 2006BAJ02A00];
and the Technology Innovation Action Plan sponsored by
Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai, China
[NO. 10dz1200403]. The authors thank the volunteers for
their cooperation in this study and Ms. Theresa Trohlck for
her suggestions to improve the English of this paper.
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