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Author: search.filters.author.Dasgupta, Mani SankarSubject: search.filters.subject.Indoor air quality

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    Indoor plants’ effect on occupants’ performance, perceived comfort, and affect in an open-plan space in composite climatic regions, India
    (Elsevier, 2025-04) Dasgupta, Mani Sankar
    Biophilic designs with indoor plants are being increasingly recognized for their potential to enhance indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and occupant satisfaction. This can contribute to sustainable and green buildings. However, evidence on the specific benefits of indoor plants remains ambiguous. Particularly, for the buildings in India, there is dearth of evidence of the impact of plants on occupants. We conducted a between-subjects study, with (WP) and without plants (WoP), to investigate effect of indoor plants on Indian building occupants in the composite climatic region of India. Subjective questionnaires queried participants’ indoor climate perception, sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms, emotional state, self-assessed performance, and overall satisfaction with the space. Participants undertook a cognitive task targeting working memory (Operations Span). Air quality perception, SBS symptoms, and subjectively and objectively assessed performance did not differ significantly between WP and WoP groups. The WP group perceived the space to be better decorated (|r|, effect size = 0.42, p < 0.0001), cleaner (|r| = 0.16, p = 0.04), visually more comfortable (|r| = 0.22, p = 0.01), and cooler (r = 0.18, p = 0.02). The WP group also had enhanced positive emotions (|r| = 0.21 to 0.45, p < 0.0001 to 0.02) and reduced negative emotions (r = 0.18, p = 0.02). Our findings indicated that potted plants improved occupant perception of indoor environment and can potentially lower cooling energy use by over 8 %.
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    Effects of Indoor Plants on Occupants’ Emotional-State, Performance, and Perceived Comfort in an Open-Plan Seating Space
    (SSRN, 2023-09) Rai, Aakash Chand; Dasgupta, Mani Sankar
    Indoor plants are a reliable means of introducing nature connection indoors, which can positively affect occupants’ well-being. To better understand the effectiveness of indoor plants on occupants’ well-being (perceived comfort, emotional state, and performance), we conducted a between-subjects study in a simulated open-plan seating space. Subjective questionnaires queried the occupants regarding their perception of indoor climate, sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms, emotional state, self-assessed performance, and overall satisfaction with the space with and without indoor plants. The participants also undertook a cognitive task targeting working memory (operation Span). Participants in the group with plants (WP) rated the room to have better aesthetics (p = 0.004, r = 0.27), felt slightly cooler (p = 0.05, r = 0.18), and perceived less air dryness (p = 0.05, r = 0.18) than the group without-plant (WoP). Differences noted between the two groups’ perception of air quality, SBS symptoms, and their subjectively or objectively assessed task performance were not significant. The WP group had enhanced positive emotions (p < 0.0001 to 0.02, |r| = 0.21–0.45) and reduced negative emotions (p = 0.05, |r| = 0.18). Overall, our findings indicate that potted indoor plants positively impacted aesthetics, perceived thermal comfort, and mood in a simulated open-plan seating space.