How To Improve Air Quality at Home and Work--Grow Your Own Fresh Air!

Way back in the 1970s, when the energy crisis was rearing its ugly head, movers and shakers in the US building industry hit on the seemingly brilliant idea of making buildings as tightly-sealed as possible in order to conserve energy. However, these ‘energy-efficient’ buildings turned out to be hotbeds of chemical and microbial activity.

For one thing, synthetic materials were used to build these tightly-sealed structures. At the same time, other synthetic materials were coming to the fore in both household and business use. Trapped within a tightly-sealed environment, VOCs (volatile organic chemicals, e.g. formaldehyde, acetone, ammonia, benzene, xylene) from carpeting, tiles, draperies, upholstery, paints, fabrics, cleaning products, personal care products, business machines (printers, copiers, fax machines), combined with bioeffluents from human occupants as well as airborne microbes to create a chemical pea soup that resulted in the so-called ‘Sick Building Syndrome’.

Insurance companies paid out millions of dollars in damages when the medical profession confirmed the association between poor indoor air quality and respiratory problems. Yet little has been done since to improve indoor air quality in homes, offices and public spaces. Even after several decades, the building industry has only one answer to the problem—increased ventilation rates. But this assumes clean outside air which, with increased pollution from traffic and industry, is clearly a fallacy. It also disregards the possibilities of fast-spreading pathogens and the threat of bio-terrorism. The only logical solution is to internally purify, revitalize and recycle the air we breathe.

NASA identified VOCs offgassing from synthetic material inside spacecraft as early as 1973, and by 1989, US Congress received a report citing more than 900 VOCs detected in the air of public buildings. By that time, NASA had already demonstrated, as part of its research into ‘closed ecological life support systems’, that interior plants could remove VOCs from sealed test chambers, and later, a tightly-sealed building nicknamed ‘The Biohome’. Constructed of synthetic materials (moulded plastic panels with fibreglass insulation) and engineered for maximal energy conservation, Biohome was furnished as a functional habitat for one person, and equipped with monitoring ports to sample the ambient air. Analyses of the air samples revealed high levels of VOCs offgassing, causing classic symptoms of ‘sick building syndrome’ (severe burning of the eyes, respiratory discomfort). After foliage plants were placed throughout the interior of the Biohome, air quality was tested again, and results showed that most of the VOCs had been removed.

In How To Grow Fresh Air—50 Houseplants that Purify Your Home or Office, Dr Wolverton, a NASA scientist, describes the research that went into the Biohome, and recommends 50 houseplants that anyone can use to purify the air at home or at work. In simple language, with a clear and well laid out format, he rates each houseplant for its ability to remove VOCs, ease of growth and maintenance, as well as resistance to insect infestation. Originally published as Eco-Friendly Houseplants, this book has been translated into ten languages and sold all over the world.

Since studies by NASA and other scientists have produced documented evidence that interior plants can not only remove harmful chemicals but also reduce the level of airborne microbes, it seems a no-brainer to include some in your own home and work environment. Many people buy air purifiers to improve ambient air quality, hoping to reducing allergens and minimize allergy symptoms for themselves and perhaps even reduce asthmatic symptoms in their children. How much simpler and cheaper would it be to purchase several house plants that will do the work naturally and simply, without the constant monitoring, purchasing and changing of air filters.

Examples of public spaces where plants are used to good effect are Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Embassy Suites hotel chains, and even hospitals in Japan which make use of ‘ecology gardens’ to shorten patient recovery time.