If the quality of the air in your office or commercial space is poor, then the liberal use of plants may be of help.  While researching various methods of cleaning the air in space vehicles for extended periods of time, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) found in several different studies that many common plants help fight indoor pollution: They are reportedly able to partially remove harmful substances out of the air through normal photosynthesis.

Newer buildings are constructed largely with man-made building materials and are furnished with synthetic carpeting and other materials known to "off-gas" pollutants such as benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene into the interior environment.  These newer buildings are also insulated and sealed tightly to conserve energy. Thus, pollutants may be trapped indoors, resulting in "sick building syndrome."  If your office is old enough to be leaky and drafty, you may not need to worry about this.  But if you work in a newer, energy-efficient office with windows tightly sealed, or where the air feels stale and circulation seems poor, the liberal use of plants may be able to make a dent in the problem.  (Note that high concentrations of pollutants would also require the use of activated-carbon filters.)

Most of the plants NASA has studied (listed below) evolved in forests, where they received mostly filtered light.  Because of this, they can photosynthesize efficiently under relatively low light conditions.  The plants NASA tested that are readily available are:

Ficus benjamina (Weeping fig)

Hedera helix   English ivy Chlorophytum comosum   spider plant Epipiremnum aureum   golden pothos Spathiphyllum `Mauna Loa'    peace lily Aglaonema modestum   Chinese evergreen Chamaedorea sefritzii   bamboo or reed palm Sansevieria trifasciata    snake plant Philodendron scandens `oxycardium'   heartleaf philodendron Philodendron selloum   selloum philodendron Philodendron domesticum    elephant ear philodendron Dracaena marginata   red-edged dracaena Dracaena fragrans `Massangeana'   cornstalk dracaena Dracaena deremensis `Janet Craig'   Janet Craig dracaena Dracaena deremensis `Warneckii'   Warneck dracaena Ficus benjamina  weeping fig

As a guideline, one NASA study recommended using about 15 plants in 6 to 8-inch containers to improve the air quality in a 1,800 square foot area.  Similarly, a 450 square-foot office would need about 4 such plants.  Since most of these are non-flowering, you may also prefer some flowering plants in addition.   If air quality is a problem for you, we may be able to help mitigate the problem.