ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 833

International Conference | Bari - Lecce, Italy Session XII INDOOR PLANTS IMPACT ON INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY Rasha Gafar1 & Hasim Altan1 1 Sustainable Design of the Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering & IT, British University in Dubai, UAE, rasha. [email protected] / [email protected] Abstract As life evolves human needs and requirements, and the need to make the indoors comfortable and healthy at the same time, supporting the individual’s performance and productivity becomes crucial. Yet, there are many obstacles due to modern human behaviour and emerging lifestyles. In this paper, finding solutions for the indoor environmental quality has been suggested and evaluated by looking into indoor plants as well as studying whether their presence would help indoors and adding greenery elements may enhance environmental factors inside building spaces. In order to achieve the desired approach, the paper is focusing on indoor pollution; its causes and negative impact on occupants’ health and comfort. It also debates the plants as mechanisms for clearing the air and presents examples of using this approach for creating positive impact not only on indoor air quality, but also on both acoustics and aesthetics. Thus, the study is conducting a survey to investigate the impact of greenery in both situations, i.e. during presence and absence of the potted plants. The scope of the questionnaire conducted is to investigate how vegetation exposure inside spaces can affect building occupancy. Moreover, this survey will include an indicator of how the quality and quantity could apply difference on the level of comfort and productivity. Furthermore, looking into the subjective impact of plantation on the occupants’ behaviour, the paper discusses several proven theories and reviews other relevant research work for benefiting building users and developing sustainable building environments by using indoor plantation and applying green pots that may well be ideal solutions for providing positive impact. With this research, some recommendations have been presented to enhance building indoor spaces through certain arrangements and by specifying various indoor plants which can also provide some guidelines for people to improve their indoors. Keywords Indoor Environmental Quality, Indoor Plants, Air Treatment, Subjective Impact, Acoustical Impact, Plantation Aesthetics. 831