Most people spend the majority of their waking time inside buildings, often without considering how strongly indoor surroundings influence everyday life. Homes, classrooms, workplaces and shopping centres all form the settings in which much of our day takes place.
New University of Surrey research suggests that bringing plants indoors offers benefits beyond visual appeal.
Indoor plants and more sophisticated greening systems may increase comfort, improve air quality and help buildings manage heat more effectively.
Research into indoor plant systems
While scientists have extensively examined outdoor trees and green spaces, indoor planting has received far less detailed attention. Urban parks and trees along roads can cool towns and cities while filtering the air.
Researchers therefore sought clearer evidence of the effects that plants have in genuine indoor settings.
A wide-ranging investigation led by the University of Surrey’s Global Centre for Clean Air Research considered the issue in detail. It involved 35 specialists from the UK, Europe, USA, Australia, India and Brazil.
The international collaboration was carried out through the GREENIN Micro Network Plus project, which is concerned with enhancing indoor environments as the climate warms.
Comparing indoor greening systems
To assess the real effects of indoor plants, the researchers developed a framework containing ten questions.
It considered technical performance, microbiology, health impacts, social and economic issues, and the importance of location. By using this method, experts could assess indoor greening from several perspectives rather than concentrating on a single advantage.
The group compared 26 types of indoor greening system, ranging from ordinary potted houseplants to indoor living walls and hydroponic towers.
Living walls place plants across vertical surfaces, whereas hydroponic towers cultivate plants without soil, using water enriched with nutrients.
This assessment provided practical direction for building managers and designers, while also identifying areas that require further study.
How indoor plants cool and clean the air
One of the principal findings was particularly straightforward: larger indoor planting systems can make a space feel up to two degrees cooler.
Although a thermometer might record the same temperature, the room can seem cooler and more comfortable. This may lessen the oppressive, stale sensation often experienced in warm indoor areas.
Plants also release moisture into indoor air. Dry conditions are frequently found during winter and in air-conditioned buildings. As plants raise humidity levels, breathing may become more comfortable, and the added moisture can ease dryness in the nose and throat.
Certain purpose-designed plant systems may also purify the air. They can reduce fine particles, which are very small pollution particles, as well as harmful gases called VOCs. VOCs can be released by materials and products including paint, furniture and cleaning products.
Yet these gains require thoughtful design. Plant numbers, lighting and the overall arrangement are all important. A carefully designed green system is considerably more effective than several plants placed at random in a poorly lit corner.
Indoor plants and the microbiome
The research additionally identifies early indications that indoor greenery could enhance the indoor microbiome, meaning the microscopic organisms present in indoor air and on surfaces.
Plants may bring in a wider variety of microbes associated with natural outdoor settings. This could support a healthier, more balanced interior environment, though further work is required to establish any long-term health effects.
The researchers also highlighted shortcomings in earlier research. A number of previous experiments relied on unusually high quantities of plants or small laboratory chambers.
These conditions are unlike those in real homes, schools and offices. Future studies need to be conducted in occupied buildings over longer timeframes, because lighting, ventilation, occupancy and maintenance each affect the performance of indoor greening.
Placement and maintenance are important
“People spend around 90 per cent of their lives indoors, but surprisingly, we still understand very little about how indoor plant systems can reshape those environments,” said Professor Prashant Kumar, lead author of the study.
“Our collaborative work shows that indoor greening can make a meaningful difference in certain situations – not just to how buildings feel, but to how they cope with heat, humidity and pollutants.”
“But these benefits don’t happen by accident. They rely on using the right systems, in the right way, with the right lighting and maintenance.”
Indoor plants require careful planning
Achieving meaningful outcomes depends on thorough planning and ongoing maintenance. Plants without suitable lighting and regular care may fail to survive or deliver the expected benefits.
“Treating greening as environmental infrastructure, rather than decoration, as well as filling substantial research gaps in the topic area, will be key to unlocking its full potential,” noted Professor Kumar.
The point is clear: indoor plants are not simply decorative features. Effective design, appropriate lighting and consistent care are all required if they are to provide genuine environmental advantages.
Greener, healthier indoor spaces
“Indoor planting is a fantastic way to bring the benefits of plants, and people’s interaction with them, into urban homes, schools and any other spaces where nature is not easily accessible,” said study co-author Dr. Tijana Blanusa.
“This paper lays strong foundations by providing evidence of the conditions needed to achieve the greatest impact on air quality, wellbeing and more.”
Indoor plants cannot address every environmental issue on their own. Nevertheless, when indoor greening is treated by specialists as a significant element of building design, it can support healthier, more comfortable and more climate-resilient spaces for daily life.
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