Effects of quantity and placement of epipremnum aureum on work efficiency and physiological responses of occupants

In the context of accelerating urbanization, in addition to energy and environmental issues, the concept of sustainable development also puts forward higher requirements for people's quality of life. Studies have shown that indoor plants could relieve negative emotions such as depression of indoor occupants and improve their work efficiency. However, the effects of quantity and placement of plants on indoor occupants have not been specifically discussed in existing studies. In this study, a common indoor plant, Epipremnum aureum was selected, and various combinations of quantity and placement of it were set up. 20 subjects were recruited, and the effects of plants on the work efficiency of subjects were studied by completing cognitive ability tests under different plant settings. The effects of plants on the physiological response of subjects were studied by monitoring physiological indicators such as heart rate variability and electrodermal activity (Fukusaki, #417). The results showed that the impact of plants on work efficiency was related to the characteristics of work and number and placement of plants, increasing the number of plants reduced the time required for participants to complete the operating task testing attention by 41.04 ms. Plants increased values of the standard deviation of the normal-to-normal interval (SDNN) and the root mean square of the successive differences (RMSSD) of subjects by 82.08 and 107.65 micro siemens, respectively, which indicated that plants could reduce the stress level of the subjects. The research results can provide a theoretical basis for the construction of an indoor plant landscape considering the work efficiency and health of occupants.