Biophilic Design

Biophilic design uses the human connection to nature (“biophilia”) to connect people more closely to nature in buildings including homes, workplaces, businesses, public facilities, schools, hospitals, and more. Biophilic-designed buildings incorporate indoor plants, interior landscaping, natural lighting, fresh air ventilation, and other elements to create a healthier environment to support human health and wellbeing.

There are 24 individual qualities of biophilic design. They include:

  • Direct experience: contact with green elements such as plants, views of nature, water, and natural airflow.
  • Indirect experience: the use of natural materials such as wood or natural fabrics like cotton and wool; exposure to images of nature in artwork; and the use of natural shapes and forms.
  • Experience of space and place: How is your own cultural and ecological attachment to a particular indoor area affected?

Multiple studies show a positive relationship between the presence of nature in the workplace and employee wellness and productivity. The design think tank Human Spaces reports employees working in environments with natural elements like plants and sunlight have a 15 percent higher level of well-being. This translates into a six percent increase in productivity and a 15 percent increase in creativity.

Think about what a six percent efficiency increase would mean in your business. Imagine one creative idea that turns into the next Tesla, Bitcoin, or even Scrub Daddy (look it up). What would you be willing to invest in getting there?

There are several simple design changes easily made in workspaces. The easiest and most cost-efficient way is the addition of plants into your environment. This action also gets building owners and facilities managers thinking big picture about the amount of space people have to work in or the best way to make buildings safer and healthier. Safety, health, and worker productivity all go together.

Natural light, plants and vegetation, living walls, natural textures and materials, and views of nature will all provide the positive impact employers need to hire and keep their employees. And it can all be done for less than the cost of a cup of coffee per employee daily.

Nature Naturally Leads 2021 Top Design Trends

| January 13, 2021 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
Our project for Deloitte features indoor plants as design elements. Photo: Jim Mumford
Nature lets us know it’s the start of a new year, even without a paper calendar. Our journey toward spring begins as the days slowly grow longer and warmer, although it’s a pretty subtle change at our home base in San Diego. It only makes you look a little harder and become more aware. It also means it’s time for the Eco Warriors at Good Earth Plant Company to predict the 2021 top trends in plant styling and biophilic design trends for the year ahead. But this year isn’t like any other year. We are still reeling from a year like no other we’ve experienced going into our 44th (WOW!)… Read More

Pantone’s Dual 2021 Colors of the Year

| December 16, 2020 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Plantscaping
Do we love the 2021 Pantone Colors of the Year? You bet - an Ultimate Gray pot with an Illuminating yellow bromeliad is stunning! Photo: Jim Mumford
More than ever as a crazy year is coming to an end, we get pretty excited at Good Earth Plant Company during the holidays, but it’s not what you expect. We love the announcement of the Pantone Color of the Year! So do you. Our blog post with our review and critique of the annual announcement is one of the most-read blog posts every year. Now it’s here! For 20 years in early December, the Pantone Company announces its annual choice for “Color of the Year.” We think about color a lot in our biophilic design work. While green dominates our designs, there’s a lot of creative potential in the choice of containers and other physical elements. … Read More

Resimercial Movement: Real and Here to Stay

| October 15, 2020 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Case Studies, Indoor Plants, Living Walls, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
The resimercial workplace of the future is likely to look more like this than the open office or cubicle farm. Photo: Iva Balk/Pixabay
I have always wanted to start a blog post this way. “Don’t you hate it when…” Don’t you hate it when people smash two words together to make another new word? It’s lazy. The words are always awkward. Athleisure. Brangelina. Resimercial. You probably know the first two words, but I bet “resimercial” is new to you. Resimercial is catching hold and it looks like it’s going to stick just like athleisure for a lot of the same reasons. It’s comfortable, and it fits. FYI: for those who don’t know it, “athleisure” is traditional athletic clothing like yoga pants which are now acceptable leisure wear.… Read More

Party With Plants! – National Indoor Plant Week

| September 23, 2020 | Categories: Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
My plant friends and I are ready to live it up for National Indoor Plant Week! Photo: Jim Mumford
It’s officially National Indoor Plant Week. Yes, it’s a real thing! It’s right up there with Naked Outdoor Gardening Day in May. It is celebrated the third week of September every year. This is one holiday COVID-19 can’t ruin for us. Your indoor plants deserve a celebration. They’ve kept you happier and healthier during the pandemic. You don’t have to worry about social distancing with your indoor plants. You can gather and party all you want, no masks required! To Good Earth Plant Company, 2020 has been National Indoor Plant YEAR. People have purchased plants in record numbers. Nurseries and garden centers remained open as essential businesses.… Read More

Basic Watering Guide From Our Plant Stylists

| August 12, 2020 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping, Water and Water Conservation
Good Earth Plant Company's plant stylists get asked about watering more than any other topic. Photo: Torsten Dettlaff/Pexels
In last week’s blog post, we shared tips from the Good Earth Plant Company experience on whether your plants like a drink of something other than water. Readers told us they enjoyed it – and then said “But we could really use more advice about watering our indoor plants.” If there is one thing we have heard over more than 40 years as plant stylists and indoor plant technicians, it’s this. People still aren’t sure how to water their plants. Proper watering goes hand in hand with proper placement for successful indoor plants. With people spending more time inside due to the coronavirus pandemic, and more picking up plants (see below) to keep them company, we’re following up with Part 2 in our advice series.… Read More

Let Parks Plant the Seeds for Social Equity

| July 8, 2020 | Categories: Biophilic Design, Environment, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing
Everyone needs a safe place to play in nature, especially our kids. Photo: Pexels
When I first started writing this blog in 2013, one of the first topics I wrote about was the concept of biophilia, the study of the connection between human beings and nature.  I’m sure people thought the idea was a little “out there.” We have come a long way in thinking about how nature affects our well being in that time. I’m now giving thought to the social equity issues surrounding nature in these times. July is National Park and Recreation Month, an initiative of the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). Park and recreation professionals promote a community’s health and well being through access to nature, green space, recreation, and fitness to create a lasting and positive impact on a community’s health and wellness.… Read More

Be Like Nature, My Friend

| June 1, 2020 | Categories: Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Environment, Indoor Plants, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
We have so much to learn from the resilience of Nature. Photo: Quinton Delman/Pixabay
Is 2020 over yet? The situation in our country and in our communities leaves me nearly speechless. It has been a rough year. First, the coronavirus hit. Second, the U.S. economy took a dive, causing unemployment so high it didn’t even seem real. Then, just as it seemed like we might get through the worse of the pandemic crisis, the senseless murder of an African-American man in Minneapolis set off a chain reaction across the U.S. of anger and hurt, including in my home town — specifically the city of La Mesa, California. Many people staged peaceful protests. Some senseless opportunists used the protests as cover to pillage innocent business owners and communities.… Read More

Post-Pandemic Office Life Can Be Exactly What You Needed

| May 20, 2020 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing, Plantscaping
We might feel like we're living in a bubble, but we have a golden opportunity to improve our indoor environments. Photo: Beate Bachmann/Pixabay
You may know the saying claiming the Chinese characters for the words “crisis” and “opportunity” are the same. Well, not exactly. If you do a little digging and read what modern Chinese speakers say, this isn’t correct. There IS a popular saying in modern Chinese communities 危機就是轉機 which translates as “A crisis is also a turning point.” It’s possible over time these two ideas have merged. People are said to use this phrase to comfort or console someone who is in a very bad situation, whether it’s their fault or not. If ever we needed consoling in a bad situation in modern times it’s now during the coronavirus pandemic.… Read More

20 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day 2020 All Year Long

| April 22, 2020 | Categories: Biophilia, Biophilic Design, Environment, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Fifty years ago, the first Earth Day took place in 1970. It is now an annual event celebrated on April 22, coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network. It reaches more than 192 countries each year including hundreds of communities in the United States. Earth Day fell on Wednesday this week – but with everything going on in the world around us, you might have missed it. Earth Week 2020’s formal activities including San Diego’s free, all-volunteer Earth Fair at Balboa Park had to be postponed. The County of San Diego offers a virtual Earth Day online here. But Mother Earth is enjoying the celebration.… Read More

Plant Styling with Indoor Trees

| February 19, 2020 | Categories: Architecture and Design, Biophilic Design, Indoor Plants, Plantscaping
Have you ever met a plant stylist? Good Earth Plant Company and other businesses like ours have helped bring nature into our clients’ environments with plants and the principles of biophilic design for many years through professional plant care for offices and homes. The term in our industry for decades has been “plantscaping,” but it can be a little hard to explain sometimes. Finally, I think we’ve found the right way to describe what we do: Plant Stylist! It’s getting attention thanks to this article in the New York Times last week. Lots of people get addicted to indoor plants with small, easy to grow desktop choices.… Read More