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Interior plant installations - DFW building managers and DFW architects and designers

Posted by Southern Botanical, Inc. in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX on Mar 14, 2012

Using content from the Green Plants for Green Buildings website, we talk about interior plant installations and what they mean to DFW building managers and DFW architects and designers.

The organization Green Plants for Green Buildings has a page on their website for building professionals where they explain that they "fully understand that as an architect and designer, building owner, building manager or facility manager you have a lot on your mind, and there are serious issues in front of you".

What they are referring to is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Creating and maintaining 'green', if not fully certified, LEED for buildings has become an increasingly high priority among progressive building professionals and architects and designers from all sectors, and interior plant installations have become a multi-functional investment now earning LEED credits towards certification.

Green plants for green buildings continue by outlining "7 Steps to Green", the ability to achieve and sustain a more natural green indoor environment. In order to make a positive and enduring shift into a more natural green indoor environment, Green Plants for Green Buildings suggests that building managers and architects and designers explore this set of simple yet important guidelines.

1. Creating Support
Support from senior management and key staff is a prerequisite for introducing a new policy. Therefore highlight the importance of interior plants in the workplace with the aid of appropriate examples, research results and informative material. Also involve the people responsible for health policy in the plan for formulating an interior plant policy, for example representatives of the human resource department, occupational health and safety representatives.

2. Establishing structures
The next step is to establish an organizational structure for the development and implementation of an interior plants policy. Check who needs to be involved in this, who is already interested and whether there are any initiatives already underway in this area.

3. Identifying needs
For this you need to draw up an inventory of the number of green plants in the company and the plant types involved. Pay special attention to workplaces which are close to sources of harmful substances such as printers and other machines. Also identify the locations of employees who display the symptoms of illnesses associated with poor working environments.

4. Developing a plan
In this phase you decide which activities you will carry out this year. Use the information from Step 3 to identify priorities and then draw up a timetable for carrying out the activities and a program detailing who will do what and when.

5. Implementing the plan
You can do this through the company's existing channels of communication such as employee consultation, Internet, the company newsletter, a staff meeting and the information provided to new employees. Pay additional attention to the start of the activities, and ensure information about the activities and any interim results are provided regularly.

6. Evaluating healthy plants policy
Establish how many healthy plants have been added, whether the healthy plants are being properly cared for, how many people attended the briefings and awareness of the scheme generally, and ask about staff motivation. In the longer term the effects on absence due to illness can also be included, so that you gain an insight into the costs and benefits of the project. Produce a report with recommendations for further activities and suggestions for improvements.

7. Modifying and embedding the policy
A health policy is really never ?finished.' Nor is an interior plant policy. A one-time activity, which involves placing plants everywhere (the plant installation), is not enough. The results of the evaluation should be used to modify and ?finetune' the plan.

Southern Botanical is a turnkey provider of a wide range of residential, commercial and retail horticultural services to DFW building managers and DFW architects and designers. The common thread connecting everything we do is our absolute commitment to exceptional customer service and flawless execution.