Commercial Interiors • Business ROI • Plant-Forward Workplaces
ROI of Indoor Plants for Businesses: The Numbers Behind Happier Teams, Stronger Pricing, and Future-Proof Spaces
The ROI of indoor plants for businesses is bigger than aesthetics. When plants are designed for real light levels and maintained consistently, they can strengthen employee experience, influence perceived value, and support long-term workplace strategy.
Quick Summary
- Employee savings usually show up through turnover and absenteeism—two costs most teams already track.
- Indoor environmental quality (like ventilation and VOC exposure) is linked to measurable differences in cognitive performance in controlled research.
- Nature-forward spaces can lift perceived quality, which can support pricing power or conversion depending on your business.
- Plant-forward design aligns with healthy-building expectations and long-term workplace competitiveness.
- We’ll use a simple ROI equation and walk through a few realistic examples.
The ROI framework
When we talk about the ROI of indoor plants for businesses, the goal is simple: connect the investment to costs and outcomes you already care about. Most of the time, plants show up in ROI through a combination of employee experience, client perception, and the long-term value of keeping your workspace competitive.
In practice: You’re rarely trying to prove that plants create ROI all by themselves. You’re showing that they support a better workplace—and better workplaces tend to cost less to operate and perform better over time.
This is the equation we’ll use for this article
ROI (%) = ((Annual Benefits − Annual Costs) ÷ Annual Costs) × 100
If you keep your assumptions conservative, this holds up well in internal conversations—especially when you plug in numbers from your HR and finance teams.
Employee satisfaction and savings
This is usually where the ROI conversation gets easiest. When people actually like their space—and the environment supports comfort and focus—there are downstream savings. Turnover and absenteeism are the two most straightforward levers, because they’re expensive and measurable.
Where the research helps
- A controlled study found higher cognitive function scores under “Green+” office conditions (better ventilation and lower VOC exposure) compared with conventional conditions. PubMed: Allen et al.
- The U.S. EPA notes VOC concentrations can be higher indoors than outdoors and VOCs can have short- and long-term health effects. EPA: VOCs and IAQ
- A 2022 systematic review with meta-analyses found measurable physiological effects in some contexts (including diastolic blood pressure), while also noting variability across studies. PubMed: Han et al. (2022)
- A field study across multiple organizations reported higher workspace attractiveness and satisfaction after plants were added, along with fewer environmental complaints in planted spaces. PMC: de Vries et al. (2023)
Turnover savings (example)
Let’s keep this simple and conservative. If you have 120 employees, and you believe a better workplace experience helps reduce turnover by 3%, you can estimate the savings like this:
Annual Turnover Savings = (Employees × Turnover Reduction) × Cost per Replacement
Example = (120 × 0.03) × $12,000 = 3.6 × $12,000 = $43,200/year
Now compare that to the annual cost of your plant program. If design + maintenance is $18,000/year:
ROI (%) = (($43,200 − $18,000) ÷ $18,000) × 100 = 140%
Absenteeism savings (example)
Same idea here. If you estimate that the improved environment reduces absenteeism by half a day per employee per year, you can model the savings quickly:
Absence Savings = (Employees × Days Reduced) × Loaded Cost per Day
Example = (120 × 0.5 days) × $320/day = 60 × $320 = $19,200/year
Perceived value and pricing power
The next piece of the ROI story is perception. In client-facing environments, people form an opinion fast. A space that feels well-maintained and intentional can reinforce trust and premium positioning—especially when plants are integrated as part of the design.
What the research tells us
Research on retail streetscapes has linked greenery to improved customer perceptions and willingness-to-pay outcomes in survey-based studies. USDA Forest Service: Wolf (2005)
That doesn’t mean plants automatically raise prices. It means the environment can support perceived quality—and perceived quality is one ingredient that helps premium pricing stick.
Pricing power (example)
Here’s how you can pressure-test the idea quickly. Even a small uplift can matter if your margins are healthy:
Added Gross Profit = (Annual Revenue × Price Uplift %) × Gross Margin %
Example = ($2,500,000 × 0.01) × 0.45 = $25,000 × 0.45 = $11,250/year
Future-proofing your space
Future-proofing is where plants quietly earn value over time. Workplaces are being judged more on health, experience, and sustainability than they were even a few years ago. A plant-forward environment supports that direction—and helps keep your space feeling current instead of dated.
Big picture: Buildings are a major part of global energy use and emissions, which is one reason building performance is under increasing focus. IEA: Buildings and the energy system
Healthy-building alignment
Many organizations use healthy-building frameworks to guide investments and policies. The International WELL Building Institute describes WELL as an evidence-based roadmap focused on health and well-being in buildings. IWBI: WELL overview
ROI drivers table
| ROI driver | What you measure | Simple equation | Best use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover reduction | Resignations / replacement cost | (Employees × ΔTurnover) × Cost/Replacement | Most defensible when hiring/training is expensive. |
| Absenteeism reduction | Missed days / loaded daily cost | (Employees × ΔDays) × Cost/Day | Useful when you track attendance reliably. |
| Pricing power | Revenue and margin | (Revenue × %Uplift) × Margin | Client-facing, premium-leaning environments. |
| Future-proofing | Recruitment / retention / leasing appeal | Risk reduction + retention impacts | Competitive markets and brand-forward workplaces. |
Checklist for ROI that holds up
- Confirm the lighting and choose plants that match it.
- Build the maintenance plan into the program from day one.
- Place plants where people spend time, not just where there’s empty floor space.
- Use durable, cleanable containers that look good long-term.
- Track one metric (turnover, absenteeism, or a simple employee pulse survey).
- Keep the ROI story honest: plants support the environment, they don’t replace operations.
Want to run the numbers for your building?
We design and maintain indoor plant installations for commercial spaces with a focus on long-term success. If you want a proposal that ties design choices to the outcomes you actually care about, we can help.
FAQ
What’s the most defensible ROI metric to start with?
Turnover is usually the cleanest place to start, especially if your replacement costs are meaningful. Absenteeism is a close second if you track it consistently.
Do indoor plants replace ventilation or air filtration?
No. Plants can support the workplace experience, but they don’t replace ventilation, filtration, and choosing low-emitting materials. The EPA’s VOC overview is a helpful baseline reference. EPA VOC overview.
How should we think about perceived value and pricing?
Think of it as support for premium positioning, not a magic lever. Research on green retail streetscapes has linked greenery to improved customer perceptions and willingness-to-pay in survey studies, which helps justify environment as a quality cue. Wolf (2005).
What makes a plant program fail financially?
Poor plant selection for the light, inconsistent maintenance, and placing plants where they don’t help employees or clients. When the program looks tired, it stops supporting experience—and that’s where ROI starts to fall apart.
What’s a realistic timeline to see ROI?
Client perception changes immediately. Employee-related ROI is typically clearer over 6–12 months, since it depends on trends in turnover, attendance, and engagement.
