Green office technology has advanced substantially in recent decades. Beyond the now-standard recycling and reduction programs, sustainable office designs focus on non-toxic, eco-friendly, recyclable, renewable, and even repurposed materials. In situations when Designers and Architects once used wood, the emphasis is now on sourcing from sustainable forests, while office lighting is trending strongly toward the benefits of daylighting design techniques.
Quiet Earth Moss brings the next generation of the eco office alive through the most impactful design shift of all: enhancing connectivity to the natural world through the principles of what is known as Biophilic design.
What is Biophilic design?
Biophilic architecture is an ancient form that has its aesthetic roots as far back as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. It optimizes natural materials and light, green walls, and plants to create beautiful, sustainable, and naturally healthy office environments.
The American biologist, naturalist, and writer E.O. Wilson re-energized the concept with his 1984 book Biophilia. He explains humans’ psychological and emotional need to connect with the natural world and remind ourselves that we are all part of nature. To Wilson and many others, the modern world of business, with its rigid walls, artificial lighting, and the notable absence of reminders of nature outside the office, was a primary culprit in the feeling of disconnection, isolation, and general malaise that had come to define work for so many people.
Biophilic design rebalances that scale through strategies that focus on reconnecting people with a natural environment and the Biophilic experience. Moss can connect us with our sense of being human and alive. The moss of Babylon, and those early profoundly human experiences, are continued today in the moss wall panels and custom installations that drives the purpose of Biophilic design.
The benefits of designing with moss are numerous. Here is a brief guide to how a preserved moss wall can keep your office workforce connected, healthy, relaxed, and calm.
Preserved Moss Walls Are Totally Natural
Made with 100 percent natural moss and preserved with eco-friendly natural oils and dyes, a Quiet Earth preserved moss wall utilizes ezoBord, a leading acoustic backing material. This flexible product can be customized to create one-of-a-kind vertical decorative installations or a magical upgrade to a typical suspended T-bar ceiling.
With pandemic concerns still a workplace reality, Quiet Earth Moss installations can be easily treated with a long-lasting anti-microbial spray that protects against the spread of viruses and germs. And testing has shown that Quiet Earth Moss panels are fire safe, with an average Flame Spread Rating of 95 and an average Smoke Developed Classification of 445.
Beautiful, natural, and safe. The innovation of an office-friendly Biophilic experience has finally arrived.
Preserved Moss Requires No Maintenance
Imagine natural office décor that requires no watering, no natural light, resistant to drying out, or losing its beautiful natural texture.
Unlike a Living wall, which needs sunlight and costly maintenance, Interior designers and architects can specify moss wall panels or decorative framed moss art for areas with no daylight in offices, building lobbies, hallways, or restaurants. They are virtually maintenance-free, requiring only occasional dusting with a blow dryer set on a low temperature or the compressed air used for cleaning computer keyboards.
Natural Acoustic Dampening
Far less expensive than traditional sound dampening wall panels or acoustic dampening wall installations, a Quiet Earth moss wall is, as our name promises, naturally and soothingly quiet. Capturing 90 percent of medium and high-voice frequencies, a Quiet Earth moss acoustic wall panel has a sound absorption value of 0.96! This high rating demonstrates its scientifically proven efficacy for conference rooms, training rooms, or anywhere the quality of communication and sound reduction is crucial. By providing natural acoustic dampening, a Quiet Earth moss wall lowers the echo in a room and buffers the level of outside noise at the same time.
Design Flexibility
Whether you are looking for a custom moss wall, modular moss wall, or even moss wall panels as feature highlights to provide a calming office accent, Quiet Earth Moss has the perfect solution for every design need. Are you considering a bold statement piece for your office entrance? We can reproduce your company logo within a moss wall as an acrylic insert or any combination of 19 rich moss colors, all of which are naturally dyed and eco-friendly.
And our moss selection itself is remarkably diverse in shape, texture, color, and contour. From the tight clusters of Reindeer Moss or small mounds of Pole Moss to the lushness of Fern Moss, you can build the perfect look and feel that your brand demands. Looking to create an illusion of treetops as you fly over a forest? Mood Moss is a soft, luxurious option that gives immediate texture to any space. Considering a ceiling covering or a natural base for mixed media or multi-material highlight? Sheet Moss offers an attractive, cost-effective solution with the perfect blend of contour and texture.
Add any of these selections alone or in combination with an eye-catching geometrically shaped custom frame, and you can complete your natural office decorating by either mounting your moss art directly on the wall or hanging it from the ceiling.
Focus, too, on using smaller elements to create an overall setting, rather than creating large, uniform areas. Having your modular moss wall interacting with existing design features like windows and furniture can create a sense of natural habitat that ties the inside to the outside in almost magical ways.
Moss Walls Are Great for People and Good for Business
As Forbes magazine recently celebrated, “employee engagement and wellness are finally taking center stage in the business world.” In other words, businesses are finally reacting to what they have suspected for years: “unhealthy and unengaged employees are a drag on productivity, innovation, and the bottom line. Gallup underscores this fact, reporting that creating a healthy workplace can reduce absenteeism by as much as 41 percent and increase productivity by 17 percent.
The conclusion is crystal clear: “Engaged employees are more present and productive; they are more attuned to the needs of customers; and they are more observant of processes, standards, and systems. When taken together, the behaviors of highly engaged business units result in 21% greater profitability.”
Yet 58 percent of North American office workers still report having no greenery within their workplace.
Not surprisingly, this growing body of research shows that the workplaces we inhabit have significant physiological and emotional impacts on our ability to concentrate and remain productive throughout the day. Biophilic designs support everyone’s health and wellbeing in your office, which sends a direct and impactful message to your customers and your staff that their wellness matters. And as we now know, your team’s wellness is significantly aligned with a business’s sustainable health. Specifically, improving a sense of connection with the natural world through a moss accent wall or customized moss installations enhances an individual’s wellbeing and productivity by:
- Reducing stress through the presence of natural emphasis on calming office décor
- Increases perception of wellbeing by as much as 15 percent
- Boosting melatonin levels by brightening the workplace with natural colors and accents
- Increased productivity and creativity
- Supports staff attraction and increases retention, which combine to reduce the cost of hiring and training new or temporary staff.
While a custom moss wall is a real statement piece, using preserved moss throughout the workplace as natural office décor and an acoustic dampener that is seen and experienced by the majority of your staff has an equally profound impact on your business.
The Future of Office Design is Here
Whether working in a traditional business office, hotel, restaurant, school, healthcare, or retail space, the future of design is here, and the future includes preserved moss. Calming and restorative, preserved moss is a safe, sustainable, and all-natural option when designing or renovating your next-generation workplace. When used in conjunction with Biophilic principles, it improves wellbeing by reconnecting us with the natural world beyond the office walls. It provides acoustic comfort, enhances concentration, reduces stress, and provides a unique aesthetic experience that sets your company apart from your competitors.
As your business adapts to the new reality of the pandemic world, people will more than ever be looking for a sense of connection, safety, and calm. A custom moss wall is not the only solution, but it is a piece of a larger, powerful puzzle that can help employees to return to work with some sense of comfort and peace of mind.
To learn more about the benefits of preserved moss walls, moss wall art, or custom designs and installations, contact Quiet Earth Moss today. Let us help you improve the spaces you work in by keeping your staff healthy, balanced, and working at their best every day.