How Do You Actually Know If This Biophilic Stuff Is Working? (What I Learned From Measuring Results)

When I first started making biophilic changes to our home, my wife asked the totally reasonable question: “How do we know any of this is actually working?” I’d spent months reading about natural light improving kids’ sleep and plants reducing stress, but honestly, I had no idea how to tell if our efforts were making a real difference beyond “the kids seem happier.”

That question sent me down another research rabbit hole – this time into how professionals actually measure whether biophilic design delivers on its promises. Turns out, there’s a whole science behind proving that these nature-inspired changes aren’t just pretty to look at.

**Why Measuring Actually Matters**

Here’s the thing I learned: without some way to track results, you could stick a few plants in a room, call it “biophilic design,” and never know if you’re just wasting money on decorative greenery. And trust me, as a parent working with a limited budget, I needed to know our investments were worthwhile.

Look at Amazon’s Spheres in Seattle – those incredible glass domes filled with over 40,000 plants. Amazon didn’t build those just to look cool (though they definitely do). They designed them specifically to boost employee creativity and reduce stress levels, and they track whether it’s actually working.

Same with Singapore’s Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. They incorporated biophilic features throughout the building to help patients heal faster and reduce stress for both patients and staff. But they also measure the results to make sure their investment in all those gardens and natural materials is actually improving health outcomes.

The Bullitt Center in Seattle takes this even further. They track everything from energy efficiency to how satisfied people are working in the building. They’re not just assuming their biophilic design elements work – they’re proving it with actual data.

This got me thinking about our own home changes. How could I tell if converting part of our yard to native plants was actually helping my ADHD son focus better? Was the new window seat in my daughter’s room really improving her mood, or was I just imagining it because I’d put so much work into building it?

**What to Actually Track**

After reading about how these big projects measure success, I realized there are basically three categories of things you can look at: how people feel psychologically, how the environment affects them physically, and whether it makes financial sense.

**The Mental Health Side**

The stress relief piece was huge for me personally. I’d noticed I felt calmer after spending time in our renovated backyard, but I wanted to understand if that was real or just wishful thinking. Professional studies actually track stress hormones like cortisol to see if biophilic environments genuinely reduce stress levels.

Obviously, I’m not running cortisol tests on my family (though honestly, I was curious enough that I looked into it). But I started paying attention to more observable things: how often the kids had meltdowns, how quickly they settled down after getting upset, whether they seemed more focused after spending time outside.

There’s also solid research on cognitive function. The University of Salford found that classrooms with biophilic elements like natural lighting and plants showed 25% better learning rates compared to standard classrooms. That’s not a small difference – that’s the kind of improvement that makes you rearrange your whole house.

I started tracking my son’s homework sessions more carefully. How long could he focus? Did he need as many breaks? Was he getting frustrated as quickly? When he did his work at the window seat versus at the old desk in his darker room, I definitely noticed differences.

**Environmental Factors You Can Actually Measure**

The physical environment stuff turned out to be easier to track than I expected. Air quality is a big one – plants genuinely do filter air, and you can measure that. Edmonton International Airport has sensors near their living walls that show measurable decreases in airborne pollutants.

I bought a basic air quality monitor (not expensive) to track how our houseplants were affecting indoor air. The difference was subtle but real, especially in winter when we have less ventilation.

Temperature and humidity matter too. The Bullitt Center tracks thermal comfort throughout the building, adjusting their systems based on what the data shows. I started paying attention to how our plants affected humidity levels, especially in our son’s room where we’d added several larger plants.

**The Money Question**

This was probably the most important factor for my wife’s buy-in. Were these changes actually worth the money we were spending?

Singapore’s Parkroyal Pickering Hotel with all its sky gardens and water features tracks ROI through property value increases and higher occupancy rates. For a family home, the calculation is different but still relevant.

I started tracking things like: Are we using more spaces in the house now that they’re more pleasant? Are the kids getting sick less often? Am I taking fewer sick days because I’m less stressed? Are we spending less on activities outside the home because the kids are happier playing in our improved yard?

The productivity angle matters too. Orms Architects in London found their employees took fewer sick days and were more productive after implementing biophilic design in their WELL-certified office space. While I can’t measure my supply chain work productivity the same way, I definitely noticed I was getting more done when working from home in our better-lit spaces.

**Tools That Don’t Require a PhD**

Professional buildings use sophisticated sensor networks and analytics platforms, but there are simpler approaches for families. I experimented with several:

**Basic Environmental Monitoring**

Air quality monitors are affordable now and give you real data on what your plants are actually doing. I track CO2 levels, particulates, and humidity in different rooms. The kids think it’s cool to see the numbers change when we open windows or water plants.

Thermal comfort is trickier to quantify, but I started using a simple thermometer/humidity gauge in each main room. You’d be surprised how much difference plant transpiration makes to humidity levels, especially during heating season.

**The Human Side**

While I can’t run formal psychological studies on my family, I did start keeping simple logs. How many nights per week did each kid sleep through the night? How often did homework sessions end in frustration? How many outdoor hours were we getting?

I found a few simple survey tools online designed for post-occupancy building evaluation. The Building Use Studies (BUS) questionnaire is used in professional settings, but I adapted some of their questions for family discussions. “How comfortable do you feel in your room?” “Do you like spending time in the kitchen now?” “Which spaces in the house make you feel most relaxed?”

The WELL Building Standard has survey methods that I borrowed ideas from too. Asking the kids to rate their stress levels, job satisfaction (homework satisfaction?), and perceived comfort in different rooms gave me actual data to work with.

**Long-term Tracking**

The biggest insight from studying these professional projects was that you need to track changes over time, not just assume immediate results. The Bullitt Center has been collecting data for years, making adjustments based on what they learn.

I started keeping a simple family log – nothing fancy, just notes about sleep, mood, focus, and general happiness. Over months, patterns became clear. My daughter’s sleep improved significantly after we changed her room lighting and added plants. My son’s focus during homework definitely got better when we moved his workspace near a window with a view of our garden.

**Using Data to Make Better Decisions**

Here’s where it got really interesting. Once I had some actual data, I could make smarter decisions about where to spend time and money on improvements.

Machine learning and big data analytics are way beyond what I need at home, but the basic principle applies: look at what the numbers tell you, then adjust accordingly. Amazon’s Spheres use algorithms to optimize different zones based on employee wellbeing and productivity data.

For our family, it was simpler but similar. The data showed that natural light had the biggest impact on everyone’s mood and focus, so that became my priority for future projects. Thermal comfort mattered more than I’d expected – rooms that were too warm or too cool got used less, even if they had great natural elements.

**Real-time Adjustments**

Professional buildings use dashboards that synthesize data from multiple sources to help facility managers make quick decisions. My version of this was much simpler – just paying attention to the feedback I was getting from our basic monitors and family observations.

When our air quality monitor showed consistently high CO2 levels in the living room during winter, I added more plants and started opening windows more frequently, even when it was cold. When the humidity levels dropped too much during heating season, I moved our larger plants to the most-used rooms.

**Making Changes Based on What Actually Works**

The iterative design concept from professional projects made a huge difference in our home improvements. Instead of doing everything at once and hoping for the best, I started making smaller changes, tracking results, then adjusting based on what I learned.

Khoo Teck Puat Hospital continuously monitors patient feedback and recovery rates, making incremental changes to their biophilic elements based on the data. I did something similar with our kids’ rooms – tried one change, tracked how it affected sleep or behavior, then built on what worked.

**Beyond Our Own House**

Learning about measurement got me more involved in advocating for better environments at my kids’ school. Singapore has integrated biophilic elements into their urban planning policies partly because they have strong data from local buildings showing the benefits.

I started sharing air quality data and sleep improvement stories with other parents. Not in an annoying way – just when it came up naturally in conversations. Several families tried similar changes and reported back with their own results.

The PTA environmental committee I joined now talks about data-driven improvements instead of just general wishes for “more nature” at school. We reference studies showing learning improvements in classrooms with better natural lighting and air quality.

**What I’d Tell Other Parents Starting Out**

The measurement piece doesn’t have to be complicated, but it makes a huge difference in knowing what actually works. Start with simple tracking – sleep patterns, mood observations, basic environmental monitors if you can afford them.

Most importantly, give changes time to show results. The professional projects track benefits over months and years, not days. Some of our biggest improvements took several months to become obvious.

Don’t try to measure everything at once. Pick one or two things that matter most to your family situation and focus on those. For us, it was sleep quality and focus during homework time.

The goal isn’t to turn your home into a research facility. It’s to make sure the time and money you’re investing in biophilic improvements are actually making your family’s life better. And honestly, once you start tracking results, it becomes pretty addictive to see the positive changes add up over time.