Interest in having a healthy and well-being environment has increased the awareness to improve indoor air quality (IAQ). Building materials influence the contribution of indoor air pollution, so understanding their behaviour on IAQ is essential. Among building materials, carpets cover surfaces of indoor environments and significantly impact IAQ due to their large surface area and multi-layers of materials components. This review aimed to consolidate what is known about how carpet impacts indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) concentrations and particulate matter (PM) distributions. The results showed that carpets are not only a source of primary emission but also can ad/absorb VOCs and emit VOCs through secondary emission, sink effects, and transformation reactions. The material composition of each carpet layer, environmental parameters (e.g., humidity, temperature, air velocity), and chamber size influence a carpets’ behaviour. Previous studies on the resuspension of PM from carpets mainly focused on the effects of human activities and humidity. Further studies are needed to enhance knowledge related to carpet behaviours in the indoor environment and on how the common materials of carpets should be designed and sustained to reduce exposure to harmful pollutants indoors while maintaining its benefits.

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In recent years, interest in biophilic design and indoor greenery has increased. However, the growth of indoor plants may become stunted under unfavorable light conditions. Therefore, we must evaluate the light environments required for indoor plants to thrive. We propose a new method to assess indoor light environments for indoor plants by using spectral irradiance simulation. We verify the accuracy of the spectral irradiance simulation via actual measurements in a university classroom. Additionally, we confirm the calculation accuracy of the photosynthetic photon flux density, which is strongly correlated with photosynthesis in plants. We evaluate indoor light environments for indoor plants in 3D models by applying a few concepts from plant physiology.

This study examined the occupants' psychological response to rooms with windows and potted plants and their relation to occupants' eye movement.Twenty-four students performed tasks under six experimental conditions that combined two window conditions and three plant conditions. The coexistence of windows and plants on desks most improved room impressions and was associated with the highest ratings in ease of relaxing and ease of creative activity. In addition, the gaze analysis showed the impression of the space with windows and plants related to the characteristics of eye movements in terms of visual exploration, number of fixations, and average fixation durations.

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Indoor air quality (IAQ) plays an important role in human health and well-being as people spend most of their time indoors. Among building materials, carpets covering high surface areas and having dense fibres have the potential to impact perceived IAQ. To explore the impact of carpets on perceived IAQ, it was studied whether low-emitting wool carpets can ‘clean’ the air. To assess the sorption effect of emissions of hardboard (as a permanent source) on carpet, untrained subjects were asked to assess a combination of low-odour emitting carpet and hardboard in one sample container and only hardboard in another sample container of test chamber. The results showed a slight (although not statistically relevant) difference in favour of the combination, indicating a slight adsorption effect.

Plants improve indoor environmental quality as a visual factor and enhance occupants' overall well‐being. However, research on the mechanisms by which plants improve human cognitive function is limited. This study examined the characteristics of eye movement while viewing indoor plants and their relationship with the cognitive benefits of plants. Thirty students performed cognitive tasks in four desktop conditions: no objects, real plants, artificial plants, and books. Eye movements while viewing plants during rest times in the reading span task (RST), which requires working memory, were characterized by a lower number of fixations, frequent dispersion of fixation points, and a higher number of blinks. Females showed higher RST scores under the real plant condition than under the no‐object condition. These results are consistent with the assumption that plants require lower cognitive effort and better restoration of attention capacity. In addition, in the real plant condition, females showed higher RST scores than males, and only females showed higher creativity scores than those in other conditions. Therefore, gender differences in the cognitive benefits of plants have been suggested. This study provides new insights into the effects of indoor plants on occupants' cognitive functions by quantifying visual perception processes using eye‐tracking technology.