Botanica: a “living machine” for cleaning indoor air

Indoor air in offices or homes can often be far more polluted than outdoor air. These pollutants can result from a variety of common sources: from mold, off-gassing building materials, combustion sources like kerosene, gas and tobacco; or from cleaning products. Since people on average spend up to 90% of their time indoors, the risk resulting from all of these pollutants is high.

Logan/Johnson Architecture‘s Botanica Bioregenerative Air Purifier is a living air purifier and filtration system that drastically decreases pollutants and VOCs in indoor air through biological means. The system can be installed along an existing wall or in the middle of a space like a screen. It uses a standard 24” module (based on a typical acoustical ceiling grid) into which one of three elements can be inserted in series: a plant component, a fan and sensor component, or a flat panel component. The planted component uses a growth medium of 50% perlite/50% pumice stabilized with a layer of sphagnum moss to grow Philodendrons and other high oxygenating plants. Air is drawn through the root structure of these plants using a fan, and is then pushed back into the room, fully cleansed and purified. Botanica is a “living machine” for cleaning indoor air.

The system—fabricated in lightweight plastic—is flexible enough that an office or household could use just a single cell of plants. Or these components could be arrayed almost without limit, organized in almost any configuration, giving interior designers and architects substantial control over the design.

All images courtesy Logan/Johnson Architecture

Principal Designers (University of Houston)
Matthew Johnson, Assistant Professor
Jason Logan, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Dr. Driss Benhaddou, Associate Professor
Cord Bowen, Adjunct Assistant Professor

Research and Design Assistants
Josh Robbins
Robert Ehemiua

Industry Partners
Living Systems/Federico Marques
UH Green Building Components