

Personal Fresh Air Desk - rizumu
http://julioradesca.com/personal-fresh-air/

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adwf
Love the idea, might try it at home. But speaking as someone who has run both
hydroponic and aeroponic systems successfully (as a hobby) - I'm envisioning a
lot of dead plants in 6-12 months time and a maintenance nightmare.

Various issues:

Cleaning - Algae and diseases can quickly kill every connected plant in a
hydroponic system. You also need to know how to heal a plant in this
situation. Probably the easiest option is just to ditch every plant in the
desk, clean, then start again.

Nutrient level maintenance - you now need an employee whose job it is to
ensure correct nutrient balance, it's trickier than just adding water!

General part maintenance - more tricky with aeroponics than hydroponics, but
various parts of the system quickly get clogged and caulked up (pumps,
nozzles, etc). I was replacing a nozzle every 4 weeks on a relatively small 12
nozzle spraying system.

~~~
stevewillows
Would succulents be easier to maintain?

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adwf
I don't really know about the nutrient balance without looking it up, but it's
always trickier with multiple different types of plant in a single system. If
you have a single plant system, you can just replace the nutrient solution
every other week, like for like. If you have different types of plant growing
together, you need to be a bit more careful with monitoring your NPK levels.

Then there's the basic maintenance that you'd have to do, regardless of plant
type. Like rinsing the nutrient residue from the substrate every couple of
weeks to prevent toxic buildup. Not particularly difficult, just drain the
solution, pour water over the substrate to rinse, then add new solution.

But it's a new office maintenance task that would have to be done, and I can
imagine things getting forgotten/skipped. If you like the idea of taking care
of your own desk, then it's not particularly difficult. I'd be more worried in
a medium office filled with these though; a small office is easy to take care
of a desk or two, and a large office can afford to have a dedicated
maintenance job, but a medium office is likely to be stuck with an awkward
workload.

~~~
stevewillows
It wouldn't take much to design a two part tray that would me the maintenance
much easier.

Thanks for the great response!

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azsromej
If you're looking for some plants for your own home/office that are capable of
removing toxins from the air, here's a good list, originally compiled by NASA:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_air-
filtering_plants](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_air-filtering_plants)

~~~
Edvik
Does anyone know what is special about the pollutants addressed by these
plants? Are there other pollutants that are helpful to filter, and why did
NASA focus on this set?

~~~
azsromej
Not entirely sure, but a lot of these VOCs come from stuff in your house
(carpet, paint, plastics).

When I lived in Augusta, GA the air around the city would occasionally reek
due to a nearby paper mill. The smell would blow over the city after an hour,
but anything that slipped into drafty homes would remain for hours; I'd only
notice after returning from walking the dogs.

I started to wonder what I was breathing and found a list of possibile
offenders: formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, benzene, chloroform,
tetrachloroethylene, and trichloroethylene [1]

I was hoping my plants would help (the link nate_meurer posted casts some
doubt).

[1]
[http://www.sonomatech.com/project.cfm?uprojectid=1103](http://www.sonomatech.com/project.cfm?uprojectid=1103)

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surfmike
We have something similar in the Google Norway office:
[http://www.tu.no/incoming/2012/03/30/1200003568.jpg/alternat...](http://www.tu.no/incoming/2012/03/30/1200003568.jpg/alternates/h1080/1200003568.jpg)
(from [http://www.tu.no/bygg/2012/03/31/se-googles-toffe-oslo-
konto...](http://www.tu.no/bygg/2012/03/31/se-googles-toffe-oslo-kontor))

The desks are made by [http://www.biooffice.no](http://www.biooffice.no)

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ajpatel
Mirrored on imgur:
[http://i.imgur.com/i5YQLIN.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/i5YQLIN.jpg)

The site was giving me database timeout errors so as more people wake up and
hit the link, it'll surely crash.

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latch
For those who miss it, the post links to this good TED talk on "How to grow
fresh air:

[http://www.ted.com/talks/kamal_meattle_on_how_to_grow_your_o...](http://www.ted.com/talks/kamal_meattle_on_how_to_grow_your_own_fresh_air.html)

I think it's a great idea. "reducing noise" is taking it a little far though.
They need to target this at Western companies with locations in popular and
polluted areas (Shanghai, Beijing, Gurgaon, ...)

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jamiecurle
I've done a little bit of hydroponic growing (chillies) so I'd love to know
how the perlite is going to remain algae free and how this desk would be
cleaned if / when aglae starts to take hold.

I think this is a great idea though. I, for one, would use it.

~~~
TheCowboy
You need to use covers, and thick enough containers, to deprive the algae of
light to inhibit growth. The perlite, which is a non-renewable resource, does
not matter.

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user24
Um, guys, the emperor's new clothes are lovely and all, but I am left
wondering whether the advantages of this system outweigh, you know, pot
plants?

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ChuckMcM
Well for one thing pot plants have a pretty strong odor, and for another thing
if you have too many the cops will totally arrest you. :-)

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girvo
It'd make lunch pretty fun, though

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shubb
This is pretty cool.

I think in a more normal office than used in the pictures (i.e. less light
lower ceilings), it would feel like you were in a jungle. Maybe if you add
humidity and increase the temperature, it will appeal to our jungle dwelling
roots...

Although this is kind of impractical, I wonder if it would work well against
the main evil of the modern open office - excess noise. The random angles of
the leaves might reduce it a bit...

~~~
mikro2nd
Not impractical at all. Back in the day when I still worked in a cubicle
dungeon I brought a bunch of pot plants in to work to live on my desk. Whether
they were able to contribute much to cleaning the air (and the air system in
that building was utterly atrocious!) I couldn't honestly say. But they
certainly helped me by introducing a more garden-like and less dungeon-like
feel to my work area. It didn't take long before the company that serviced the
office plants also took to watering and cleaning my pot plants, thus relieving
me of much of the maintenance (not that it was a burden - I love working with
plants.)

~~~
jabits
I was going to make a wiseacre remark about how my work frowned on bringing
pot plants to work, but I know what you mean :). I work out of my home office
now and love being surrounded by plants.

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davidw
I was half expecting the story of how his desk got flipped, turned upside
down, but this is actually pretty cool.

I think I'd want to see one in action for a bit before I got my laptop near
sources of dirt and water, though.

~~~
evv
There is no dirt. Hydroponic means just water and a medium without nutrients
(small white perlite rocks in this case).

I already use my laptop in the presence of water, coffee, and food. I doubt
there is much risk in this.

Looking around my office right now and I'm pretty bummed to say we have no
plants in here.. Its probably time to fix that.

~~~
davidw
> There is no dirt.

Where there's organic stuff, there's dirt - maybe not right away, but over
time.

> I already use my laptop in the presence of water, coffee, and food.

I don't - I'm too paranoid!

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9999
I'd like to see this done with some kind of climbing ivy or moss and trellises
since the air scrubbing ability does not interest me much at all, and the loss
of working space/increased footprint seems non-negligible.

EDIT: After searching around for a while, I discovered a few promising leads
to make this happen. The first option is more of a wall mounted solution, but
could be repurposed for separating a workspace:
[http://www.dirtt.net/public/products/breathe_2013.php](http://www.dirtt.net/public/products/breathe_2013.php)
It is also apparently very easy to train Ivy to climb up wires, assuming you
have a lot of natural light, it seems like it would be possible to replicate
something like this indoors: [http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/look-modern-
ivy-8702](http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/look-modern-ivy-8702)

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gomox
I think it makes for a bad desk. Looks bad design-wise, plants block all the
light on the working area and it feels cramped.

I love the idea though, might be better suited for living spaces in the form
of coffee tables or "plant shelves" than for working spaces where the main
desirable conditions are space, light and cleanness.

~~~
andrewflnr
"cramped" solidifies the objection I couldn't quite put my finger on. I think
it would work if the whole thing were significantly bigger, so you have room
to spread out and the plants don't feel like they're going to poke you in the
eye.

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mattpavelle
Umm... what plants convert CO2 -> O2 at night as claimed here? Photosynthesis
= 6CO2 + 6H2O + Energy -> C6H12O6 + 6O2 ... so unless you leave the lights
(Energy) on at night, it's not happening...

~~~
bdcs
Bromeliads and many succulents absorb CO2 and release O2 at night using CAM
photosynthesis. They're tricky plants, opening their pores only at night to
prevent water loss. The actual conversion is done during the day (in the
light) using a sort of batch-mode conversion.

I suggest caution when surmising what millions of years of evolution can't do
: )

~~~
mattpavelle
Damn - great to learn, thanks! Though my point still stands, even with the CAM
cycle, CO2 is converted to O2 during the day, they CAM plants just absorb CO2
at night... also it seems the CAM cycle produces _much_ less O2 (obviously
absorbing much less CO2 in the process) than other photosynthesis cycles...

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AndrewDucker
I'd like to see a photo of it when you've got a computer and a decent sized
keyboard, monitor, etc.

Because it looks like you've lost about 2/3 of your desk space there.

~~~
cylinder
Just make the desk bigger and replace cubicle walls with these plants.

Regarding the high-oxygen plants, I wanted to get these after watching the TED
talk about them. However I found they were rather obscure and couldn't find
them at nurseries.

~~~
recusancy
Pretty much every Home Depot and Lowes has tons of them, at least here in
Michigan.

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easy_rider
[http://i.imgur.com/qey9ikr.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/qey9ikr.jpg) My previous
company office. Don't know what kind of plants they were though. But the
owners were health freaks, and I must admit it soothed the environment.

(Sidenote: studio lights were a big migraine/tension headache trigger for me
though :( )

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stinos
Anybody knows if adding O2 into the air, and removing CO2, at the amounts done
by plants, is really beneficial for humans? I can see removing formaldehyde is
good, but shouldn't there be major amounts of CO2 and serious O2 deficits
(like at >2000m sea level) before there is any effect? And can plants cause
this effect?

~~~
mhurron
A lot of plants in an area, room for example, can give the area a fresh or
clean feeling. That small change can be enough to see a benefit to you as it's
just a more pleasant place to be.

That alone can be a beneficial effect.

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vinceguidry
I personally solve this problem by purchasing cans of fresh air and keeping
them in a drawer. A guy I knew once tried to corner the market with a giant
vacuum, but failed when the expensive equipment suffered a terrorist attack,
putting hundreds of operators out of work and torching my life savings.

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emhart
My day job is at a gardening company and we're in the process of remodeling
our offices. So, do these desks actually exist for sale yet? No way we'd be
able to outfit the entire office, but it could make for a cool couple of
showpieces for when we have investors and suppliers dropping by.

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ChikkaChiChi
I have a rather large spot on my desk I could use to put some plants on. Can
anyone recommend a starting kit of sorts for a man who has no gardening skills
whatsoever? Can someone help take the guesswork out of this for tools like me?
:)

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T-zex
I was expecting to see a "portable outdoor desk" you can place in the middle
of a park. It would have a wind/water proof hood/umbrella, and a portable
accumulator...

Anyway I like this product a lot, great idea.

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navs
We recently started working with a client in the fashion industry. One look at
our studio and she had nothing positive to say. Apparently it's very drab, and
it is. We're a bootstrapped startup and I sometimes think you can track the
success of a startup by how many toys they have in their workspace. We have
none. I'd much prefer plants over toys though. I just worry about the bugs.

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spande
Just wondering what happens when a person is working after sunset - the plants
would generate carbon dioxide then :)

That would not be healthy.

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softworks
Does it come in a standing desk version ?

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patrickg_zill
I think it is pretty cool, however I think just having the plants start at
desk-height is not as good as having them start near the floor - seems too
artificial.

Maybe a desk that has a drawer or CPU stand or cable organizer, with the
plants growing from the base of the desk.

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kybernetyk
Heh, not really compatible with my modus operandi: I mainly hack at night with
lights turned off. And then the plants would compete over oxygen with me :)

~~~
abhinavk
There are also 6 plants on the desk who convert CO2 to O2 in night. Read
please.

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moondowner
Neat idea! If I had a desk like this I'd prefer the metal frame to be more
minimal and less hospital-like (maybe change the color from blue to grey).

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trumbitta2
Some major annoyances (to me):

\- allergy

\- bugs

\- evenings full of CO2 ---> fainting or dying

~~~
qq66
The plants are not going to make a material difference in the oxygen content
of the room. They are not going to make you high during the day and they are
not going to make you faint at night.

~~~
trumbitta2
I used to relax on a couch near a ficus benjamin, only to faint every single
time until I managed to remember what they taught me at school at age 6.

I don't know... YMMV?

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sazeod
Where is it sold?

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fxtentacle
where to buy those desks?

