Giving Compass' Take:

• Smart Cities Dive reports on how green-friendly elements in the corporate environment — from office plants to composting programs — can improve performances among employees and create a larger cultural shift.

• It also doesn't hurt to be good to the planet! How can nonprofits practice what they preach and make their own offices align with forward-thinking values?

• Here's how schools in Puerto Rico are going green for resilience.

If you look up from your desk, can you glance out of your window or look past your cubicle wall to see a restful area of greenery? Maybe it’s a small park outside or indoor greenery made up of trees or simply a plant on a desk.

Companies are increasingly incorporating green spaces as their environmental focus evolves from simple recycling efforts to a more holistic sustainability approach, and as they do, they find those changes benefit both employees and companies.

Concern for the environment is not new, but in the last ten to fifteen years, interest has grown, according to Leigh Stringer, workplace strategist for EYP, an architecture and engineering firm. Several factors have driven increased interest, she said in an interview with HR Dive, including the entrance of millennials, who are vocal about the environment, as well as the publicity given to environmental activists like Al Gore.

Workplace green spaces can help employee performance; academic research suggests that green spaces can relieve mental fatigue, which can improve employee work performance, satisfaction, learning, inquisitiveness and alertness.

When you add other "green" building elements, such as improved lighting, ventilation, filtration and building materials, employees' overall cognitive function can improve significantly. In one study performed by the Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment, subjects were tested on crisis response, information usage and strategy while in a conventional environment and in a green environment. The results showed scores were 97% higher for crisis response, 172% higher for information usage and 183% higher for strategy in a green environment than in a conventional environment.

Read the full article about how office green spaces can improve employee engagement by Pamela DeLoatch at smartcitiesdive.com.