Credit: Priya Jaishanker
Homes and buildings with shade from trees have been shown to use less energy throughout the day compared homes without trees, and, as a result, leads to homeowners with trees paying lower energy bills. Having just 17% shade throughout the day can decrease a home’s energy bill by $10 per month, and having 50% shade can reduce the bill by another $20 per month. These kinds of results are easily attainable, as even young trees can provide significant energy savings. Only five years after planting, one tree can reduce a home’s energy consumption by 3%, and after fifteen years, another 12%. It is important for homeowners to understand the proper watering, mulching, and weed removal methods to best establish their trees so that the energy saving benefits of trees can be obtained more quickly.
Watch the video Establishing Trees for Energy Conservation to learn more. This video is part of a series, Trees for Energy Conservation, developed by the Southern Regional Extension Forestry and Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension with funding provided by a National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council grant.
Written by: Connor McDonald, Southern Regional Extension Forestry