Shade & Energy Savings From Trees

Anyone who lives in an area with high seasonal temperatures and spends time outdoors recognizes the tremendous amount of cooling that trees provide in the form of shade. When it is an unberable 90 degrees F in the sun, it can be a tolerable 80-85 degrees F in the shade of a large tree. This benefit also applies to your home because tree shade lessens the need for air conditioning.

Researchers from the USDA Forest Service and the National Institutes of Standards recently quantified the monetary benefit trees provide to homeowners in the form of shade. The dollar amount came to an average of $25.00 per year/per home in Sacramento, California.

Although this may not seem like a significant amount of money, consider that shade trees can benefit a home for 40+ years. So 40 x $25 equals $1,000. When you multiply one thousand dollars by the thousands of shade trees in a community, then you can easily see the society value of maintaining healthy urban and suburban trees. People may only live in homes for an average of 7 years, but trees are around for a much longer time providing benefits to society.

Another recent study from Indianpolis, Indiana showed significant economic value derived from community trees. Here the gains from trees were calculated to be $48/tree/year.  In this study of the trees managed by the forestry secton of the City of Indianapolis, the values were as follows:

The value from rainfall intercepton includes less water runoff and soil erosion which translates into lower streamflows and less maintenance and repair for water control/diversion structures like dams, culverts, bridges, and ditches. In many areas of the country where combined storm and sanitary sewers are used, lower peak water flow also translates into reduced treatment costs at wastewater facilites and/or the reduced liklehood of raw waste water being diverted into rivers.

The energy savings from this study are likely lower than the Sacramento study due to the trees being predonimately in parks and public areas and the cooler climate of Indianapolis.

The increased property values and non-tangibles like wildlife food & habitat and scenic beauty are a big component of this study and play a huge part in the overall value calculations.

Homepage

Copyright 2009, Dwyer Forestry Consulting