Energy conserving landscapes reduce energy costs

Energy conserving landscapes reduce energy costs

Structure shading to conserve energy

DEFINITION:

"Energy conserving landscapes" reduce energy costs in a home during summer and winter. Ideally, the energy conserving landscape is also a water conserving landscape.

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CONSIDERATIONS:

It is possible to achieve as much as a 30% reduction in cooling and heating costs through careful landscape planning. Landscaping can reduce direct sun from striking and heating up building surfaces. It can prevent reflected light carrying heat into a house from the ground or other surfaces. By reducing wind velocity, an energy conserving landscape slows air leakage in a house. Additionally, the shade created by trees and the effect of grass and shrubs will reduce air temperatures adjoining the house and provide evaporative cooling.

The use of dense tree and shrub plantings on the west and northwest sides of a home will block the summer setting sun. This is the most effective landscape planting strategy. Additional considerations include the use of deciduous trees on the south side of the house that will admit summer sun; evergreen plantings on the north side will slow cold winter winds; constructing a natural planted channel to funnel summer cooling breezes into the house.
Carefully evaluate existing plants at a building site to identify those that can play a role in an energy conserving landscape. The established plants will require less effort to maintain and will generally be of a larger size and better established than new plantings.