Trees To “Green” Your Home

If you are considering a more energy efficient home, think about going outdoors and taking a look at your landscape.
While trees can be a slow addition and change, they can have a tremendous impact on your home’s energy needs. An improvement to the environment, trees can lower your carbon footprint as well.
The kind of trees around your house and their location can make a difference in the environment inside, whether the area that you are living is warm or cool.

Trees are what you need if you think air conditioning is one of life’s necessities. And though many people are hesitant about trees that are too close to the walls of their house, a deciduous tree that gives shade to your roof or casts a shadow over the walls that would otherwise be baking in the sun – particularly in the afternoon – is a good thing.

Easier to break and more likely to be damaged in the winds of a summer storm or the ice of winter, poplars, also known as softwoods, which ranges from tulip to hybrid offer quick growth and shade. Instead, opt for a more reliable variety such as a maple, some of which are fairly quick to grow. Noted slow growers, oaks are very durable once grown however.

If these trees are strategically located on the south, east and especially the west of your home, they will be doing the most good since the temperature may begin climbing in the spring well before the sun is rising in the northern part of the eastern skyline. Trees on the west side will keep the hot afternoon sun off your house and do the most to help keep temperatures down.

Evergreens, such as pines or hemlocks, can be included in the landscape for summer cooling, but should not be placed on the south side of the house. While other trees are still growing their foliage, evergreens can help keep down the heat in the west in the meantime. They would block the warm rays during the winter on the south side however, when solar heating is supposed to be a good thing.

Evergreens can be beneficial year round when planted on the north side of your home. You will not want them too close to your house, however, as they are all softwoods and susceptible to breaking. At the same time, they can form a windbreak that helps keep the iciest northern breezes at bay, or at least lessens their impact during winter. They may offer a little shade, by mid summer, when the sun is at its most northern point, even if they are placed at a considerable distance from the house.

Trees on the east side of your home are less important as the sun isn’t typically as hot in the morning. Still, a little shade can help keep temperatures down, so consider mainly deciduous trees there as well.

About the author: Robert Butcher writes as a hobby and maintains websites for log cabin furniture featuring log beds.

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