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Home Landscaping for
Energy Conservation
If you’re serious about cutting your home energy costs, you
might want to take a second look at your home landscaping.
You may not be aware of it, but energy-efficient home
landscaping can reduce your household’s energy consumption
for heating and cooling by as much as 25 percent. Proper
placement of trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, and hedges lets
you modify the microclimate around your home to maximize
shade during the summer and reduce wind chill during the
winter.
Energy-efficient home landscaping is one of the best investments you can
make, because aside from its potential to increase the
resale value of your property, it can generate enough
savings to return your initial investment in less than eight
years. Therefore, it is not surprising that more homeowners
than ever are implementing energy-conserving home
landscaping ideas on their property.
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Developing a Home Landscaping
Plan for Energy Efficiency
There are countless home landscaping strategies for energy
conservation, but not all of them may be appropriate for your
property and climate zone. Before you plant those evergreens in
your backyard, make an assessment of the comfort and energy
shortcomings of your current home landscaping.
Factors such as
the property’s microclimate, house orientation, and the presence
of surrounding structures will influence your energy-efficient
home landscaping plan. Microclimate is the climate immediately
surrounding your home, and along with the regional climate, it
helps determine which plants and trees will thrive and provide
the best energy-saving benefit to your home landscaping.
Your
home’s orientation affects your dwelling’s exposure to the sun,
wind, and water, consequently shaping your home landscaping
needs. Nearby buildings, walls, trees, and bodies of water can
produce significant climatic effects that would impact your home
landscaping strategies.
A thorough analysis of your property’s
features enables you to devise an energy-efficient home
landscaping scheme that addresses your needs and goals.
Home Landscaping to Maximize Shade
Properly planned home landscaping can reduce your
air-conditioning costs in the summer by providing shade from the
hot morning and afternoon sun. Deciduous trees (trees that shed
their leaves in winter) give adequate shade in the summer when
its leaves are in full bloom and warm the home in winter by
letting low-angle winter sun filter through its bare branches.
Home landscaping that maximizes shade can reduce temperature
inside the home by as much as 8 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
Interestingly, shading your air-conditioner through home
landscaping also increases the unit’s efficiency. In addition,
shading the ground and pavement with trees, shrubs, and
groundcover plants reduces surrounding air temperatures. Other
heat-reducing home landscaping ideas include building a trellis
for climbing vines to shade a patio and planting a row of shrubs
to shade a driveway.
Home Landscaping for Wind Protection
Home landscaping to divert the flow of cold winds helps cut down
your home heating costs in the winter. Trees, shrubs, bushes,
walls, and fences make effective windbreaks for winter-protected
home landscaping. You can achieve adequate wind protection
through home landscaping by planting evergreen trees and shrubs
along the north and northwest areas of your property.
Windbreaks
can decrease wind speed for a distance as much as 30 times its
height, although maximum wind protection occurs at a distance of
two to five times the mature height of windbreaks. For optimal
wind protection, make sure that the foliage density on the
windward side of your property is 60 percent.
A well-designed
home landscaping provides energy savings year-round. Enjoy the
warmth of the winter sun by not planting evergreens too close to
the south side of your home. Shrubs, bushes and vines planted
close to your house create dead air spaces that insulate your
home in both winter and summer.
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