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12. The Benefits of Energy Efficient Landscaping
from:It surprises many homeowners to learn that they can cut their home energy costs by how they landscape. It surprises homeowners even more to learn that energy efficient landscaping can save energy consumption by as much as 20% to 25% when an energy efficient landscape has fully matured.
The proper placement of living things such as trees, hedges, shrubs, vines, and more impacts the microclimate around the home. With proper placement, homeowners can maximize shade during the summer and reduce their air conditioning usage. In the winter, this same landscaping can cut down on the home’s exposure to intense wind chills—which can impact the energy needed to heat the home. Energy efficient landscaping is a great investment. Not only can it reduce the cost of energy bills, it also ups a home’s resale value. The cost of this type of landscaping generally pays for itself in eight to ten years.
One of the goals of energy efficient landscaping is to maximize shade. By properly planting trees that shed their leaves around the home, a home’s inside temperature can reduce by as much as five to ten degrees. In the winter when these trees loose their leaves, the sun filters through the stark branches heating up the home. Planting shade-producing trees around pavement areas such as sidewalks, patios, and driveways will reduce the surrounding air temperature that impacts the home. Another way to maximize shade can include installing a trellis and planting climbing vines so they’ll provide shade to areas such as decks, porches, and patios. A row of evergreens can greatly lower the temperature of a concrete driveway, as well as serving as a wind buffer in the winter.
Most homeowners don’t realize that creating windbreaks through landscaping can reduce wind speed for a distance up to 25 times the height of the windbreak. A well designed home landscape will provide wind protection. This will divert the cold winds of winter from pounding on the home and surrounding property. Wind breaks could be the aforementioned row of evergreens, or it can be shrubs, bushes, walls, fences, and more. For instance, shrubs and bushes act as an insulator around your home’s foundation.
If you’re looking for a way to improve your energy consumption and you also have a lawn that could use some tender, loving, care, you should seriously explore energy efficient landscaping. Not only will you have a landscape that is beautiful and inviting, but it will make your lawn an enjoyable place to be any time of the year. When you factor in the fact that your energy bills will start to reduce as your new landscaping matures, it’s really a no-brainer. You can’t go wrong with energy efficient landscaping.
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