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A Nod to the Landscaping
Considering how you design your landscape can help your energy spending inside and out. On average, landscaping for energy efficiency provides enough energy savings to return an initial investment in less than eight years. The climate immediately surrounding your home is called its microclimate. Your microclimatic factors determine what plants may or may not grow in your landscape. Solar heat absorbed through windows and roofs can increase your air conditioner use, but using shading in your landscape design can help reduce your cooling costs. To block solar heat in the summer but let much of it in during the winter, use deciduous trees (such as poplar, birch, maple, dogwood and oak). To provide continuous shade or to block heavy winds, use dense evergreen trees or shrubs. Your landscaping can also shade the ground and pavement around the home and cool the air before it reaches your home's walls and windows.
Want to see energy-saving trees in action. Click here for an interesting video from the folks at This Old House, and watch landscape contractor Roger Cook and host Kevin O'Connor share pro tips for cutting energy costs with strategic tree planting.