Individual Benefits
How you can benefit from urban forestry in your neighborhood.
Economic benefit of trees | Community benefit of trees
| Benefit | Supporting Information |
|---|---|
| Decrease heating and cooling costs | • Properly placed trees can reduce heating and cooling costs by 10% to 20 % on average within 10-15 years after planting. • Appropriately sited trees planted next to buildings can reduce summer air conditioning costs by 40%. Direct shading of an air conditioner can increase efficiency up to 10%. • Houses on treed lots have about 20% lower annual energy bills than the same house in an open area. |
| Reduce construction and maintenance costs | • Conserving trees on a property while developing it can reduce erosion and sedimentation control costs by up to $5,000/ac. • Conserving trees on a property being developed can save communities from $2000 to $50,000 in storm water treatment costs. • By conserving trees on a property, a land owner can save from $270 to $640 per acre in lawn maintenance costs. |
| Increase property values | • Property values of homes with trees are on average 5% to 7% higher and as much as 20% higher than the equivalent properties without trees. |
| Positively influence consumer behavior | • Consumer surveys show that 80% prefer retail establishments in business districts with street trees and other landscaping. • Survey results indicate that consumers are more willing to travel further, stay loner, visit more frequently and pay for parking in business districts that are landscaped with trees. • Survey participants priced goods on average 11% higher in landscaped business districts than in districts with no trees. |
| Benefit | Supporting information |
|---|---|
| Improve health and well-being | • Recuperation rates were faster for patients with views of wooded landscapes. • Public housing has lower rates of violence when there were more trees present. |
| Provide shade and block ultra-violet radiation | • Trees can block up to 95% of incoming solar radiation. • Even in winter trees can block up to 50% of the suns energy. |
| Buffer and wind noise | • With as little as 10% increase in canopy cover, trees can reduce wind speeds by 10 to 20%, and with an increase of 30% tree cover, wind speeds are reduced up to 35%. • A 100 foot buffer of 50 foot trees can reduce highway noise by 6 to 10 decibles. |