Energy Use

Trees have a tremendous impact on the energy we consume to control the temperature inside our homes. Not only to trees keep our homes cool in the summer, by providing shade and evaporation, they keep our homes warm in the winter by damping wind.


A 1% increase in neighborhood tree canopy brings:

  • 1.9% Cooling Savings in summer

  • 1.1% Heating Savings in winter


Robert O'Connor, the Forest and Land Policy Director for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), gave a talk at the Cary Memorial Library in 2020. In this talk he discussed two natural disasters which subsequently provided data on the impact of trees at the neighborhood scale.

A longhorn beetle infestation decimated the tree canopy in a Worcester, MA neighborhood between 2007 and 2010.

Afterwards, it was found that residents were using 40% more energy to cool their homes.

Similar results were found for winter energy use by studying the impact of tree loss due to a 2011 tornado in Springfield, MA on wind speed.

References:

  1. Morzuch, Emma L. (2013). The Energy Benefits of Trees: Investigating Shading, Microclimate and Wind Shielding Effects in Worcester and Springfield, Massachusetts. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/1071/

  2. Potyondy, Philip John. (2013). Influence of Urban Tree Canopy on Single-Family Residential Structure Energy Consumption at the Community Scale in Hutchinson, Minnesota. Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/160283

  3. When a single tree makes a difference: Individual trees in urban areas provide cooling during evening, research shows. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210712183310.htm