Energy Conservation Tips for Your Garden

It may sound unlikely but you can actually make your garden energy efficient! Consider this: as a homeowner, you’ve got all of nature’s power at your fingertips to help you make your home more comfortable, save money and preserve the environment.

It’s not as complicated as you might think; some examples contributing to energy conservation include:

• Planting trees to provide shade, which reduces cooling costs
• Planting or building windbreaks to prevent heat loss
• Creating wall sheltering by using shrubbery or vines to create a windbreak directly against a wall
• Reducing the heat island effect with pervious paving, high albedo paving, shade, and minimizing paved areas
• Site lighting with full cut off fixtures, light level sensors, and high efficiency fixtures

There are tangible benefits to integrating your garden into an energy efficient home system. For instance:

• A well-positioned tree can save up to 25% of your home’s energy for heating and cooling
• A tree-shaded yard can be up to 6 degrees cooler than a sunny yard
• A shaded lawn can be up to 25 degrees cooler than sunny pavement
• Shading your home’s roof can increase your air conditioner’s energy efficiency by more than 10%
• A single shade tree equals the cooling power of 15 air conditioners
• Three house-shading trees can lower your air conditioning bill by nearly half
• Windbreaks can cut winter heating bills by 10% – 30%

Consult with a RESNET Qualified EnergySmart Contractor to learn about the various energy conservation options available to you. They can present you with cost-effective energy efficient solutions to help you reduce energy costs and improve your quality of life while taking care of the environment.