The Cooling Value of Trees

Tree provide many benefits to our daily lives. Professional municipal foresters will list ecosystem benefits (carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, stormwater mitigation), social benefits (improved student performance, better sense of well-being, traffic slowing), economic benefits (increased property values, increased shopper visits), and more. One of the most obvious benefits we all can enjoy is shade.

Well-placed trees can really cool buildings and streets. Healthy trees with full canopies provide deeper shade than struggling trees. Large trees provide bigger shade footprints on the world around them. Parks full of mature trees make for very comfortable outdoor places to hang out. Cities with greater tree canopy cover tend to have less of an urban heat island effect (where thermal mass in cities absorbs sunlight and returns that energy as heat to the immediate environment).

Planting trees on the southeast, south, southwest and west sides of a home will provide the most heat reduction by blocking sunlight over the building. Chose trees that will have a medium to large canopy, assuming of course there is enough soil volume available for the tree to have a health root system. Plant trees at least ten feet from the building and don’t water right next to the foundation to avoid damage. If there isn’t a lot of room, the shade from a small tree is way cooler than the shade from no tree!

Legacy Tree can help maintain your existing shade trees or get you going with new ones for future benefits. Give us a call!

Contact us to find out more about our Albuquerque tree removal services.