Solar Landscaping

Smart solar landscaping can dramatically reduce your heating and cooling energy use.  This means saving money on utility bills and decreasing the need for solar power.  Solar landscaping can also protect your home from the damaging rays of the sun.  Other benefits include cleaner breathing air and a reduction in noise pollution.

It is estimated that properly placed trees can save up to twenty five percent of your heating and cooling bills.  Said another way, a properly landscaped yard, can more than pay for itself in eight years or less in reduced utilities.

Solar Landscaping

It's easy to understand how shading a house in the summer can reduce cooling costs.  Not everyone understands the concept involved in reducing winter heating costs.  The term "wind chill" is used to describe how wind changes the air temperature in the winter months.  A twenty mile an hour wind can make the air feel a full thirty degrees colder.  Landscape windbreaks can reduce the amount of wind reaching your home, thus reducing your heating requirements.  Properly placed windbreaks can reduce your heating bill by up to forty percent.

The U.S. is divided into four climate regions, these are cool, hot-arid, hot-humid and temperate.  Below we suggest different solar landscape approaches for each climate.  For a cool climate you could try

• Allowing the winter sun to reach south facing windows.
• Use dense windbreaks to protect the home from the winter winds.
• Shade south and west facing windows and walls from direct summer sun.

For a temperate climate you should

• Deflect the winter winds.
• Direct the summer breezes towards the home.
• Maximize the warming effects of the sun in the winter.
• Maximize the warming effects of the sun during the winter months.

Hot-humid climates require you to

• Direct the summer breezes towards the home.
• Avoid putting planting beds close to the home if they require frequent watering.
• Summer shade should be obtained with trees that allow penetration of low angle winter sun.

For hot-arid climates try

• Providing plenty of shade to cool roofs, walls and windows.
• Block winds from air conditioned homes.
• Allow summer winds to access naturally cooled homes.

The best home design for solar landscaping is one that is oriented to admit low-angle winter sun, reject overhead summer sun and minimize the cooling  effects of winter winds.  Consider that buildings provide shade and windbreak, fences and walls can direct and channel the wind and water bodies can moderate the temperature.

The major reason for air conditioning use is the heat coming in through windows and the roof.  The most economical way of reducing this heat gain is with shade.  Natural shade can work wonders in reducing your summer cooling bills.  Choosing the proper type of trees is important to get the most benefit summer and winter.  Deciduous trees will provide plenty of shade during the summer months but loose their leaves during the winter allowing the heat to reach your home.  Evergreen trees, on the other hand, will stay full of leaves year round, thus providing four season shade.

Other ways of using solar landscaping to cool your home in the summer and warm it in the winter include:

• Planting a tree or bush to shade an air conditioning unit.
• Shade the ground and pavement around the home with trees, shrubs and groundcover.
• Shade a patio or driveway with bushes and shrubs.
• Vines to shade walls can keep your home cooler.  Shrubs can also be used for shading windows and walls.

Blocking the winter winds is best done with trees or shrubs having low crowns.  Evergreen trees are a common winter wind break.  A general rule of thumb is to plant your wind break trees forty to a hundred feet away if they will grow to twenty feet in height.

The most efficient solar landscapes are ones that are well planned.  Give careful consideration to the plants you will be using and how much water they will require.  Plants native to your area will usually be your best choices.  A good knowledgeable nursery can be a big help when it comes to planning and planting your solar landscaping.