Trees Reduce Cooling Costs
As a kid, you learned that an unshaded street or sidewalk in August is deadly on barefeet. You find a shady spot as quickly as possible. You now try to park under a tree to reduce the temperature in your car.This tree shade actually saves a homeowner money. In poorly insulated homes, tree shade can decrease room temperatures down by 20 degrees during summer.
A test shelter was built to shade and cool what an average tree shaded and cooled. Costs of the structure were listed to determine what it would take to cool the same area a tree could cool. Although old (1970s), the study showed that there was a cost of $3 dollar per square foot to get the same results a tree could provide for free. That dollar figure has certainly gone up.
Trees Have a Real Estate Value
A U.S. Forest Service study done in Amherst, Massachusetts surveyed real estate appraisers to estimate the value of trees in urban settings. Trees increased the appraisal value of undeveloped land by 27 percent and increased home lots with houses by an average of 7 percent and up to 15 percent on lots with appealing trees.Another Connecticut study of 60 homes sold reported that lots with a 50 percent tree cover got 6 percent more when sold than a lot with no trees. Unique trees in a yard have occasionally doubled the sale of a home as determined by appraisal value.
There is a Legally Determined Tree Value!
The International Society of Arborists have determined values to trees that are in the landscape. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does not recognize it for casualty loss but the appraisal has been used in insurance claims, civil suits and property condemnation.If you have a tree you consider valuable and want an appraisal, contact an ISA certified arborist to determine value.
Methods used:
1) Replacement Cost - This method is used when the tree is of a size that can be replaced.
2) Trunk Formula - This method is used when the plant is too large to be replaced.
3) Appraised Value = Basic Value x Condition x Location Basic Value = Replacement Cost + (Basic Price x [TA(A) - TA(R)] x Species)
