Energy Efficient Landscaping
Author: Sarah Pounders
Overview
Source: Iowa State University Extension
|
The arrangement of plants and trees around a building has an impact on its energy efficiency.
This lesson introduces design principles, and challenges students to develop a landscape plan that will boost energy conservation.
Standards (Microsoft
Word Document)
Materials:
- graph paper
- pencils
- long tape measure
- compass
Background
Landscaping can help reduce energy usage by decreasing
energy needed to heat and cool buildings.
Share the following tips from The
Sustainable Building Sourcebook with your students:
- Tree
and shrub plantings on the west and northwest
sides of a building
will block the setting sun.
- Plant deciduous plants on the south and
east side of buildings to admit winter sun, but block summer sun.
- Plant evergreens on the north side to slow winter winds. They are
most effective if they have limbs that extend all they way to the ground.
- For shading and wind blocking benefits, medium to large trees should
be planted 15-20 feet from the side of a building and 12-15 feed from
a corner. Small trees can be planted closer.
- Vines can provide shade
for walls and windows. They can be planted on the wall, or to protect
wall surface, place a trellis close to the
wall for the vine to climb. Evergreen vines shade walls in the summer
and can also block cold winds in the winter.
- Arbors help to cool buildings.
Arbors on the side of a building reduce temperatures by cooling the
air that passes through.
Laying the Groundwork
1. Talk to students about energy consumption
in the United States. According to the
Energy
Information Administration, in 2005:
Entire World Population = 6,477,000,000
United States Population = 296,500,000
World Energy Consumption = 462.798 Quadrillion BTUs
United States Energy Consumption = 100.691 Quadrillion BTUs
2. Calculate the percentage of energy consumed by the United State's
compared the percentage used by the rest of the world's
population.
3. Ask students, What do these statistics say about our energy consumption
relative to the
rest
of
the world?
Should
we
be
concerned?
Why or why
not?
4. Introduce students to the different sources
of energy as listed in Kidsgardening article Plants
and Energy. Discuss the difference
between renewable and nonrenewable resources, and ask students to name
some of each type. Ask the class, Based on the
amount of energy we get from nonrenewable resources, should conserving
energy be important to us? Why? Do you think the United
States should put more support behind renewable sources? How might
we
as a class get the message out?
Exploration
1. There are many ways to conserve
energy. Based on information from the Kidsgardening article, Plants
and Energy, explain how landscaping can be used as a form of energy
conservation.
2. Have students measure the perimeter of the
school grounds or their homes and create a two-dimensional base
map on a piece of graph
paper.
For additional information about creating a base map check out:
The University of Georgia's Drawing
a Landscape Design Base Map and Iowa State's
Home
Landscape Planning Worksheet.
3. Use a compass to determine and label north,
east, south, and west on your map. Talk about the path the sun
takes around the buildings, where it falls on walls and on the
ground. Determine the path of winds
on the property as well, if you can.
4. Share the energy conserving landscaping tips
from Plants
and Energy. Ask
students to sketch in plants and landscape
features
around their building based on these tips. They can draw different
shapes to represent trees and shrubs. Older students can be more
specific and label the types of trees and shrubs they would plant.
-lo.jpg)
© 2009
National Gardening Association