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April 2007
How to Green-Up Your Home’s Value
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(ARA) - Want a good way to help protect the
value of your home? Remember these two words: green matters. Not
green paint, mind you, but green space. It’s an umbrella term
for the trees, lawn, shrubs and other plantings that can affect
not only the salability of your home, but your utility bills as
well.
Which is why Project EverGreen, a national non-profit
organization, is leading the charge to educate consumers about
the many values of green space -- especially as it affects their
pocketbooks.
According to Den Gardner, executive director of Project
EverGreen, “research shows that improving the green space around
your home can have real economic benefits.”
Protecting Home Value
Gardner cites a number of studies which show that sprucing up
your green space can help protect and, depending on market
conditions, bolster home value. For example: a study cited in
Smart Money magazine indicated that consumers value a landscaped
home up to 11.3 percent higher than its base price. In addition,
The Wall Street Journal reported that landscaping investment is
normally recovered fully and sometimes doubled by its ability to
increase home value.
That sounds good, but Gardner adds this important caution: “It’s
wise to plan before you plant. Make sure you begin landscape
improvement or renovation with well-thought-out ideas for
maintaining and/or improving your green space. You may want to
do the work yourself -- and that’s good exercise; however, it’s
always wise to seek professional advice to get the right balance
and placement of trees, shrubs, grass and other plantings.”
 As
evidence of this he cited a research project conducted by the
Horticultural Research Institute (HRI). This showed that a
sophisticated landscape design with trees and large, colorful
bedding plants can raise the perceived value of a home between 5
and 11 percent. On the other hand, consumer reaction was that
minimalist landscapes (i.e. with small plant size and low
sophistication) actually decreased the perception of home value.
Saving Energy Costs
Planning the right mix of trees, grass and other plantings can
also make a difference in a home’s energy consumption. One study
has estimated that when properly placed to shade your home,
trees can reduce air conditioning demand by 10 to 30 percent.
Another study found attic temperatures could be up to 40 degrees
lower when adequate shade was present.
“There are two ways you take advantage of this natural cooling
effect,” Gardner says. “First, if you have mature trees make
sure they’re pruned properly to maximize shade benefits, and
second, in planning for future shade, seek professional advice
as to the type and location of the trees you should plant. Both
steps can help lower your electrical bill.”
Also, don’t overlook how maintaining a thick, healthy lawn and
other plants also provides cooling benefits. “This is due to a
process known as evapotranspiration. Gardner says. “When
vegetation is warmed by the sun it gives up water which then
evaporates to cool not only the plant itself but the surrounding
area as well. The result is one of nature’s most overlooked, and
yet most efficient cooling systems. In fact, researchers have
calculated that evapotranspiration from the front lawns in a
block of eight houses, produces cooling equivalent to 70 tons of
air conditioning.”
Find more information about these
and other benefits of green space
Courtesy of ARAcontent |
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