Homes protected by windbreaks and shade trees can expect energy savings up to thirty percent in winter and twenty percent in summer. Rows of trees can reduce wind speeds by more than fifty percent, so it is more comfortable being outdoors. They create more pleasant living and working conditions around homes, schools, recreation areas, parking lots, businesses and industrial parks. Trees can screen and buffer us from unwelcome sights, sounds and dust. They protect soils from erosion and waters from pollution.
Trees improve air quality by trapping and holding dust particles.
The leaves absorb carbon dioxide and other poisonous gases, and release oxygen back into the atmosphere. One acre of trees provides oxygen for eighteen people and will absorb the amount of carbon dioxide each year equivalent to that produced by a car driven twenty-six thousand miles. Research indicates that people linger and shop longer along tree-lined streets. Apartments and offices in wooded areas rent more quickly and keep tenants longer than those in non-wooded locations. Healthy, mature trees add about ten percent to a property's value.