Trees Cool Cities and Save Energy

• Strategically planted urban trees reduce energy use by shading buildings in summer and blocking cold winter winds
• As they grow trees remove carbon dioxide and other green house gasses from the atmosphere and sequester them in their leaves, branches, trunks and roots. 

For more information: Center for Urban Forest Research

Trees Improve Air Quality

• By absorbing gaseous pollutants through their leaves
• Binding or dissolving water soluble pollutants onto leaf surfaces
• Intercepting and storing pollutants on the leaf surfaces
• Capturing and storing air pollutants in the uneven, rough branches and trunk
• Sequestering CO2  in trunk, branches and roots
• Shading buildings and pavement reduces the demand for air conditioning and the formation of ozone

For more information: Northern Research Station

Trees Strengthen Quality of Place and the Local Economy

• Increase property values by 10 to 20 % and attract more homebuyers
• Increase municipal revenue through property tax assessments
• Urban parks provide the settings for festival and other special events that add millions of dollars to the local economy 
• In retail/commercial districts shoppers spend more time and money and come back more often
• Give people places to recreate, connect with nature and experience a sense of well being

For more information: Human Dimensions of Urban Forestry and Urban Greening at the University of Washington

Trees Reduce Storm Water Runoff

• Trees act as sponges that keep water onsite and recharge the groundwater
• A typical urban forest of 10,000 trees will retain 10 million gallons of rainwater per year
• Reduce the amount of runoff and pollutants into creeks
• While manmade drainage systems such sewers and storm drains accelerate the flow of polluted water through community, trees slow it down and clean the water
• Tree canopies and roots protect the soil from erosion
• More trees equals lower costs for storm water management

For more information: Center for Urban Forest Research

Trees Improve Social Connections

• Planting trees is one of the most valuable ways engage residents
• Creates safer, supportive neighborhoods working for a common vision
• Are a Focal point for community revitalization
• Relieves mental fatigue and impulse control, restoring concentration
• Offers a sense of place and improves the quality of life
• Strengthens the social and economic components of environmental justice

For more information: Landscape and Human Health Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Trees Help Promote Smart Growth

• Strengthen the urban core by improving public social space and the walking experience
• Give people access to nature in the city
• Add breathing room to more compact development
• Separate incompatible uses and buffer noise pollution
• Support mixed use that improves real estate values and the local economy
• Create an interconnected framework of green infrastructure that recovers ecological function, biodiversity and wildlife habitat

For more information: Smart Growth Network

Trees Create Walkable Communities

• Tree-lined streets encourage people to walk in their communities and walk further
• Street trees have been shown to calm traffic through neighborhoods
• Strengthen Complete Street policies for all users
• Making streets more walkable and pedestrian encourages transit oriented development

For more information: Complete Streets

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