California EnerTrees for Program Organizers
If your organization wants to start a shade tree program, but you’re worried about the logistics of getting and keeping everything going, California EnerTrees is for you!
What is California EnerTrees?
Did You Know Trees Reduce Energy Consumption?
A study by the Center for Urban Forest Research found: Increasing the urban forest canopy in California by 30% could reduce energy consumption enough that it would eliminate the need to build seven 100 MW power plants.
Trees Reduce Energy Costs
A large tree strategically planted on the west side of a house can save more than 400 kWh of energy use or more than $65 a year. More trees equal more savings!
Reduce Urban Heat Island Effect
A study of New York City by scientists at NASA and Columbia University found that planting street trees is the most efficient way to reduce the urban heat island effect and therefore urban energy use.
Fewer Greenhouse Gases
When a tree helps save energy, it doesn’t just save dollars and kilowatt-hours. Every bit of energy conserved means fewer greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and fewer air pollutants!
CA EnerTrees is a gateway to creating a shade tree planting program of your own. We partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation (ADF) to expand their new Energy Saving Trees program so that groups–large and small–throughout California could run shade tree programs with little effort and no start-up costs, only the cost of the trees.
Click here if you’re ready to get started or read on for more information.
With CA EnerTrees and Energy Saving Trees, you get:
- Trees! A choice of regionally appropriate species you can offer to customers. (Or you can provide your own.)
- A database that track customers, tree species, and planting locations.
- Help with outreach materials including brochures, bill inserts, emails, social media communications, and more.
- A website to market and track your shade tree program with:
- A unique URL for your project
- Google Maps for customers to find their homes on aerial images
- The ability for customers to “draw” their home on the map and “move” trees around to find the most effective spot for energy conservation
- Information about the species you’re offering
- The ability for customers to order their trees right from the website
- Branding with your program name and logo
- Delivery Options: The option to have trees delivered directly from a regional nursery to the customer in the mail OR the option to source the trees yourself and deliver them directly to customers or make them available at a central location for pickup.
- Legal language to protect your organization.
- Customer service provided by the Arbor Day Foundation, if you’d like, or of course, by you.
What will an EnerTrees program cost my organization?
The final price depends on a few factors: the species of trees you decide to offer, tree size at the time of shipment, and the delivery method. If you decide to have the trees delivered directly to participants, the cost wil run approx. $20-30 per tree. Because it isn’t cost-efficient to ship large trees, the direct ship method usually dictates that the trees be around 4 to 6 feet in height. For the local pickup method, the program can cost anywhere from $10 per tree to $100 per tree (depending on the size of the tree you want to offer).
Just click here to head over to the Arbor Day Foundation’s page!
We’ve put together a step by step guide on what to expect when you’re starting a project. Click here to download the PDF.