This week my friends at Just the Job sent me a link to the Trees and Design Action Group, who, to date had not been on my radar. After browsing through their awesome range of resources I came across the rather inspiring Grand Lyon Tree Charter (very helpfully in English too, thanks). This publication is a proper hands-on ‘how to guide’ for anyone who wants to better understand our leafy neighbours who have been making our cities liveable and beautiful whilst having to be survivors in a hostile environment. There are so many things do for us, but what struck me as being so well articulated was the role that trees have in tackling the urban heat island effect.
The Charter identifies the role that trees could have as a passive measure in our urban environments alongside their intrinsic value. One adult tree = five air conditioning units working 20 hours/day = 11.4kWh of energy saved per day, amounting to 500 euros of energy cost saving per year (assuming a yearly energy consumption of 1000 kWh/yr).
You know it makes sense!
This has been a great week for trees in raising their profile in planning and design, the interview I recorded in March with Wei Yang (RTPI President) and Jane Findlay (LI President) went live today and can be viewed in the Landscape Institute Campus Site. This informative, entertaining and urgent conversation asks, ‘What have trees ever done for us?’ alongside practical matters such as “What are to top three planning and design considerations for happy trees and great places’. It makes for rewarding watching.