Before central heating and cooling became a standard feature of many homes, there was a greater emphasis on designing homes and their yards to provide natural climate control. This was accomplished by taking advantage of the heating effects of solar radiation during the winter along with the cooling effects of shade and natural air flows during the summer. As we see more extreme cold and heat events in Illinois and as energy bills continue to rise, it’s a good time to revisit how your landscaping is contributing to your home’s climate control and energy efficiency. Chat with Energy Specialist Andrea Wagner, and Natural Resources Educator Jay Solomon to learn about how we can use landscaping to our advantage to save a few bucks as extreme weather becomes more commonplace.

Resources:

• Energy Website from Illinois Extension
• Selecting Trees to Plant in Illinois
• Under the Canopy Tree guides can be found at your local Illinois Extension office.

Share your own Everyday Observation

Was there something about this topic we didn’t cover? See something cool in nature? Let us know! Send us your question or share your everyday nature observation with us at go.illinois.edu/EEconnect, and we may share it in a future blog or podcast.

Questions? We'd love to hear from you!
Abigail Garofalo aeg9@illinois.edu, Erin Garrett emedvecz@illinois.edu, Amy Lefringhouse heberlei@illinois.edu

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