Outdoor spaces add value to real estate. “Homeowners continue to embrace the trend of maximizing outdoor living space, whether it's an outdoor kitchen or patio living room with a fire pit,” says Lonny Sekeres, a landscape designer with Villa Landscapes in Oakdale, Minnesota. “Real estate experts say that for every dollar you invest in landscaping projects, you could see up to a $2 return when you sell your home.”¹¹ By adding lighting, installing new decks and planting trees, whether for a home or a commercial project designers can build in design value.

Photo courtesy of Bison Innovative Products

Design professionals are adding square footage to residential and commercial properties by claiming rooftops as desirable places. They are using innovative suspended decks, gardens, planting systems, and energy-efficient lighting, as seen 10 stories high in this urban retreat located in New York City’s Chelsea section.

Providing affordable, easy to maintain and install modular decking provides numerous creative opportunities to add value and the “third place” to numerous projects both residential and commercial.

Benefits of the urban forest. The quality of third places is important. Economics are not the only reason to develop a toolkit that includes these new design materials. Protecting the environment and promoting healthier lifestyles by exposure to the outdoors is an intrinsic value as well as having an economic benefit. For example, tree protection is important because healthy trees contribute to our environment and communities. Trees reduce carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. By protecting tree canopies in cities, the surrounding temperature is reduced, thus reducing the heat island effect of urban places.

The effect of “eyes on the street” is well known as a crime deterrent, however a recent study of the relationship between trees and crime aggregates in residential neighborhoods found that there was a reduction in crime when larger trees were planted and maintained in the public right of way.¹² Other environmental studies such as the one published by Palo Alto, California titled “Sustaining The Legacy, Palo Alto Urban Forest” used data from a Bay Area tree eco-analysis model to determine their master planning for this tree-lined city. Using the I-Tree model analysis, the values that they found for preservation and maintenance of an urban forest included:

• The annual benefit from energy reduction has a value of $589,805 or $20.23/tree.

• The net annual benefit from CO₂ reduction has a value of $51,563 or $1.77/tree.

• The annual benefit associated with property-value increases is nearly $5,900,000 or $201.49/tree.

The I-Tree streets analysis indicates that the Benefit Versus Investment ratio or BIR is 3.22:1. That is for every $1 that the City spends on street trees the City reaps $3.22 in benefits.¹³ These results demonstrate that the economic and environmental benefits of healthy urban forests are not separate entities and part of a whole strategy for the community.

A study in Providence, Rhode Island, by the Brown University Center for Environmental Studies lists the following benefits of the urban trees. These include summer cooling and winter warmth, stormwater and flood reduction, air and water pollution prevention, the capture of higher property values, greater biodiversity, and an improved quality.¹⁴ Using advanced paver suspension systems allows the designer more flexibility and design opportunities to place trees in harsh streetscapes and busy pedestrian areas. These systems promote healthy tree growth and allow for easier maintenance and care for new urban forests.

Bright lights and nighttime magic. Designing for nighttime adds excitement to any outdoor project. Previous lighting systems that were energy efficient were harsh, unfriendly, and cast light into the sky rather than highlighting the buildings and surroundings. LED lighting systems can be calibrated for any outdoor use. Some of them have Bluetooth® controlled systems that enable field aiming and dimming as well as sequencing to create colorful outdoor places. Designers can now select systems with color sensitivities and multiple color choices, even multiple choices among white light which is necessary to properly light certain landscapes and objects. Landscape lighting can be divided into two basic types, lighting walkways and pathways or accent lighting. By using lighting with the versatility and energy efficiency provided by LED lighting, the designer has more choices for creating signature spaces, whether these be designed for the home, restaurant, or downtown.

All of these innovations provide an opportunity for creative fun. Product manufacturers are helping design professionals find new, green, and sustainable materials that extend their design palettes to celebrate the environment.

Celeste Allen Novak, FAIA, LEED AP, (www.celesteallennovakarchitect.com) specializes in sustainable design and planning in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is the author of “Designing Rainwater Harvesting Systems: Integrating Rainwater Into Building Systems.”