All the previous posts in my green home cooling series have dealt with cooling tips and techniques affecting the house directly.
For this final post, I’ll be focusing on things you can do around your house to reinforce everything you’ve done so far.
- Plant deciduous trees
If you live in the northern hemisphere, plant deciduous trees to the south of your house. If you live in the southern hemisphere, plant them to the north.This will provide shade for your house in the summer, while letting the Sun’s heat and light through the bare twigs and branches in the winter.
Also consider planting them to the west of your house, to shade against evening sun.
- Shade thermal mass
Position trees and other ’shading devices’ where they will shade the parts of your house that have high thermal mass. Brick or concrete walls are good candidates. - Shade air conditioner’s external air intake
If you do have to run your air conditioner, try to shade its external air intake well. The cooler the air entering it, the less your air conditioner has to work. - Block hot winds
If hot winds tend to come from a particular direction, consider positioning solid plants to block these winds. - Plant climbers or green roofs
Air is cooled by transpiration – the plant equivalent to sweating – from the plants’ leaves.This means that climbing plants and green roofs will take heat out of the air right by the building, in addition to providing shade.
If you plant climbers, position trellises about 15 centimeters (about 6 inches) away from the wall, to allow air circulation.
- Add a fountain
Fountains and other water features will reduce ambient temperatures through evaporation. Human psychology will also make you feel cooler when you’re around water. - Avoid paving or concrete slabs next to your house
Paving or concrete slabs in front of your windows will radiate heat into your home, even if you’ve shaded the windows from direct sunlight. Avoid them, or shade them well in the summer.
Phew! That’s the last post in my green home cooling series. I hope the series has been useful to you. Or perhaps you know someone else that is wilting away in the heat? Point them in this direction, I promise I’ll treat them well 
Do you know about other ways to cool your house without an air conditioner? Please let me know in the comments!
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This post was tagged with: air conditioning, cooling, energy efficiency, energy saving, Gardening, green roofs, heat buildup, home cooling, house cooling, indoor temperature, landscaping, saving energy, shading, shading devices, summer heat, sun shade, waste heat
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Thanks for all the cool(ing) ideas! Great set of posts
You’re welcome
Thanks for commenting!
I really like the photo, by the way, that litle house is so cute
Yeah, it is cute, isn’t it? Ellen’s family got it as a souvenir in Greece about 20 years ago.