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The City of Des Moines’ new Urban Forest Master Plan, which will inform the city how to sustainably maintain, nurture and build the urban tree canopy for all residents’ benefit, includes a chapter based on work completed by the Iowa State University Sustainable Cities Research Team. The team received a $2.5 million National Science Foundation grant to develop a framework for analysis of food, energy and water systems for greater Des Moines and to formulate scenarios that could result in a more sustainable city. Chapter 22 of the Urban Forest Master Plan, titled “Residential Energy Use and Trees: Connecting the Dots,” outlines how trees affect the energy consumption of buildings and provides recommendations for the use of trees in urban communities to reduce home and business energy bills.

Ulrike Passe, associate professor of architecture and director of the ISU Center for Building Energy Research, is the project coordinator for the research team.