California Center for Sustainable Energy

The California Center for Sustainable Energy gave away over 14,000 shade trees to single-family homes, multi-family buildings, public agencies, non-profits and K-12 schools throughout Orange and San Diego counties (SDG&E customer)s. And not little tiny trees either. These were full-sized, 15-gallon nursery quality specimens in the client's choice of over 20 varieties. Each home received up to 10 trees per household.

Thank you for your interest in the Cool Communities Shade Tree Program. We look forward to giving you the opportunity to manage a similar program in the future to grow our urban forest and save energy in Californians home! This program ran until the end of 2008

Why a CCSE managed a Tree Program?

Trees beautify your property, clean the air, help conserve energy and reduce your energy bill, while improving property values by up to 10%. Strategically planted trees maximize energy savings, so following these tips is important to achieve the greatest benefit from your shade trees:

1. Plant only deciduous trees on the south side of the building to allow the sun to warm your home in the winter
2. Concentrate planting on the west side, that's where the energy savings are the greatest

Trees That CCSE managed

Below is a summary of the tree choices and basic information

Botanical Name	Common Name	Type	Height (ft.)	Spread (ft.)
SMALL
Arbutus unedo	Strawberry Madrone	Evergreen	15-25	15-25
Eriobotrya deflexa	Bronze Loquat	Evergreen	20-30	15-25
Largerstroemia indica	Crape Myrtle (pick color)	Deciduous	15-25	15-20
Rhus lancea	African Sumac	Evergreen	20-30	25-35
MEDIUM
Albizia julibrissin	Mimosa Silk	Evergreen	20-40	25-40
Bauhinia purpurea	Purple Orchid (Limit 2)	Deciduous	20-40	20-30
Cassia letophylla	Golden Medallion	Semi-evergreen	20-50	20-30
Koelreuteria bipinnata	Chinese Flame	Deciduous	25-45	25-45
Metrosideros excelsus	New Zealand Christmas	Evergreen	25-35	20-30
Morus alba 'fruitless'	Fruitless Mulberry	Deciduous	25-35	25-40
Robinia ambigua	Purple Robe/Locust	Deciduous	30-40	25-35
LARGE
Cinnamomum camphora	Camphor	Evergreen	40-65	45-60
Jacaranda mimosifolia	Jacaranda	Deciduous	30-60	30-40
Magnolia grandiflora	Southern Magnolia	Evergreen	60-80	40-60
Pistacia chinensis	Chinese Pistache	Deciduous	40-60	30-50
Plantanus x acerifolia	London Plane	Deciduous	60-90	60-70
Podocarpus gracilior	Fern Pine	Evergreen	40-60	35-50
Podocarpus henkelii	Long-Leafed Yellow Wood	Evergreen	40-50	20-30
Quercus agrifolia	Coastal Live Oak	Evergreen	55-70	50-70

Other Useful Resources

San Diego Regional Urban Forest Council or California Urban Forest Council
National Arbor Day Foundation
Underground Service Alert of Southern California (DigAlert)