The Green Shade Rebate is back starting October 1, 2011!

CPS Enegy and the City of San Antonio have partnered together to offer residential customers the Green Shade Tree Rebate!

Not only are trees aesthetically pleasing, they also increase property value, provide cooling shade to your home's interior and exterior, remove pollutants from the air, reduce stormwater runoff and improve the environment for a sustainable future.

Through Green Shade, you can receive a $50 rebate per tree (up to 3 trees) when you buy a qualified tree and plant it in the right place to save on your energy bill.

Trees planted on the west, south and east sides of your home or building provide shade from the sun during the hottest times of the day, reducing the load on your air conditioning system. Shading from trees can reduce surrounding air temperatures as much as 9° F. This helps reduce the burden on your air-conditioning system, which helps you save energy.  According to a study by the Houston Advanced Research Center, a mature medium or large tree planted within 10 to 30 feet of a building on the west, south or east side can save a home approximately 381 kWh per year, or roughly $37 per year, in energy savings.

For Rebate Guidelines: http://www.cpsenergy.com/Residential/Rebates/Green_Shade_Trees/Green_Shade_guidelines.asp
For Qualified Trees: http://www.cpsenergy.com/images/GS_trees.jpg

We enjoyed this recent discussion on Texas Public Radio...

We enjoyed this recent discussion on how to care for trees during the drought on Texas Public Radio. 

 http://audio.tpr.org/source110901.mp3

"San Antonio has sizzled through 50 days this year, in which the temperature has hit or exceeded 100 degrees. In addition, Texas is being hammered by one of the most severe droughts on record.
San Antonio is presently in Stage 2 of water restrictions. Officials at San Antonio Water System say that if rain doesn’t come, the city could be in Stage 3 in about two weeks.

For many of us, we’ve already given up on our lawns, but we don’t want to give up on our trees. There is room in the water restriction rules that allow for hosing down your trees and keeping them alive during this last stretch of the summer.

Mark Bird is the City of San Antonio Arborist and Michael Nentwich is the City of San Antonio Forester. They joined TPR’s David Martin Davies in the studio" on September 1, 2011...