Home Page

Deborah Brown
(dcb4@u.washington.edu)

Purpose

To reconcile tree preservation with campus construction through a “significant tree designation” program. This program provides a list of criteria with which to designate significant trees and a template for integrating the significant tree program with the current construction planning and design process.

Benefits and Cost Savings to UW

Trees are physical assets with quantifiable value that can be measured in two ways (both simplified): calculating the monetary value of the services they provide or calculating the cost of replacing the tree multiplied by the size of the tree.

Tree Value:

$13,500,000: extrapolating from City of Seattle study measuring tree worth in terms of environmental benefits (Cascadia, 2000).
$630,000 per year: extrapolating from UC Davis study measuring annual environmental and social benefits of trees (Maco, 2004).
An individual water oak (Quercus nigra) that will be removed for new construction is worth $39,000: Using the trunk formula method developed by the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers (CTLA) in conjunction with the International Society of Arboriculture (CTLA, 2000).

Analyses and Results

Criteria for designation of significant trees have been developed in accordance with arboriculture industry standards and unique qualities of the UW campus. They include qualifications for health, rarity, cultural or historical significance, size, exemplary specimen, and educational uses.

Implementation

I am currently working with the Campus Landscape Architect and Campus Landscape Advisory Committee to refine the criteria and create a policy to be included in campus planning documents.

Indicators

The presence of a coherent policy that is integrated with the construction process is the primary measure of success for this project. It is also an AASHE indicator for sustainable landscape management. We will use the campus tree inventory to measure the overall health of the campus urban forest.

Other Resources

Council of Tree & Landscape Appraisers. Guide for plant appraisal, 9th edition. Edited by the International Society of Arboriculture. Champaign, IL: International Society of Arboriculture, 2000.

Maco, Scott E., Xiao, Qingfu, Simpson, James R., McPherson, E. Gregory. "University of California, Davis Campus, Tree Resource Analysis." Center for Urban Forest Research; Pacific Southwest Research Station. December 2004.

Seattle Urban forest assessment: Sustainability Matrix (Cascadia Consulting and the University of Washington, 2000)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Task Force on Landscape Heritage and Plant Diversity," 2nd Edition. February 2005.

University of Washington Master Plan Seattle Campus (January 2003)

The Green Campus: Significant Tree Designation at the University of Washington
Deborah Brown (dcb4@u.washington.edu)
sustainability course home tree preservation report tree preservation presentation	Purpose To reconcile tree preservation with campus construction through a “significant tree designation” program. This program provides a list of criteria with which to designate significant trees and a template for integrating the significant tree program with the current construction planning and design process. Benefits and Cost Savings to UW Trees are physical assets with quantifiable value that can be measured in two ways (both simplified): calculating the monetary value of the services they provide or calculating the cost of replacing the tree multiplied by the size of the tree. Tree Value: $13,500,000: extrapolating from City of Seattle study measuring tree worth in terms of environmental benefits (Cascadia, 2000). $630,000 per year: extrapolating from UC Davis study measuring annual environmental and social benefits of trees (Maco, 2004). An individual water oak (Quercus nigra) that will be removed for new construction is worth $39,000: Using the trunk formula method developed by the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers (CTLA) in conjunction with the International Society of Arboriculture (CTLA, 2000). Analyses and Results Criteria for designation of significant trees have been developed in accordance with arboriculture industry standards and unique qualities of the UW campus. They include qualifications for health, rarity, cultural or historical significance, size, exemplary specimen, and educational uses. Implementation I am currently working with the Campus Landscape Architect and Campus Landscape Advisory Committee to refine the criteria and create a policy to be included in campus planning documents. Indicators The presence of a coherent policy that is integrated with the construction process is the primary measure of success for this project. It is also an AASHE indicator for sustainable landscape management. We will use the campus tree inventory to measure the overall health of the campus urban forest. Other Resources Council of Tree & Landscape Appraisers. Guide for plant appraisal, 9th edition. Edited by the International Society of Arboriculture. Champaign, IL: International Society of Arboriculture, 2000. Maco, Scott E., Xiao, Qingfu, Simpson, James R., McPherson, E. Gregory. "University of California, Davis Campus, Tree Resource Analysis." Center for Urban Forest Research; Pacific Southwest Research Station. December 2004. Seattle Urban forest assessment: Sustainability Matrix (Cascadia Consulting and the University of Washington, 2000) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Task Force on Landscape Heritage and Plant Diversity," 2nd Edition. February 2005. University of Washington Master Plan Seattle Campus (January 2003)