Tree Benefits Calculator

The Tree Ecosystem Services Calculator is a tool developed based on research conducted by Dr. Zbigniew Szkop, an environmental economist from the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw (WNE UW). This project, titled ‘Calculator of Services Provided by Urban Trees,’ summarizes the key findings. This project was financed by the Tango IV grant, awarded by the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBiR) and the National Science Centre (NCN).

The calculator calculates the following ecosystem services provided by urban trees:

1. LOWERING AIR TEMPERATURE
   Urban trees provide a service in the field of lowering air temperature on hot summer days. This is a very important ecosystem service of trees. Research confirms a strong link between heat and the quality of life of city dwellers. As the temperature rises above 30 degrees Celsius, the number of ailments related to the circulatory system increases visibly, and our educational and work efficiency decreases. These results can in turn be translated into medical expenses and economic losses – and therefore into monetary values. The tree services calculator shows how much water your tree is able to evaporate during the summer heat, acting like an air conditioner, and how this translates into savings for your city.
   
   
2. IMPROVING AIR QUALITY
   The air quality in many Polish cities is very poor. This means that we are more likely to suffer from various respiratory and circulatory system diseases. Treating these diseases causes measurable social costs. Urban trees, by cleaning the air, are able to reduce these costs. The tree ecosystem services calculator, based on a few basic pieces of information about your tree, calculates how much pollution it is able to remove from the air per year and how much we save on treating diseases caused by poor air quality.
   
   
3. REDUCING SURFACE RUNNING
   Occurrence of heavy rains in cities can cause local flooding. Unfortunately, this is an increasingly common phenomenon in the era of over-concreted cities. To avoid this, cities are constantly expanding systems that drain rainwater. Both the expansion itself and their maintenance are expensive. Thanks to the presence of trees in cities, which retain some of the rainwater in their crowns, cities can save on the costs associated with draining rainwater. The tree benefits calculator, based on some basic information about your tree, estimates how many liters of rainwater a given tree can reduce surface runoff by per year and how this translates into savings for your city.
   
   
4. CLIMATE PROTECTION
   Trees carry out the process of photosynthesis, and as a result, reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This is an important ecosystem service of trees, because carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, the excessive concentration of which causes measurable social costs related to the negative effects of climate change. These include, among others, the destruction of urban infrastructure caused by violent storms or a decrease in agricultural productivity. The tree benefits calculator, based on a few basic information about your tree, estimates how many kilograms of carbon dioxide per year this tree is able to capture from the atmosphere and what savings it causes.
   
   
5. INCREASING THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE AREA
   Trees beautify our cities. We like being surrounded by urban greenery. It relaxes us, unwinds us, makes us rest faster. Economists are able to examine how much city dwellers value the presence of urban greenery by checking how much the value of nearby properties will increase if we plant more trees in a given part of the city. This method is called hedonic valuation . The tree ecosystem services calculator estimates the aesthetic value of the tree based on some basic information about your tree in relation to the results of research conducted using the hedonic valuation method .

The tool is available at: https://ekonomiadlasrodowiska.pl/kalkulator

You can read more about the project here: https://www.teraz-srodowisko.pl/aktualnosci/Kalkulator-uslug-ekosystemowych-drzew-nowe-narzedzie-edukacyjne-Wywiad-dr-Zbigniew-Szkop-Uniwersytet-Warszawski-14200.html