Only God Can Make a Tree-- But You Can Plant One

The image is a repro of Cezanne's House with Trees, and in this post we move outside the box a little to have a look around outdoors for energy tactics and some long range resource management tips. The oldest passive solar building tip is leafy trees close to the house. The technical term for leafy trees is "deciduous." Loaded with leaves all summer, they cast shade as the sun rolls over the house, and then stay up all night manufacturing oxygen and scouring your premises of carbon dioxide and other unwanted gases. Can't beat those trees. If you think the trees worked this out on their own, I salute your limitless faith. Looks like an obvious case of Design to me.
The shade from trees near your house shields you from intense solar heat and ultraviolet radiation, keeping the interior cooler. The rustle of breezes through the leaves is an acquired taste. So are the animal noises: birdsong, squirrel parties, cricket concerts, all that stuff that comes with nature and might or might not be music to your ears.
Thoughtfully placed, leafy trees can reduce sun loading of at least the exterior wall surfaces, including windows, by as much as 90%. And in winter, the leaves fall off. The sun's arc also flattens nearer the horizon, and the bare branches block very little of the sunlight that you now want streaming through your windows and warming up even the exterior surfaces of your house. The link says you can disregard the shading effect of leafless trees, making them a nearly perfect element of your energy strategy outdoors.
And the bad news, you already realized: you can't have trees of the proper size and placement without thinking years ahead. Sorry. But the long view is my favorite perspective. We've lived in our little Civil War-era farmhouse since 1975. In those 34 years we've planted a privacy hedge out by the street and seen it grow higher than our roof ridge. We've nurtured a stunted, damaged pine sapling and seen it grow huge and wide until the neighbors on that side can only be sensed when they throw a party. We've lost mature trees in vicious hurricanes, replanted and seen the replacement trees now begin to shade the sunroom as well as the old ones did. We've planted trees this spring that will shade our south side in perhaps ten years, and I hope God lets us stay here to see them that tall.
If you rent, you probably won't be staying for life where you are. Sorry. But you can employ potted trees inside and out(this link is actually to a local Craig's list ad for inexpensive potted trees, just so you realize it's possible) to gain the benefits of shade and fresher air as much as space allows; and I doubt your lease prohibits potted pets, though my ficus sheds like a retriever, I must admit. Small trees are still a bargain, and can be had by mail or at the big box home store. I'm surprised at how healthy and well-tended the plants at Big Orange can be, depending upon the branch store and its management. And when it's time to move my giant ficus out for the summer, I just starve it for water for a few days to make it lighter, slide it to the front door on a towel, and out it goes. I have a friend who landscapes her rather large deck entirely with potted plants, and the effect is..... vernal, to say the least. You just have to water them, and check the pot to make sure it's big enough as the plant grows.
Any deciduous plant that grows along the sunnier sides of your house is going to help you both in summer and in winter. And it's fun to plant things, easy to tend them with water and mulch, and so much more cost-effective than residing or replacing all the windows. So if you can't tear your house apart and do the energy thing with hammer and nails, consider using God-given equipment in an Intelligent way to control heat gain and loss in all seasons. And time is just that stuff that passes while you do one smart thing after another to improve your lifestyle and your energy profile. The plants you install this spring will reward you for many years. They're like kids, only much less demanding.