Problematiche estimative relative al verde pubblico e alle piante ornamentali

This report refers to a real case. The city of Genoa sued a firm called ¿Iren¿, after the latter damaged twelve Platanus trees owned by the city. This report provides an in-depth study of the calculation of damages due for this type of damage. In the first part of this report the compensation for the damages of the trees has been calculated. The compensation has to be calculated based on the ornamental value of trees. The main appraisal methods used to evaluate the ornamental value of trees are examined and confronted. The methods are the rational-analytical method, the German method, the volumetric method, and the Swiss method. The last one is the one adopted by the majority of Italian Municipalities. Following that, the methods for evaluating the danger of tree downfall have been reported. The methods officially adopted by S.I.A. (Società Italiana di Arboricoltura) are the VTA method, (Visual Tree Assessment) ¿including visual VTA, instrumental VTA and tomography-, and the traction test. In the second part, this report analyses the costs associated with the methods mentioned above. The report makes use of the data elaborated by Seacoop, a Turin-based co-operative company which provides professional consulting on environmental issues. This analysis aims at assessing an hourly cost for the cooperative of the assessment of downfall danger, so that the cooperative can provide accurate estimate to prospective clients. The analysis concerns all balance sheet items. The hourly cost turns out to be ¿ 84,84 for the visual VTA, ¿ 91,94 for instrumental VTA, ¿ 125,52 for tomography and ¿ 274,83 for the traction test; these costs are net of displacement costs.