Deciding how much you can save on projects if you opt for solar energy is getting easier and easier. Primarily aimed at homeowners and single-family residential developers, but also useful for commercial properties, a team of Google engineers launched a new tool that can help the doubtful better understand if they will be able to bring big savings if they convert to solar energy.
Titled Project Sunroof, the tool offers high-resolution aerial maps, like the one used in Google Earth, to estimate the total sunlight a rooftop receives throughout the year, CityLab reports.
Users can then learn how much they can expect to save with solar panels, and even evaluate different financing plans.
One such application already on the market is the MIT-born MapDwell, which launched two years ago. Architizer reports that MapDwell has announced the expansion of the service into New York City’s Five Boroughs.
“This tremendous project covers over one million buildings and reveals enough high-yield photovoltaic potential to deliver over five million megawatt-hours of energy per year,” Architizer reports.
Related Stories
| Apr 24, 2012
AECOM design and engineering team realizes NASA vision for Sustainability Base
LEED Platinum facility opens at NASA Ames Research Center at California’s Moffett Field.
| Apr 23, 2012
Innovative engineering behind BIG’s Vancouver Tower
Buro Happold’s structural design supports the top-heavy, complex building in a high seismic zone; engineers are using BIM technology to design a concrete structure with post-tensioned walls.
| Apr 20, 2012
McCarthy completes Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Replacement Facility
The new hospital’s architectural design combines traditional Santa Barbara Spanish colonial architecture with 21st century medical conveniences highlighted by a therapeutic and sustainable atmosphere.
| Apr 20, 2012
Century-old courthouse renovated for Delaware law firm offices
To account for future expansion, Francis Cauffman developed a plan to accommodate the addition of an 8-story tower to the building.
| Apr 20, 2012
Registration open for Solar Power International 2012 in Orlando
President Bill Clinton to deliver keynote address at ?largest solar energy event in the Americas.
| Apr 19, 2012
KTGY Group’s Arista Uptown Apartments in Broomfield, Colo. completed
First of eight buildings highlights unique amenities.
| Apr 19, 2012
Nauset begins work on $20M Joint Forces HQ at Hanscom AFB
3D imaging key to project timetable and cost containment.
| Apr 18, 2012
Lafarge moving North American headquarters to Illinois
Lafarge CEO John Stull says the factors in their decision were location in the Midwest and area transportation.
| Apr 18, 2012
Positive conditions persist for Architecture Billings Index
The AIA reported the March ABI score was 50.4, following a mark of 51.0 in February; greatest demand is for commercial building projects.
| Apr 17, 2012
Princeton Review releases “Guide to 322 Green Colleges”
The guide profiles 322 institutions of higher education in the U.S. and Canada that demonstrate notable commitments to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation.
