Researchers at Columbia's school of engineering presented an interactive map of New York City to the public today, at the Northeast Clean Heat & Power Initiative Annual Conference in NYC. The map helps remove some of the mystery of how buildings could begin saving energy, by displaying the total annual building energy consumption of every building in New York City.
The map breaks energy usage into four categories: Space Heating, Electricity, Space Cooling and Hot Water.
Vijay Modi, professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia, and co-conductor of the project, says the next step is to "start to put in some engineering details, on the map, like how much assets cost," so users know the price of replacing objects. "This way you aren’t only relying on consultants. Some of the mystique to engineering is removed," he says.
The map color-codes energy usage, so users can tell where in the city the most energy is used, at a glance.
"Our next step is to convince the city and policy makers, that if they made the system easier they could do much better. We want people to be able to understand how to navigate the cost and savings process," of outfitting their buildings with energy saving assets, says Modi.
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