New Tool Maps Buildings’ Energy Efficiency
Voice of America News, February 26, 2015
Architects, engineers and building managers will soon be able to quickly collect data about building interiors that once took weeks to measure and process. A backpack-mounted device, developed by a group of scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, will require just one pass through the building to create not only a 3D model but gather other valuable information related to the building’s energy efficiency.
Let’s say an older building needs a new, more efficient heating and cooling system. The first thing you need is a precise configuration of all rooms, the size and position of heating and cooling elements, windows and doors, and electrical outlets.
Instead of sending a team of technicians with laser pointers and laptop computers it will soon be possible to hire only one, with a space-age backpack loaded with sophisticated instruments, says engineer Annie Marston with Baumann Consulting, who evaluated the new device.