Earth Institute Develops Interactive Map of NYC’s Energy Use

To use the above map: Zoom in and out using the +/- buttons; click and drag to find a neighborhood; zoom in further to pinpoint a building lot. As you cursor touches the lot, a box will appear for that address showing estimated energy use (based on ZIP code-wide data), and a breakdown of how it's used. Midtown Manhattan is red hot; Greenpoint a cool yellow and beige. It's all a matter of energy: A new interactive, color-coded map created by a team at Columbia's engineering school allows viewers to pinpoint and compare estimated energy usage, building lot by building lot, throughout New York City. The researchers, working under Professor Vijay Modi of the Earth Engineering Center , a center of the Earth Institute, hope the new map will encourage city planners and building owners to seek more efficient ways to produce and use energy by using cogeneration, conservation and alternative energy systems. The map was created by the Modi Research Group. "The simplest thing we learned [from the map] was that there are possibilities for doing lots of things which are hard to see when you don't look at the big picture," Modi said.