New Feature: Automatic Building Detection

A new feature to automatically detect the geometry and key features of your building


One of the key innovations of Ecologic is its ability to rapidly generate complex building energy models.

Traditional building energy audits required a trained specialist to measure each floor area, wall and window of the building. Each building component was then tediously inputted to their building energy analysis software. This process typically consumed at least an hour to several hours depending on the complexity of the building, making building energy audit and retrofit assessments prohibitively expensive for most households and businesses.

We attempted to streamline this unwieldy building specification process through several innovations. We developed a unique web tool that enabled our users to describe building floor plans and features directly on an aerial photograph. We also developed a set of unique computational geometry algorithms capable of generating a 3D model of the building based on this simple 2D description. In combination we were able to reduce the entire building specification process from hours to minutes.

We are excited to announce a new innovation to further streamline the description of your building. Instead of tracing your building on an aerial photograph we can now automatically detect the footprint of your building directly from satellite imagery. We can also automatically detect key building features such as the number of building stories, the presence of solar panels, the presence of a pool and even the roof geometry and materials. This 'machine vision' capability is achieved by training a statistical algorithm to detect features in satellite images.

The new automatic building detection feature will further reduce the time and effort of describing your building. We also anticipate some exciting applications with our network partners, who will be able to automatically generate energy profiles and assessments for their customers with minimal customer data collection.

For further information about this new feature contact us at info@ecologicapp.com