AI can use images from Google Street View and satellites to estimate building energy efficiency across entire cities. That could guide investments in reducing energy waste and fighting climate change

Technology 4 October 2022

Google street view can help AI work out if a house is energy efficient

Kevin Mayer

Artificial intelligence can determine whether a building is energy efficient by analysing existing data. The technology could be used to get a broad picture of the energy efficiency of buildings in different countries.

Kevin Mayer at Stanford University in California and his colleagues trained and tested an AI on remote-sensing and public data for almost 40,000 buildings in the UK. This included Google Street View images, aerial images and satellite-based measurements of building heat loss, …