Day: 17 August 2006

Google Earth Saves

Two men used Google Earth for disaster release according to Ahmedabad News. I think this is an absolutely wonderful use of technology, I wonder if anyone predicted that Google Earth could be used in this way. It shows how a complex technological tool can be used to solve some really basic problems.

“Using Google Earth maps of Surat city, the duo passed on exact locations of societies, houses and apartments in need of rescue and relief, to airport authorities.

The co-ordinates were then relayed to helicopter captains to be logged on to their GPS devices and locate the homes. By Friday evening, they had managed 47 targeted air drops.”

As a quick aside, if you google earth you get Google Earth (kinda spooky).

Carbon-Neutral Buildings by 2030?

A Sante-Fe based architect has started the 2030 Challenge to encourage sustainable architecture. Modern buildings are notoriously inefficient when it comes to energy use and hopefully we’ll all benefit from green buildings in 2030.

“Simply put, he challenges architects, engineers and contractors to cut the carbon intensity of buildings by 50% from the average of their peers today, 60% below peer average in 2010, 70% below peer average in 2015, and so on, until 2030 by which all buildings should be carbon neutral (zero net carbon emissions).”