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New York City's energy consumption mapped out

New York City's energy consumption mapped out

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New York City has had its power consumption statistically analyzed and presented in an interactive map. The project was led by Bianca Howard, a PhD student in mechanical engineering at Columbia University, together with Mechanical Engineering Professor Vijay Modi.

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nyc power
nyc power

Ever wonder how much energy your neighbor is using? If that neighbor lives in New York City, it's your lucky day. The entire city has had its power consumption statistically analyzed by Bianca Howard, a PhD student in mechanical engineering at Columbia University, together with Mechanical Engineering Professor Vijay Modi. Howard used publicly available data to work out which buildings are using the most energy and how they are using it. The study was motivated by the belief that "the current energy distribution infrastructure in many urban areas either cannot support anticipated future energy use or would require significant rehabilitation even if current use were maintained."

The result is an interactive map that lets you see how much water, heating, electricity and so on a given block or building is using up, and unsurprisingly downtown Manhattan is the worst offender overall. Like most buildings in the area, the Verge office ranks in a pretty high percentile — but hey, no more so than the American Apparel a couple of blocks away.