BlueSky has produced a thermal hot spot map of Birmingham to show heat loss from buildings. The aerial photo-mapping company undertook an aerial survey of the city using a special thermal infrared sensor and has now delivered a digital map of the thermal hot spots to Birmingham City Council. The raw data was processed so that it accurately matches the existing mapping of the area allowing thermal information to be matched to streets and properties within their geographical information system (GIS).
BlueSky captured the thermal survey earlier this year using an airborne thermal infrared sensor, which is a modified version of the technology used by the military for night vision. The survey was flown mid evening over the winter in order to capture the variations in temperature due to poor insulation of buildings. The raw survey data was then processed by BlueSky to create a map accurate digital dataset and transformed into a GIS compatible layer to be integrated with the Council's Ordnance Survey MasterMap data.
According to Birmingham City Council the integration of the temperature information with a variety of other GIS datasets, such as the architectural style of each building, stock condition and a range of socio-economic data, will enable effective identification of properties with poor thermal efficiency that can be combined with information on the most vulnerable households. Providing a desktop analysis of this kind can better inform future survey activity and therefore reduce the amount of time and resources, required to undertake research into energy efficiency.
BlueSky Thermal data is a valuable tool for local Authorities that will assist them in meeting regulations under the 1995 Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA). This act requires all local authorities with housing responsibilities to improve energy efficiency by 2006. These responsibilities also include an energy conservation report identifying measures to improve energy efficiency and to report on their progress.
Photo caption: A thermal hot spot map
