The Sustainability and Resilience Division of Pittsburgh's Department of City Planning has unveiled a new Environmental Insights Explorer.
Developed by Google Inc., the new tool aims to allow residents to visually understand different environmental impacts in the region and see how emissions can be decreased by creating efficiencies in the transportation, building and energy sectors as well as with tree canopy coverage.
According to Chief Resilience Officer Grant Ervin, Pittsburgh was one of the first cities to pilot EIE in 2018 before it expanded to 10,000 cities globally. Now, Pittsburgh is one of 15 cities with an EIE map of the city's tree canopy.
“The collaboration with Google gives us a critical tool to identify opportunity areas for carbon emissions reduction and how we can help residents build resilience and adapt to our changing climate," Ervin said in a release. "We are excited to be at the forefront of cities advancing technologies to address the climate crisis.”
So far, findings and benefits from EIE include:
- Citywide transportation emissions have decreased by over 20% since the beginning of the pandemic
- Companies and building owners are able to use the map to understand their carbon footprint and see if their rooftop is a good candidate to install solar as an alternative energy source
- Residents are able to use the map to see how their home, school or office building is contributing to carbon emissions and how that can change over time
- Users can see how trees are helping to mitigate the effects of climate change and inform what areas need additional trees
The tool itself can be accessed here.
