City of Portland, Multnomah County and CH2M HILL Launch Oregon Clean Energy Map

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The City of Portland, along with Multnomah County, the U.S. Department of Energy and CH2M HILL, has completed the Oregon Clean Energy Map, an online map that highlights solar installations in the greater Portland area. The map enables residents and business owners to estimate the solar potential of their rooftops, view existing solar installations, and get detailed information about each of these existing solar sites. The City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability worked with CH2M HILL to create the consumer-friendly solar portal, which can be visited starting today at http://oregon.cleanenergymap.com.

The map provides detail about existing photovoltaic and solar hot water installations in the City of Portland and Multnomah County since 2001. As residents scroll over existing installation sites on the map, details about the size and type of system, photos of the systems as supplied by some property owners and links to the installer’s contact information are provided. Additionally, with information from the City’s parcel database, the map will provide an estimate of each building’s solar potential based on the size of the roof, the amount of unshaded area and current rebate program information.

“Portland’s map is unique because it not only tracks the use of solar on rooftops, but also solar hot water installations,” said David Herrmann, client solutions director, CH2M HILL Enterprise Management Solutions. “These systems are one of the most affordable ways to go solar and can offset one of the biggest energy uses in your home—your water heater. Residential solar hot water systems typically save 60 percent of the energy used to heat water in an average Oregon home.”

Portland’s goal is to create five megawatts of electricity through solar energy panels by 2012, enough solar-generated electricity to power 100 percent of the energy needs of more than 400 Oregon homes.

“Portland is on its way to providing more solar energy to its residents than almost any other city in America,” said Mayor Sam Adams. “It’s vital that we don’t just talk about the importance of solar energy, but that the City finds ways to make it easier to install solar. Tools such as the Oregon Clean Energy Map help all of us take the next steps.”

The creation of the map was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar America Cities program. Portland is one of only 25 cities across the nation selected with the honor. The 25 named cities received a combined $4.9 million in federal financial assistance as well as technical assistance from national laboratories and the competitively selected firm CH2M HILL. The map for Portland was created by CH2M HILL in its role as a technical assistance provider under the Solar America Cities program. More information on the program can be found at http://www.solaramericacities.energy.gov/.

CH2M HILL has built similar maps for other cities across the country including San Francisco’s award-winning solar portal, Berkeley’s recently launched solar map, a map of Sacramento in use by the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District, and a map of Los Angeles County. CH2M HILL’s Enterprise Management Solutions division is well-regarded for its consulting, collaboration, program management, managed IT, integrated security and spatial information management services, with a unique ability to help clients utilize spatial data to help enterprises and organizations better manage their assets. For more information on CH2M HILL, Enterprise Management Solutions, on-demand spatial solutions or solar and clean energy maps, please visit: http://www.ch2m.com/corporate/markets/enterprise_management_solutions/default.asp.

The Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) promotes integrated land use planning and development based on sustainability principles and practices. BPS also develops and implements policies and programs that provide environmental, economic and social benefits to residents, businesses and government, which strengthen Portland\'s position as an international model of sustainable practices and commerce. For more information about adopting solar in Portland or to learn about the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, visit: http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/.