How to Survey Building Elevations in Google Earth

Google Earth has so many uses! One of my favorites, is the Placemarker! In this blog, we'll review how the placemarker is used for measuring and documenting elevations.

Problem and Purpose

When surveying buildings that have no record / as-built drawings, I often find myself needing some quick semi-accurate elevations, in order to understand the general height and elevation of a building.

To be able to get within 1ft accuracy is usually good enough, for quick rough site models, super useful for presentations.

Google Earth: The Easiest, Quickest Solution

To get these elevations, all I need to do is fly to the site in Google Earth, pull out the placemarker tool, change a few settings, and note the elevation while I place it in the bottom right corner.

Check it out in this video blog, and test it for yourself. It's a very useful method for performing quick surveys.