ABSTRACT
Google Earth is an amazing, free application that allows to virtually fly around the world. Whereas in Google Maps people can see a map view and hopefully a street view, Google Earth lets people fly around any location, often in 3D. It's an invaluable tool. Another invaluable tool in Google Earth is the Ruler function. If people are comfortable modeling in Maya or some other program, and want to spend the time using the measure tool in Google Earth to virtually survey the site, by all means, go ahead. In Google Earth, the height of the building can be estimated by creating a polygon parallel to the ground that intersects the building in question and adjusting its height. Google Earth and Google SketchUp are both very popular software packages, and are well documented online.
