Revolutionizing GIS Workflows: New Leaf Energy Case Study
CHALLENGE
Lack Of Standardized Data Sources and Processes
As a nationwide business, our teams can be siloed. This separation between our teams was compounded by different project developers looking in different places for different data. Even when trying to find the same data, developers were coming up with different sets of data and sources and using them inconsistently. This created issues when collaborating or developing projects, and created a lot of work for the GIS team. We needed one place where everyone could go to find the right data, regardless of which part of the country the team was working in. We also wanted to create a more standardized, repeatable process to reduce inconsistencies between different teams.
Inefficient Workflows
Beyond the data itself, the GIS team becomes a bottleneck in the development process as developers reach out to the GIS team for help on basic searches when that team is already busy. With the GIS team performing the same repetitive tasks over and over for a line of developers, this slows down the development cycle and pulls the focus away from more meaningful tasks the GIS team could be working on. It also creates friction for project developers who know what they’re looking for, but need tools that they know how to use to find and analyze those sites.
AO Prospect Empowers New Leaf Energy's GIS Team and Supercharges Developer Productivity
Learn more about New Leaf Energy
SOLUTION
New Leaf Energy’s GIS Analyst Stacy Bogan helped implement AO Prospect’s GIS platform so that project developers could own the site selection process and help alleviate the GIS team’s workload of simple GIS tasks. By using AO Prospect, the development team is able to self-service many GIS workflows – all without needing a background in GIS.
Instant access to consistent data
Ability to search for sites independently
Standard core workflow that can be adjusted to different team’s needs/requirements
Ability to run advanced GIS analysis like creating constraint maps and calculating buildable area with easy-to-use tooling
Putting the tools into the developers’ hands enabled them to try out different scenarios and parameters without going back and forth over email with the GIS team to see how changes would impact the buildable area and site feasibility. Getting hands-on with the maps and being able to adjust projects on-the-fly also empowered the development team to better understand their sites and make more informed decisions.
IMPACT
With the combination of AO Prospect and an internal GIS team, New Leaf Energy was able to create a win-win scenario for the GIS team and project developers. AO boosts productivity by freeing up the GIS team to focus on more specialized tasks and increases the efficiency and creativity of the development team by empowering them with easy-to-use tools so that they can find the best sites, quickly.
AO Prospect by Anderson Optimization expedites and simplifies early-stage land siting. Easily identify ideal parcels for renewable development and automate complex GIS analysis to find high-quality sites in just minutes. Book a free demo to experience AO Prospect for yourself.
