get building dimensions from API

Question

Is there any way to get the approximate length and width of a building, given its' address from an API such as google maps or similar? I basically want to use it to find the lat, long coordinates of the approximate boundaries of any building or area that the address is inputted for. Free APIs or services would be preferred.

Answer 1

I don't think so - that would require enormous efort to catalogize most of the map into "is a building/is not a building" (I'd guess the military might have that, but they're unlikely to share (if they even have it)). What you could do is this:

- geocode address to lat/long
- grab satellite image of the surroundings
- try to detect shape in that
- estimate physical size from zoom+pixel size

I see a few problems there:

• not sure if GMaps allows image scraping
• the building may not be distinguishable from the background
• the address might be geocoded off a building, or betwen two buildings
• the address might be shared amongst multiple buildings