We see this as a coming renaissance in electrical contracting. There has been a revival of interest in the electrical trade as home owners and corporations adopt alternative methods (e.g. solar, wind, etc) to power buildings. What’s driving this? Federal incentives, lower material costs and savings from reduced energy spending.


A study by the American Solar Energy Society projects renewable energy jobs for electricians to grow approximately 900% by 2030, just in the state of Colorado.

To take advantage of upcoming opportunities, electricians will need to “green” their skill-set and re-brand themselves. We’ll share more on this later. First, let’s take a look at the trends driving this change.

Green Construction is on the Rise
According to a 2009 Booz Allen Hamilton study, green construction will skyrocket over the next five years. The report projects green construction to generate $554 billion dollars in GDP, provide $396 billion in labor earnings and support or create over 7.9 million jobs from 2009 to 2013. These figures are way up from the previous 8-year period. From 2000-2008, GDP from green construction was just $173 billion, labor earnings was $123 billion and number of jobs created was 2.4 million.




This growth comes directly from increased demand for green buildings, which is largely driven by cost savings from reduced property operating expenses, and by new regulations from federal legislation (e.g. American Clean Energy and Security Act).

Clearly, environmentally friendly construction affects the architecture engineering construction (AEC) industry collectively. But how will this impact electricians?

Electricians are in High Demand
The growing green construction market will create new demand for electricians. And to keep up with demand, electricians will need to diversify their skill-set. We obviously expect to see electricians working on solar photovoltaic and wind turbine installations, but that’s just the beginning. They’ll work on building retrofits, mass transit and light rail projects, “smart” electrical grid transmission systems and more. Here are a few examples of the unique places we expect electricians to find work:

• Lighting system upgrades – There are an estimated 2.2 million commercial buildings in the U.S. that have antiquated lighting systems (old fixtures, ballasts, lamps and controls). Additionally, all federal buildings are required to switch to Energy Star lighting products by the end of 2013 (in accordance with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007). Some of these upgrades can be handled by the local maintenance guy, but others will require the expertise and skill of electrical contractors.

• Parking lot electrical outlets – A state bill in Minnesota will require half of new parking facilities to include outlets to charge electric vehicles. Who will install these docking stations? Electricians of course. Members of the Minnesota Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 292 are already preparing to provide labor for these projects. If successful, we expect other states and cities to follow Minnesota’s example.

• Wind turbine manufacturing – According to a report from the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), a typical 250-person wind turbine manufacturing company has two electricians as employees. This isn’t a large number, but it’s an example of the variety of job opportunities available.

• Electric vehicle electricians – Jobs for electricians will also emerge in adjacent industries. For example, electricians will need to be trained in auto mechanics – or auto mechanics will need to be trained in electrical contracting – in order to meet demand for electric vehicle maintenance. And the career outlook is good: electric vehicle electricians make an average of $39-$59 thousand a year.

For additional information on green job opportunities for electricians, check out this article from the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA).

LEED Creates New Opportunities
Projects applying for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) status are growing just as fast as the rest of the green construction market. With many LEED credits being electric- and energy-related, electricians will have an opportunity to win work on these projects. However, they’ll need to get versed on credit requirements, and should even consider becoming a LEED accredited professional (AP). LEED projects get an extra point for having an AP on the job, which could be a selling-point when bidding on jobs.

Here’s a sample of credits that require the knowledge and skill of electricians.

Electricians Must Act Now
With so many opportunities on the horizon, contractors need to make sure they’re ready to win jobs. To get started, they must gain the skills and knowledge to take on green projects. Both the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) offer education programs for green electrical work.

Next, contractors should market and promote their new green credentials. Update your website and other marketing materials, syndicate a press release to trade magazines and local media, and get more exposure online by joining directories (e.g. CalFinder.com) or advertising in search engines.

Finally, update your bidding process to make sure you win those green electrical jobs. You’ll need to bid accurately to ensure job profitability, but competitively to make sure you win the job. This means having up-to-date pricing information on materials and labor. Good electrical estimating software will have specific capabilities to estimate solar panel installations and other types of renewable energy jobs.

Rumor has it the technology could also be used with more traditional 2D images like electronic building plans (i.e. digital blueprints). Using the iSight camera to detect head movement, users could potentially scroll up and down or left and right by moving their head.

We’d like to see this work with takeoff and estimating software, a system that allows contractors to measure areas and lengths to determine quantities of construction materials (e.g. how many 2×4s are needed to build a wall). This is currently accomplished by tracing an electronic plan with a mouse or digital pen. Could the same activity be performed with a head nod?

It’s probably a few years before any of this technology trickles down to the construction industry. In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts on other ways – and other industries – that this could be used with.

According to a 2007 survey conducted by the National Equipment Registrar, contractors lose $300 million to $1 billion annually because of decreased productivity and business interruptions from lost or stolen construction resources. It’s a staggering number that takes into account time spent looking for misplaced tools or equipment.

For a quick visualization, here are two charts that show the annual cost of stolen or misplaced tools compared to the annual savings using ToolWatch.

Industry Average Tool Costs

Industry Average Tool Savings

ToolWatch, a technology company providing tool and equipment systems that track and manage resources throughout an entire construction organization, followed the trail of a misplaced $80 grinder. After incorporating time wasted looking for the tool, submitting a request for a new tool and tracking down an unused tool to send to the site, the cost came to a whopping $300 – almost four times the grinder’s actual value. Effective tool and equipment management with sophisticated technology like RFID helps firms keep track of valuable resources.

An RFID history lesson
Created in 1948 and used since World War II, RFID is used for a wide variety of applications in just about every industry. According to the RFID Journal, during World War II the British Royal Air Force placed transmitters on planes and receiving signals from radar stations on the ground to identify whether or not incoming planes were friendly. This technology evolved into radio frequency identification as it’s used today, where a signal is sent to a transponder to broadcast a signal.

In the decades since then, RFID tags have been embedded in police badges to prevent knockoffs, in U.S. passports to identify the traveler, and in cat collars to give felines free reign over the neighborhood. More unusual uses include casinos tracking gamblers’ betting habits with RFID tags inserted in poker chips and tracking schoolchildren with RFID bracelets.

A site manager scans tools to check them back into inventory

In the construction industry, RFID has become a commonplace means for tracking and managing tool and equipment inventory.

How RFID tags track construction resources
RFID tags are affixed to tools and small equipment and scanned into and out of inventory. ToolWatch Enterprise, a software-as-a-system (Saas) application, combines an upcoming RFID feature whereby items needed from the tool crib are scanned, pulling a record of the item and assigning it to an employee or project in the database. The system does double-duty by not only tracking the movement of items, but managing when tools need to be maintained or replaced.

These features drive efficiency into the tool and equipment management process, allowing a company to reduce tool inventory expenses with fewer item replacements. Better yet, a systemized approach to managing resources lets managers know where and to whom tools are assigned, which reduces tool loss and hoarding. Jobs run more smoothly with less time spent searching for missing tools and equipment.

RFID Tag

The main part of an RFID system is the RFID tag, which houses a chip and antenna. These chips, much like bar code labels, store unique identifying information, such as product or serial numbers and the item’s location and service history. A handheld scanner is used to access information stored within the chip. The scanners send radio energy to the tag, which is sent back to the scanner to locate data about the item in the database.

The benefits of tracking tools and equipment using RFID technology are many.

• RFID scanners can read RFID tags when they’re inside a carrying case or embedded in the tool, eliminating the need to remove items when checking them into and out of inventory.
• Internal RFID tags cannot be removed, making them a strong theft deterrent.
• Internal RFID tags are protected from external elements like water or electricity.
• A large amount of complex data can be stored in an RFID tag.

The bottom line
Combining the power of a SaaS tool tracking solution with technology like RFID provides the information needed to analyze how tools, equipment, materials and consumables are used and managed on construction projects. Real-time data gives an enterprise-level view of how to best utilize construction resources. This means construction executives have the power to make educated decisions rather than dreamy predictions about how to maximize profits, improve the bottom line and stay competitive in down times.

About the author
Don Kafka is the president of Denver, Colorado-based ToolWatch Corporation, a technology company providing tool and equipment systems that track and manage resources throughout an entire construction organization. ToolWatch’s Enterprise-wide and software-as-a-service (SaaS) packages offer real-time tracking and management information using the most current and reliable technology. Its applications incorporate technologies including Smart Client deployment, SQL Server Compact Edition and SQL Server 2005 Enterprise. ToolWatch’s customers include 30 percent of the top 400 general contractors on the ENR400 list and 28 percent of the top 50 specialty contractors on the ENR600 list. For more information, visit www.toolwatch.com or call 1-800-676-4034.

A quick Google search didn’t uncover the data we were looking for. So we decided to don the detective caps ourselves. After talking with a local repographics service, and making a few calculations, we discovered some startling statistics: 42,000 trees are killed each year to print blueprints. Laid end to end, this is the distance from New York City to Washington DC!

37 Million Blueprints Are Printed Every Year
Before construction begins on a job site, blueprints will be printed and re-printed numerous times over by architects, project managers, building owners, engineers and contractors. Our local repographics shop gets an average of 35 print requests a day from this crowd. Before the economy took a dip, this number was closer to 80.

For a single request, the shop may be asked to print one blueprint, or up to 300, depending on the size of the project. So on the low end, this shop prints off 12,600 (35/day) blueprints a year.

Reprography – the practice of copying and reproducing documents and graphic material – is a 3,000-company industry in the United States. Our local shop is considered a smaller shop, so assuming every reprographics company prints 12,600 blueprints a year would be a conservative estimate. Still, at this rate, this means the entire industry prints 37,800,000 blueprints every year.

Using the standard architectural size of a blueprint (24″x36″) as our unit of measure, along with information we gathered from Conservatree.com, we determined it would take 42,000 trees measuing 40 feet high and 6 – 8 inches in diameter to produce this much paper. Aside from the deforestation, there is additional pollution from the paper factory, vehicles to transport the paper, ink cartridges used at the printing shops and more.

Digital Plans Require Zero Paper
Blueprinting is an outdated practice; it is a 167-year old technology. Today, the same blueprint-based activities can be achieved using onscreen takeoff software. Contractors can view plans, measure lengths and volumes, and markup plans on a computer screen. Plans are electronic – either PDF or CAD files – and can be emailed around without printing a single sheet.

When integrated with construction cost estimating software, contractors can take a measurement, then calculate material quantities and volumes. For example, simply trace an interior wall with your mouse or digital pen, then the estimating software will tell you how many 2×4s, sheets of drywall, screws and insulation is needed to build the wall. The software also provides accurate material and labor pricing for your region.

In turn, this allows contractors to determine the cost of a job, then bid on the project. It reduces miscalculations and helps contractors avoid over or under bidding a job. This is the key to job profitability.

Cost of Software vs Cost of Paper Plans
While the initial software investment is larger than the $3 cost of a blueprint, the software will pay for itself by eliminating printing needs and improving the speed and accuracy of estimating jobs. Most estimating and takeoff software costs between $1,000 and $10,000 depending on number of licenses, feature and function requirements, and construction trade (e.g. earthwork, mechanical, electrical, etc). Here’s a simple example to understand how quickly software could pay for itself:

Let’s say your commercial construction firm bids on 100 jobs a year. For each job you print off 10 blueprints. At $3 a print, you’re looking at a $3,000 expense just for blueprints. This is the same investment you would make for the one-time purchase of software.

100 jobs per year  X  10 blueprints per job  X  $3 per print  = $3,000  OR  1 software license

Incentives for Construction Software Adoption
For an industry that follows the mantra “if it aint broke, don’t fix it,” it will be tough to change construction companies blueprint habits. Going paperless for the sake of saving our planet is not going to drive change; it has to make dollars and sense.

So what will be the impetus for change? For starters, we think federal incentives could help. Just as the government is handing out incentives for doctors that switch from paper charts to electronic medical records, there could be an incentive for construction companies to migrate from blueprints to software.

Secondly, we think the US Green Building Council should create a LEED credit for builders using software instead of blueprints. This credit would be appropriate for the existing “Innovation in Design” category. It could be awarded to companies that use software in place of blueprints to carry out pre-construction activities.

Finally, there need to be incentives for the 3,000 reprographics companies to move from blue printing serivces to cost estimating services. This will obviously be a tough sell as changing business models is not easy. However, the business model does work, and one might argue it is more profitable because of lower operating costs (no ink, no paper, no purchasing and maintenance of expensive plotters, etc).

That stimulus money is supposed to help an industry that is still hemorrhaging jobs today. So far, the ARRA has sent money to all corners of the construction industry, from residential building construction to highway projects to water and sewer line maintenance.

Here is a comparison of the jobs lost in the last year (September 2008 to September 2009) with the number of jobs created or retained by the ARRA.

Jobs Comparison Graph

Recovery.gov recently released their quarterly report on stimulus bill funds and our team at Construction Software Advice has compiled the construction related data to gain a clearer picture of how the ARRA is influencing the construction industry.

The major question surrounding the ARRA and the construction industry on this reporting deadline is: How many construction jobs has the stimulus bill actually created or retained?

We downloaded the state summaries from Recovery.org; sorted the project activity codes by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) construction industry definition (23); and compiled those construction project numbers.

According to the data released on October 30th by Recovery.gov, the ARRA has created or saved 73,352 construction jobs across the nation at a total cost of $15.8 billion since the bill was signed into law.

That’s $222,107 per construction job.

What effect do those numbers have on overall employment in construction?

Here is a graph of the number of construction workers unemployed each month this year, in thousands.

Unemployment in the construction industry has more than doubled in the last two years and as you can see, the stimulus bill has so far had a negligible effect on construction unemployment. There are over 600,000 more construction workers unemployed right now than there were in 2008.

The verdict so far on the stimulus bill and construction job creation across the country?

Jobs are being created and saved but nowhere near a rate that will allow the stimulus bill to claim victory over construction unemployment.

At the current rate of approximately 8,500 construction jobs created/saved a month nationwide, it would take the stimulus bill by itself 82 months to bring construction unemployment down to 2008 levels.

Even though the ARRA may not be single-handedly saving the construction industry (which wasn’t its intent), only about one-third of the stimulus construction money has been disbursed in the form of grants, loans and contracts. With 73,352 jobs created/saved during this reporting period, the number will undoubtedly go up in future months as more projects begin and as more projects enter more labor-intensive phases. The construction jobs created/saved by the stimulus will likely get better before they get worse.

How are individual states doing creating construction jobs with their ARRA money? Some better than others.

The table below shows the total ARRA funds awarded for active construction projects by state; the amount of ARRA construction funds sent so far; construction jobs created/saved by the ARRA; and the cost of each construction job created/saved by ARRA funds.

We acknowledge that there are cost of materials, insurance, bonding, etc. to subtract from overall construction spending but those numbers are not readily available in the federal government’s reports on the stimulus spending.

State	Amount Awarded	Amount Received	Jobs created	Cost per job
AK	$559	$117	905	$129,161
AL	$757	$440	1190	$369,982
AR	$411	$237	1006	$235,976
AZ	$659	$114	1538	$73,957
CA	$3,700	$2,200	4197	$535,171
CO	$477	$308	1041	$295,621
CT	$324	$221	432	$511,053
DC	$1,900	$105	1047	$100,493
DE	$131	$65	474	$137,924
FL	$1,400	$57	1772	$32,242
GA	$1,000	$599	1551	$386,357
HI	$307	$99	439	$226,517
IA	$573	$135	1474	$91,617
ID	$190	$139	451	$307,707
IL	$1,100	$811	2451	$331,066
IN	$971	$89	993	$89,407
KS	$693	$405	909	$87, 818
KY	$647	$326	1245	$261,508
LA	$723	$420	1056	$397,895
MA	$1,500	$361	5174	$69,831
MD	$791	$386	1520	$254,322
ME	$233	$87	707	$123,115
MI	$960	$140	2942	$47,536
MN	$748	$440	2077	$211,734
MO	$766	$135	1436	$93,920
MS	$582	$323	930	$347,341
MT	$397	$85	1298	$65,449
NC	$1,000	$649	2310	$280,742
ND	$376	$174	560	$311,619
NE	$331	$155	923	$168,350
NH	$221	$128	284	$448,984
NJ	$892	$500	1556	$321,326
NM	$335	$178	747	$238,919
NV	$155	$103	298	$344,987
NY	$2,900	$838	5108	$164,101
OH	$1,500	$462	3820	$120,908
OK	$707	$191	1390	$137,231
OR	$398	$113	650	$173,201
PA	$1,200	$124	1937	$63,811
RI	$195	$26	441	$59,572
SC	$810	$366	941	$389,290
SD	$326	$148	569	$260,302
TN	$994	$124	991	$124,601
TX	$2,500	$1,300	4199	$325,891
UT	$411	$231	1417	$162,782
VA	$700	$240	754	$318,592
VT	$170	$107	358	$299,481
WA	$751	$411	1670	$246,100
WI	$676	$106	1050	$100,901
WV	$385	$201	561	$359,103
WY	$240	$52	563	$91,980
Total	$41 billion	$15.8 billion	73,352	$222,107 (Avg.)

The Spectrum Equipment Service System helps construction companies track equipment costs more accurately. These costs can then be allocated back to jobs, ultimately improving profitability. Here’s how it works…

Spectrum Equipment Service System employs three devices. The first is the equipment monitor, a device that captures both operating hours and idling hours of machinery. The monitor is attached to each piece of equipment and is calibrated using RPMs. When RPMs exceed a given speed, hours are logged as operating; when RPMs fall below this speed, hours are logged as idling.

Why is this component important? Foremost, it takes the guesswork out of tracking equipment hours. On a construction site – a very dynamic place – tracking hours by hand is unreliable. Equipment runs at irregular intervals, and even the most experienced and disciplined supers won’t always be accurate. The equipment monitor automatically tracks equipment hours for you, eliminating time and errors from manual data collection.

The second device is the fuel controller. This tracks how much fuel is dispensed to each piece of equipment. Data is then sent directly to the third device, the “field master.”

The field master is a touch-screen device mounted in service vehicles or fuel trucks. Notice the big touch screen and big buttons. No fumbling through operating systems – simply turn on the device and you’re in the software, just like a cell phone.

When other machines are near – for fueling or maintenance – the field master wireless’ly syncs up with that machine’s equipment monitor. It collects information on fuel consumption and equipment usage, then relays the data back to the office using a cellular modem. It also alerts the field mechanic about preventative maintenance tasks or any equipment problems.

Our conclusion: this system can save construction companies time and money in three key ways:

• First of all, manually tracking this information in the field is a hassle, not to mention the data will need to be logged again back at the office. Think of the work load if you have 100 to 200 pieces of equipment, all fueled on a daily basis. If that’s not frustrating enough, consider that the data could still be inaccurate. Spectrum Equipment Service System eliminates double data entry.
• Second, cost allocation is key to job profitability. Using Dexter + Chaney’s new system, construction companies get a better understanding of the true cost of equipment ownership. This helps companies decide when to purchase equipment or rent it instead. Knowing hourly equipment rates also helps companies bid jobs more effectively.
• Finally, preventative maintenance is crucial if you want to get the longest life out of your machines. If you can’t properly track usage, then you could be skipping preventative maintenance tasks. This results in breakdowns and expensive repairs. Which means you’re losing out on your investment.

Founded in 2005, Software Advice matches technology buyers with the right software for their organization. The company serves a range of vertical markets, including the construction, medical, property management and retail industries. In turn, Software Advice also provides a powerful marketing channel for software vendors that are looking to reach buyers in these industries.

When deciding where to move the company, founder & President Don Fornes said that Austin’s favorable business climate and high quality of life made the central-Texas town stand out.

“We wanted to move to a city where we could grow our business cost-effectively and have a great quality of life. I also wanted our employees to love where they lived. Austin gave us the best combination of a friendly business environment, outstanding professional talent and a quality of life that that is unmatched.”

Austin’s reputation as a technology hub played a large role in the move, Fornes said.

“We knew that as the company grew, we would need to find talented employees with a background in technology and Internet marketing. Moving to Austin means that we can find that talent right here while helping to strengthen local business.”

The company is connecting with that talent by hosting a meet-and-greet happy hour for Austin’s blogger and tech community. The event begins at 6 P.M. on August 13th at the company’s downtown office (Click here for our flyer with more information).

Software Advice also walks the walk on the environmentally conscious business philosophy that is shared amongst so many Austin companies. The Software Advice office at 7th & Congress is paperless. Any documents that come into the office are scanned and stored digitally before being recycled. Each month, the company prints fewer than 20 sheets of paper.

Meanwhile, every Software Advice employee commutes to work by foot, by bicycle or by bus. Employees also man the company’s internal recycling program by sorting and transporting recyclables to Ecology Action of Texas every Friday.

“We definitely made the right choice,” Fornes said. “We love Austin. It’s a great fit. Over time, we hope we can have a positive impact on Austin’s local economy, while continuing to serve software buyers across North America.

About Software Advice
Software Advice (www.softwareadvice.com) has helped over 13,000 businesses of all sizes make the right technology decisions. The company has developed sophisticated technology for software needs analysis and requirements matching. Software Advice experts use this technology to match buyers with the right software system during its free telephone consultations. Currently, the company serves the construction, medical, property management and retail industries.

For more information, please contact Chris Thorman at (512) 364-0118.

Update: Here is video from our 1st Annual Summer Bash.

Thank you to everyone who came!

Tracking LEED credits requires software functionality similar to that required for more traditional construction project management. Consequently, a few leading vendors have re-purposed their technology to make this possible; others have customers who have developed their own work-arounds.

We expect to see a lot more software development as the number of annual LEED projects continues to grow. In the meantime, we’ve researched what’s available, how it works and how you can benefit from it. Here’s the scoop.

To Start, LEED Requires Strong Document Control
Tracking LEED credits is a document-intensive process. Just ask any experienced LEED Accredited Professional (AP). Submittal documentation includes drawings, receipts, product spec sheets, photos, commission plans and more. Adding to the clutter, numerous project members will access and edit these documents.

Project management software, especially web-based systems, act as a repository for the storage and retrieval of critical project documents. Simply upload a document into the system, then attach it to the appropriate LEED-credit log. From there you can track the history of a document, see every change that has been made and who made it.

EADOC (Demo | Price Quote) is a web-based system that offers LEED tracking functionality. This example screenshot shows LEED credit details for Indoor Environmental Air Quality (IEQ) 7.1. The page includes information on what materials were used, the project location and status of approval. More importantly, notice the attached submittal and drawing documents. These files provide a paper trail for proof of compliance. Click the image for a closer view.

Tracking Credits with Reports by Category
Here’s another example from Procore (Demo | Price Quote), developers of web-based construction project management software. The example below is for Materials and Resources (MR) Credit 2, construction waste management. This credit requires contractors to recycle and/or salvage 50% to 75% of nonhazardous construction debris.

Procore’s LEED detail tracking page includes a brief description of the credit and a table with the requirements. Users can upload related documents (in this case a disposal ticket from the waste management company), then log specific details in each column (weight of material disposed).

Achieving a Single View of LEED Progress
We spoke with Tooey Courtemanche, CEO of Procore, to understand how his system allows users to track progress toward LEED qualification. Using his system, project managers can track credits on a per-project basis. After selecting which LEED version the project is working toward (e.g. v2.1, v2.2 or v3), the software returns a dashboard-view of all credits available.

From here, users can monitor the credits they’re applying for and the corresponding documents. Clicking on a link takes them to the detail tracking page for that credit. Submittals can be emailed, faxed or uploaded into the system, then attached to the credit. This is especially handy for LEED APs and construction managers that need to log files from the field.

When it comes time to apply, all files will be safe and secure in a single place. Users can then generate PDFs to submit to the LEED-Online system.

Additional Benefits
Aside from the aforementioned benefits, project management software can be used to schedule and coordinate important project dates (e.g. commissioning sessions), it can give you a competitive edge to win more LEED projects and it provides the document tracking required to get AP accreditation.

Finally, project management software mitigates risk. There are big financial ramifications if you fall from a gold to silver, or off the podium entirely. As Courtemanche explained to us, “Just as accounting software has become a ’source of truth’ for financial reporting, project management software is a source of truth for LEED certification.”

Future Potential
In terms of development, we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg. There is great potential for software vendors to create advanced features and functionality to make LEED tracking a less complicated process. Maybe we’ll even see a “click to submit” function for companies to submit electronically to the USGBC.

In the meantime, here are a few of our ideas. Feel free to leave a comment if you have other suggestions.

• Executive dashboard – Shows up-to-date LEED scorecard and latest project activity
• Portfolio roll-up – Ability to look at a “portfolio” view of all past and current LEED projects
• Resource database – Share best practices and case studies with other APs and contractors
• ROI/IRR Analysis – Calculate internal rate of return for a building based on discounted cash flows and investment costs
• Submittal templates – Use templates to generate indoor air quality (IAQ) plans, construction waste management plans, credit interpretation requests (CIR) and other submittals

Need help tracking LEED credits? - The following project management systems offer LEED-tracking capabilities or have similar technology built in. Schedule a demo to see the system in action and test the features that are most important to you.

EADOC provides an easy to use web-based project management system that allows facility owners and construction managers to exchange project documents electronically with contractors, architects and engineers.

Procore is powerful project management software for contractors. Procore is the service to use when you want to manage project scheduling, RFIs, communications, punch lists, change orders, photos and documents all from one easy-to-use online interface.

e-Builder is the leading provider of fully integrated capital program and project management software for top facility owners. It provides cost management, scheduling, business process & workflow, reporting and document management in one easy-to-use, web-based software.

Prolog provides complete construction project control by automating all aspects of the construction lifecycle, from project design to close out. Prolog provides industry-leading project management tools for mid-sized general contractors, architects, engineers, facility owners, and a wide range of specialty contractors.