Back in 2009 and 2010, LEED professionals were getting busier and busier, but LEED Online, the official documentation platform, was not keeping pace. For a brief moment, LEED Automation appeared to be the answer, with a variety of companies putting forward software to streamline the process, reducing laborious documentation steps to a few clicks.
Today, the field has narrowed to a few platforms. Here are the ones we're aware of.
Do you use any of these tools? What do you like/dislike?
Some of the better-known tools that have fallen to the wayside include:
- GreenGrade (shutting down in December 2016)
- Green Wizard (declared bankruptcy in January 2016)
- LoraxPRO
- O+M Track
Prompted by the recent GreenGrade announcement, I asked around to see how people are handling this issue. Here's what I heard:
- In general, it appears that professionals are much more concerned right now with where to find product data to support the Building Product Disclosure and Optimization credits in LEED v4. Here's our guidance on that: Product Libraries To Help You Achieve LEED v4 Material Credits.
- A typical response was: "Over the years, we have been solicited by several vendors. Our opinion has always been that what they are offering is not so much better than basic LEED Online. We’re all struggling with providing more service at lower cost and the expectation that LEED is integrated into the design and this is something such providers fundamentally failed to understand [in their subscription structures]."
- "I have never really seen the need for additional LEED project management software. To me, it’s just one more thing to pay for that would add cost to the project, and one more software platform and interface that project team members would have to learn. One of the past features I’ve seen on these software programs are the ability to track who has done what work and when, but the new LEED Online has a timestamp and project team member name now for each action taken, making that offering obsolete. Another benefit was a specialized communication portal where the project team could talk to each other about tasks in-process and work yet to be completed. Emails and phone calls have always seemed to work okay for me. Unless the software deconstructs your Revit model and does all the documentation for you, I couldn’t imagine ever being persuaded to make that investment."
- "We have looked at some of the other dedicated platforms from time to time, but did not see any added value (and definitely didn't want to add another layer to LEED Online for our teams). We have been well served using our own internal management and LEED Online (and, of course, frequent visits LEEDuser)."
That last reference to LEEDuser was completely unsolicited! Here, we have always tried to offer a basic but powerful LEED knowledge resource that supports you in managing LEED projects in any way that works for you.
What are your favorite tools for managing LEED projects? Is there anything on your wish list? Please comment below.
And to stay current with LEED Online, which you're almost certainly using to some extent, tune into our regularly updated guidance, which covers both what's working and what's not.
Add new comment
To post a comment, you need to register for a LEEDuser Basic membership (free) or login to your existing profile.