Electronic Plan Submission, Review, Tracking and Storage is a Green Initiative

Reduce Paper and Save Trees. Reduce Customer Traffic and Greenhouse Gases. Let Staff Telecommute.

The ProjectDox for ePlan solution goes beyond addressing process and time management challenges; it also provides significant advantages with regard to environmental conservation. Consider that in most every instance of a land development and or construction project, multiple sets of paper plans are required for review, fossil-fuel vehicles are used to deliver plan-sets and, normally, plan-sets must be submitted and distributed multiple times during the approval process.

It has been calculated that, by using ProjectDox for ePlan, a jurisdiction issuing 3000 permits annually could save up to

  • 312,000 miles driven and 20,800 gallons of gas
  • 457,600 lbs. carbon monoxide emitted
  • $57,200 in fuel costs
  • 12,480 hours of drive-time
  • 192,000 lbs. of paper used (239 trees)
  • Approximately 12,000 lbs. of paper requiring storage

Access to ProjectDox also enables telecommuting for some jurisdictional personnel as well as reduced travel for field inspection teams, which can also increase energy and environmental conservation.*

Energy Conservation

The heating, cooling and lighting of buildings consume 45% of the energy produced in this nation. As energy costs continue to rise and more and more jurisdictions sign on as partners in the national Green Building movement, the effective and efficient enforcement of the provisions of energy codes for both new and existing buildings takes on added importance to communities.

Electronic plan review software including the U.S. Department of Energy’s REScheck and COMcheck tools are helping a growing number of jurisdictions reduce energy consumption for consumers by enabling their building officials to more readily assure compliance with the provisions of their energy code.

* Based on averages derived from current gas prices, conventional paper product specifications, and round-trip mileage to jurisdictional offices. Savings will vary.

download Download: Green Calculator
Version: 0.1
Updated: February 28, 2010
Size: 139.5 KB
Description: Want to know the environmental impact of using electronic documents instead of paper for plan submission, review and tracking? It’s greater than you might think!