Builder- March 2009 - (Page 53) TECHTOOLS TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MODERN HOME BUILDER APPLICATIONS ■ EDITED BY DAN DALEY Greenware G Builder management software systems will provide critical help. Constellation has an initiative to have all its products address the green data collection needs of its customers in 2009, says its vice president Craig Schweikart. Future software New software may help builders updates will manage credits, points, or dollars for a variety of green building programs, keeping a runmanage green construction. ning green score on each house. reen initiatives sound good, but pracBuilderMT’s approach emphasizes cycle-time tical applications often lag behind good reduction. “Reducing construction time by even intentions. Demand is growing for environ- one day can have a substantial environmental immentally friendly conpact,” says company president struction so fast that Tom Gebes. BuilderMT’s own builders aren’t able to fi nd enough studies show cycle times rereliable, skilled professionals to duced by as much as 95 days do the work. per home. The U.S. Green Building CounOne complication for all cil has found the number of buildsoftware developers is the need ing industry professionals seeking to accommodate the variety of LEED certification in the past two metrics from the various green years has doubled to over 60,000. standards developers. UnfortuA McGraw-Hill Construction Surnately for builders seeking simvey predicts that between 40 perplification, the likelihood of a cent and 50 percent of new homes STREAMLINING THE PROuniversal environmental stanbuilt in 2010 are expected to meet CESS: BuilderMT’s approach empha- dard emerging anytime soon is sizes cycle-time reduction. green standards. considered remote.—D.D. PRACTICAL builders. However, says DPFG manager Lisa Welthy, the downturn in the market preDPFG’s RTS helps follow the housingan opportusented nity to make RTS a trail of reimbursable costs. retail proposition. onsulting firm DP- “As builders were laying off staff, FG’s new reimburse- RTS was able to do the work of ment tracking system tracking reimbursements auto(RTS) allows a company matically,” she explains. to track reimbursable Applications for RTS include costs for a company’s develop- special state taxing districts ment projects. The Web-based such as community facilities software lets users discern ex- districts, improvement districts, pense functions such as expendi- special improvement districts, tures to date, costs reimbursed to municipal utility districts, date, and costs that remain to be public improvement disreimbursed, all in real time. tricts, metro districts, and The software was originally community development developed four years ago for in- districts. Other aspects ternal use for the company’s con- covered are development sulting clients, mostly residential impact fee credits, cost and commercial developers and sharing agreements, joint CONTROL development agreements, utility reimbursement agreements, and municipal payback agreements. Features include the ability to review all specific development projects and corresponding costs, view all of the contracts making up a specific construction project, and see detailed invoice or draw information on a contract-by-contract basis. Clients purchase a monthly licensing agreement for $300 per month per development. Discounted pricing is available for multiple projects. For information, visit www.dpfg.com.—D.D. Enhanced Support S age Chief Architect now offers Support and Software Assurance (SSA) on an annual basis for $395, with a 50 percent discount on subsequent licenses. Benefits include priority access to premium technical support via telephone and e-mail; free software updates and upgrades distributed electronically; access to online video training series with over 40 hours of howto training videos; and a 25 percent discount on all online and classroom training seminars. For more details, visit www. chiefarchitect.com. New Platform COST On Track B C uildLinks’ version 6.0 is a completely new platform, not an upgrade, and will go into beta in April. The software is targeted at builders in the 150-plus homes per year category and comprehensively addresses scheduling, performance and profitability metrics, CRM, and other critical aspects from groundbreaking through warranty service. Pricing will vary and will be subject to term of commitment and volume. Learn more at www. buildlinks.com. DO YOU HAVE A TECH STORY? E-MAIL DENISE DERSIN AT: ddersin@hanleywood.com W W W.BUILDERONLINE.COM m a rc h 2 0 0 9 BUILDER ■ 53 http://www.chiefarchitect.com http://www.chiefarchitect.com http://www.dpfg.com http://www.buildlinks.com http://www.buildlinks.com http://WWW.BUILDERONLINE.COM
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