TrackerPlus – managing BREEAM online

Thanks to Building4Change and the BRE Group e-newsletter, I see that TrackerPlus, “a fully integrated online BREEAM project management system,” has been recognised by BRE Global for its ability to streamline the BREEAM assessment process for members of the design team and allowing assessors to submit their assessments directly from the system to BREEAM for quality assurance (QA) and certification. As a result BRE Global has awarded London-based environmental consultancy Southfacing, the creator of TrackerPlus, the first BREEAM badge of recognition for software.

The BREEAM assessment process has two formal key stages: during the design stage, where assessment is based on design and procurement information such as drawings, calculations and specifications; and a post-construction assessment, based on ‘as built’ information such as record drawings, delivery notes, site photos, etc, that results in the final certificate. (An informal pre-assessment may often be undertaken at the project outset to demonstrate the building’s potential to achieve BREEAM ratings required by the local planning authority, funding body or client.)

Given that a lot of the information used in assessments on many projects is already routinely collected through a SaaS-based construction collaboration technology platform, I wonder if Southfacing has considered offering TrackerPlus as a solution that could be licensed and integrated into systems such as 4Projects, Asite or BIW (to name a few – and mention of QA also reminds me of Unit4 Collaboration‘s compliance system BC Assure; post), for use by qualified BREEAM/CSH assessors on those projects? As with other types of project workflow (eg: compilation of health and safety files, defects resolution), environmental assessment data could be collated in one place, reducing the amount of importing and exporting between parallel systems, and adding the most up-to-date reports and information to the dashboard views generated for authorised users by these platforms (I have contacted Southfacing about this idea).