Project Quick Start Guide

Create new project

in the My Buildings section of Plan&Compare Buildings.

You can then start filling in the basic information about your project, like name, address, etc.

Save the project

and keep saving it frequently so you don't loose any of your work. EC3 does not save your progress automatically.

Fill in material quantities

in the quantity table at the bottom of the project page. Blank projects always start with a few suggested assemblies and elements to give you an idea of how to structure the data.

Adjust the view structure

if you need something other than the "Uniformat" view. 1) switch to a custom view, 2) overwrite the names of assemblies, subassemblies, and elements, 3) add more layers, or 4) add more elements as needed.

Define what the element is

by clicking on the search EPDs button. Alternatively, you create a "multi-element" material, which is just another way of adding a layer so you can build out more complex, multi-material assemblies, like wall or floor systems.

Select product category

for the element in question. You can reveal and select subcategories or parent categories. Generally, the more specific you get, the better your selection and comparisons will be, but if you are doing an early assessment, less specific category is usually also ok.

Save the Collection

to your project. This is the same as defining the product type for your element and is the minimum information you need to enter to get your first GWP values. You can and should, but don't have to fill in the search fields.

Select search filters

in the Performance Specifications section. This will narrow down just the products you want, for example, products made in a specific state like California.

Search for EPDs

by clicking the Search button in bottom right corner.

See stats & EPDs

a the bottom of the window. You can see the number of EPDsmatching your search criteria (see the blue chips rigth above "Statistics"), the GWP statistics of the subset of EPDs, and you can select individual EPDs for assignment to you project by clicking them. Confirm the selection by clicking "Apply Collection", just as before.

See element's GWP value

in the right-most column. This is your first way of seeing results, other than opening a full project chart.

Copy collections

from one element to another using the copy icon or right-clicking the element. You can then modify the collections for each element individually, but it can save the initial material definition process.

View charts

Export reports

Share the project

with your colleagues using the 1) share button (it might say Private before you share it with anyone), 2) finding the person to share with, 3) adding them to the list and setting their access level, and 4) confirming the sharing settings.

Don't forget to save!

and explore many other useful features.