Glasgow, UK: 2 March 2010 – A new joint venture between energy software specialists Integrated Environmental Solutions and global construction consultants Davis Langdon was launched today at Ecobuild London.  The two firms have collaborated in the development of a new online platform – Carbon Assessor – designed to empower owners and managers of large building portfolios with a simple way of gathering and analysing energy data, and complying with the new CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment) regulations.  Supporting consulting services on associated aspects of corporate carbon management and strategy are also available to organisations.

Available at www.checkmycarbon.com, Carbon Assessor enables carbon emissions of all buildings across a portfolio to be recorded and analysed, and for year-on-year reductions to be planned.  With easy input and online web access to multiple parties, the tool will save hours of work in assembling data and defining ongoing reduction strategies; helping target activity where it is most effective.

In addition, specific built-in CRC elements will help organisations comply with this regulation which comes into force on 1st April 2010.  The system allows organisations to build-up the required carbon emission records, and automatically calculates the ‘Total Footprint’, ‘CRC Emission’, ‘Carbon Allowance’ requirement and 5-year average ‘Absolute Metric’ figures.  It also provides a repository for storage of files required for the CRC Evidence Pack.

David McEwan, UK Director of IES commented: “Bringing together the complementary strengths of IES and Davis Langdon allows us to provide a unique solution; offering low cost software backed up by expert advice.  Our vision is to remove barriers and take the mystery out of building carbon reduction management, so it’s easy for organisations to take the right action to suit their individual needs.”

David Rees, Partner of Davis Langdon commented: “When we considered a strategy for advising our clients on CRC we quickly realised that gathering the energy data could be challenging for many organisations – and also that the analysis needs to be buildings focussed.  We have therefore even included the facility to add such details as information on tenancies.

The outputs from Carbon Assessor will provide an invaluable first stage in identifying and targeting the opportunities for emissions reductions and formulating a strategy for ongoing gains to maintain progress in the CRC league table.”

Carbon Assessor will be available in full from 1st April 2010, with pre-registration and demonstrations available prior to this.  Those who register on the site before the 1st April will receive a free trial of the software until 1st June 2010 (standard free trial after this date is 30-days).  Following this, the tool will be available for a modest annual licence fee based on a sliding scale linked to number of buildings and users required – starting at only £750/annum for 20 building and 2 users.  Register at www.checkmycarbon.com or email mail@checkmycarbon.com for more information or to arrange demonstrations.

Key features of the Carbon Assessor software tool include:

• Team workflow – manage and have multiple contributors with different levels of access across the whole portfolio or for specific buildings;
• Easy, intuitive data entry on a common web accessible platform;
• Ability to tailor set-up and results to suit the organisation by using custom data filters;
• Provides a simple way to gather and analyse building portfolio energy/carbon data;
• Specific built-in CRC elements and automated calculations to support compliance;
• Calculates overall building and portfolio energy use, carbon footprint and fuel costs;
• Provides indicative comparison of a buildings performance against the portfolio;
• Highlights areas of inefficient energy use and under-performing buildings to enable reduction activity to be targeted where it is most effective.

A second phase of ‘New Features’ is planned for Carbon Assessor in Summer 2010 and will include; new carbon planning tools, more reporting and analysis functionality, enhancements to CRC capabilities, ability to automatically export data to the Carbon Trust Standard ‘carbon footprint spreadsheet’, and the ability to share data with the Free IES DEC Assessor for Display Energy Certificate generation.

Associated IES and Davis Langdon consulting services will also be available to Carbon Assessor users to help them minimise ongoing costs and keep a spend-to-save philosophy at the heart of the agenda.  The following separate services could be deployed:

• Building Operational Audits – reviewing how a building is used and the disciplines of its management.
• Building Energy Audits – an engineering based check of the systems in place, how efficiently they operate and what scope there may be for efficiencies.
• Tax Relief Reviews – any expenditure on existing assets will be highly tax friendly and early identification of the potential savings can help enhance the viability of possible improvements.
• Utilisation Reviews – our experts can consider the way buildings are used and contribute to better space planning.
• Dynamic Simulation Modelling – virtual modelling can be used to identify energy/carbon efficiency opportunities and quantify potential reductions, which can then be costed and tax-relief planned to balance against reduced energy costs and fewer CRC Carbon Allowances.