Trade based workbook. The primary intent of this feature is to allow quoted or alternate prices from various Trades and Suppliers to be entered and compared back to the user’s initial estimate. The Subcontractor Comparison feature consists of two main parts: a preformatted Subcontractor Comparison Workbook; and a suite of default Subcontractor Comparison report templates. The process of this feature has a specific workflow to follow and is outlined in the subsections below.
RIB Technologies Pty Ltd www.itwocostx.com Embodied Carbon Estimating in Workbooks Introduction The ability to account for embodied carbon has never been so important for Quantity Surveyors and Estimators Fortunately, iTWO costX users can create carbon estimates quickly and easily This document is set out to help Quantity Surveyors and Estimators understand how Embodied Carbon Estimating can be achieved within iTWO costX workbooks There are definitive stages to the life cycle of a built asset These stages commence with raw material extraction, progress through product manufacturing, transport, and installation on site, then through to the operation, maintenance, demolition and eventual material disposal EN 15978 introduces a modular approach to a built asset’s life cycle, breaking it down into different stages, as shown in Figure below Figure 1: Modular whole life carbon assessment information as per EN 15978 including typical system boundaries © BSI © RIB Technologies Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved, 2022 (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) RIB Technologies Pty Ltd www.itwocostx.com Carbon is emitted through each of these stages with the above image outlining the future potential to consider recovery, reuse and recycling Therefore, when calculating the total carbon emitted on a built asset, it makes sense to calculate the carbon emissions based on these stages too By way of example, this document focuses on calculating carbon during the production (A1 –A3) and construction (A4–A5) stages, as these are likely to make up the predominance of embodied carbon associated with a building asset Overview iTWO costX’ ability to take-off quantities from hand-drawn sketches through to BIM files can be advantageous for both cost and carbon estimating, with the same take-off utilized for both aspects, all in the one application The flexibility inherent in the workbooks allows the User columns to be established for multiple purposes In this example, the workbook comprises of an elemental summary on the level Cost sheet ❶ with estimate line items for each element on the associated level Cost sheets beneath ❷ User columns M through Q have been re-named to provide headings for the embodied carbon rates and totals for stages A1 -A3 and A4-A5 ❸ NB: To aid clarity some other columns have been temporarily hidden The User columns can be re-named across all sheets in the workbook by editing the Workbook Properties, selecting the Column Names tab at the top, and then over-typing the Name for each column with the new column heading, as shown © RIB Technologies Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved, 2022 (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) RIB Technologies Pty Ltd www.itwocostx.com Estimate Line Items At its most simplistic, carbon estimating can be achieved by simply setting up the User column(s) to multiply the quantity associated with the line item (in column C:Quantity) by a carbon rate that has been sourced and entered into the corresponding carbon rat e column The following image shows an example where the A1-A3 rate column contains a hard-typed carbon rate for the manufacture and supply of a steel frame member, and the User column contains a formula to multiply the quantity used for monetary estimating of this line item by the carbon rate value Entering the dollar symbol before the C:Quantity column reference in the formula i.e., = $C1*M1 locks that part of the formula when copying -and-pasting Therefore, having entered the formula once, it can be copied-and-pasted across to the A4-A5 Rate column, and down to every row in both A1-A3 and A4-A5 rate columns without needing to be edited © RIB Technologies Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved, 2022 (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) RIB Technologies Pty Ltd www.itwocostx.com Rate Libraries In the same way that Rate Libraries can be utilized for monetary rates, it is also possible to establish embodied carbon Rate Libraries in iTWO costX In the following image, the Project Rates library ❶ contains monetary rates, whilst the Embodied Carbon A1-A3 (Product) library ❷ contains the embodied carbon rates for the material’s production stage A third library for Embodied Carbon A4-A5 (Construction) also exists for the material’s installation on -site In this example the same items in all three libraries e.g., 20 MPa ready-mix concrete (outlined), have an identical Code (con 20) and Description in each library whilst the Rate and UOM differ according to the nature of the rate This is by no means mandatory but will be utilized further in a later example Having set up the Rate Libraries, the rates within th em can be dragged-and-dropped into the respective workbook column, automatically creating the live -link formula that connects those cells to the rate in the designated Rate Library for the required stage of carbon accounting © RIB Technologies Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved, 2022 (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) RIB Technologies Pty Ltd www.itwocostx.com Rate Build-ups When using the Rate sub-sheet to build-up rate assemblies, the same philosophies apply that have already been outlined The column naming is reflected in the Rate sub -sheet, the same =$C1*M1 formula can be used in the User columns to extend the quantity by the relevant carbon rate, and those rates can themselves be entered manually (hard -typed) into the cells or draggedand-dropped from a Rate Library Rate Build-ups with Code Column Reference for Rate Code One further enhancement is to standardize the formulae in the A1 -A3 Rate and A4-A5 Rate columns by removing the reference to a specific rate Code and instead, replacing it with a reference to the A:Code column In the following example, the formula for 20 MPa ready-mix concrete in the cell outlined in orange has been altered from =XGETRATE(“Embodied Carbon A1-A3 (Product)”,”con 20”,2) to =XGETRATE(“Embodied Carbon A1-A3 (Product)”,A6,2) The reference to the designated Rate Library remains the same, howev er, the reference to the specific Rate Code is replaced with a cell reference for the cell that contains that rate Code © RIB Technologies Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved, 2022 (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) RIB Technologies Pty Ltd www.itwocostx.com This has two effects The first is to allow copying -and-pasting of the formula down the column for all Rate sub-sheet line items The second is that, as normal, when a monetary rate is dragged -and-dropped into the B:Description column of the Rate sub-sheet, the Add Quantity window will appear, as above By ensuring that the Use check-box for the Item Code is checked, as well as the Use check-boxes for Description and Rate, it will place the Rate Code in the A:Code column for that row As long as the same Rate Codes have been used for equivalent items in the monetary and carbon Rate Libraries, as mentioned previously, then the formulae in the carbon rate columns will automatically live-link to the corresponding carbon rates for the item Downloading Rate Libraries from EC3 The Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3) from Building Transparency is a free online tool which provides the ability to search for information about carbon emissions associated with the manufacture and use of various building materials It is poss ible to create an embodied carbon Rate Library in EC3, and then transfer it to iTWO costX via an Excel file For more details, refer to the “Importing an Embodied Carbon Rate Library from EC3” topic in iTWO costX Help © RIB Technologies Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved, 2022 (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) RIB Technologies Pty Ltd www.itwocostx.com Estimate Summary The Rate sub-sheet build-up described in the previous section needs to be pulled up onto the Cost sheet above As with the monetary rate figures in the H:Include column, the figures in the A1-A3 CO e and A3-A4 CO e columns total to give a rate for each unit of the Cost sh eet item Therefore, whilst the function in the E:Rate column drills -down into the Rate sub-sheet and sums up the total of the H:Include column, we need a function that will drill -down into the Rate subsheet and sum up the total of the N:A1-A3 CO e (User6) column This can be easily achieved by selecting the cell in the carbon rate column of the Cost sheet (outlined in orange below) and using the Function (ƒx) button to select the XSUMRATEUSER function, and then using the drop-down menu to select the N:A1-A3 CO e (User6) column to include in the function Once entered, this function drills-down into the Rate sub-sheet and sums the figures from the User6 column (outlined in red above) onto the Cost sheet As it is a generic formula , it can be copied-and-pasted to all other item rows under which there is a Rate sub -sheet to perform the same function A similar function referencing the User8 column (in this example) can be used to summarise the Rate sub-sheet build-up for the A4-A5 stage carbon © RIB Technologies Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved, 2022 (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) RIB Technologies Pty Ltd www.itwocostx.com The final step is to summarise all carbon totals for each estimate line item onto the level Cost sheet (elemental) summary Again the Function (ƒx) button can be used to select the XSUMUSER function, using the drop-down menu to select the N:A1-A3 CO e (User6) column to include in the function This function drills-down to the Cost sheet below and sums the figures from the User6 column onto the current Cost sheet The same function, referencing the User* column can also be used for the A4 -A5 stage carbon values Both of the resulting formulae can be copied -and-pasted to all of the summary sheet rows to pull up the carbon estimate values from below Extensions By using additional user columns, more information could be included in your carbon es timates if required There are many ways you could structure the information, but the following provides some examples of potential extensions you could develop: Include a column that specifies the basis for the carbon rate (e.g , Actual EPD, Conservative, Average, Achievable, etc.) This allows your reports to clearly indicate the basis of the carbon rate Use the estimate structure described in the sections above for an initial Conservative estimate, providing a baseline carbon estimate for the project Then, add the same four A1-A3 CO e and A3-A4 CO e columns again to the right (in the next available User columns) for the Actual (As-built) carbon rates (based on actual supplier EPDs) The columns can be configured to reference the actual carbon rates in another rate library This approach provides the ability to report on the Baseline estimated vs Actual As -built carbon rates © RIB Technologies Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved, 2022 (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) RIB Technologies Pty Ltd www.itwocostx.com TechWeb For clients under maintenance, there are numerous iTWO costX Sample and Template files available for download from the RIB TechWeb site (https://techweb.rib- international.com/templates/index.php) In this specific instance, there are sample files related to Embodied Carbon which can be downloaded and imported into your iTWO costX Database for reference The rates used in these examples are for demonstration purposes only and should not be relied on It is recommended that you source your own carbon rates specific to your region Download and import the following Sample Files: Metric Dataset • Embodied_Carbon_Sample_Building_-_Applewood_University_Metric • Embodied_Carbon_Sample_Rate_Library_-_Project_Rates_Metric • Embodied_Carbon_Sample_Rate_Library_-_A1-A3_Product_Metric • Embodied_Carbon_Sample_Rate_Library_-_A4-A5_Construction_Metric Imperial Dataset • Embodied_Carbon_Sample_Building_-_Applewood_University_Imperial • Embodied_Carbon_Sample_Rate_Library_ -_Basic_Rates_Imperial • Embodied_Carbon_Sample_Rate_Library_ -_Project_Rates_Imperial • Embodied_Carbon_Sample_Rate_Library_-_A1-A3_Product_Imperial • Embodied_Carbon_Sample_Rate_Library_ -_A4-A5_Construction_Imperial © RIB Technologies Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved, 2022 (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) RIB Technologies Pty Ltd www.itwocostx.com Resources Building Transparency EC3 Building Transparency is a non-profit organisation that provides the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3), a free database of digital, third-party verified EPDs https://buildingtransparency.org/ RICS Building Carbon Database The RICS Building Carbon Database allows users to estimate/benchmark whole life carbon emissions, during all stages of a building's life cycle For organisations who submit their data from theoretical and completed projects, the database is free to use https://www.rics.org/uk/products/data-products/insights/rics-building-carbon-database/ Should you have any further queries, or should you face any difficulties on this topic, please contact our support team via our support portal (https://www.itwocostx.com/support/) Restricted – Not to be reproduced without the express written authority of RIB Technologies Pty Ltd 10 © RIB Technologies Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved, 2022 (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL Revisions Bypass Revisioning In cases where the revised drawing and model may differ significantly from the previous issue, and owing to the speed and ease of importing BIM dimensions via BIM Templates or Model Maps, a two-step process could be considered: 1) add a revision to identify and record changes that have occurred in the drawing and model files and lock the existing revision; promote the drawing but not promote the BIM dimensions: 2) delete the existing Dimension groups (for imported BIM dimensions) and re-import the BIM dimensions from the revised drawing and model file The Dimension Groups will then be fully consistent with the latest revision and not be a mixture of previous and revised model properties 167 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght © 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL Integration into iTWO costXL 16 Integration into iTWO costXL (Only available with Network versions of iTWO costX®) iTWO costXL is an Excel® Add-In which allows data in iTWO costX® to be accessed and live linked within an Excel® spreadsheet iTWO costXL supports Excel® 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2021 16.1 Opening iTWO costXL After installing iTWO costXL, a new iTWO costXL group is placed on the Data ribbon in Excel® NOTE: If the iTWO costXL group is not available after installing iTWO costXL, refer to Enabling iTWO costXL in Excel® for instructions on how to enable it in your Excel® Clicking the Connect button automatically connects to the iTWO costX® database using the last saved user login details If you wish to login as a different user, click on the drop down arrow of the Connect button and select Manual Connect, then enter a username and password, check the Save For Automatic Connection box if you wish these details to be used by default, then click OK 168 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght © 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL Integration into iTWO costXL After connecting you are able to select the Project, Building and Revision that you wish to access To view the selected building data, click the Show the iTWO costXL task pane icon The iTWO costXL task pane will be opened to the left of the sheet and displays the data from the selected Building Use the buttons to minimize or close the pane 169 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght © 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL Integration into iTWO costXL 16.2 Enabling iTWO costXL in Excel® After installing iTWO costXL, it may not be immediately available in your Excel® You need to enable the iTWO costXL add-in in your Excel® before you can use it To enable the iTWO costXL add-in, complete the following steps: Start Excel®, and then click File > Options In the Excel Options dialog, click the Add-ins category In the Manage box, select COM Add-ins, and then click Go The COM Add-ins dialog box appears Select the check box next to iTWO costXL, and then click OK A new iTWO costXL group should now be available in the Data ribbon of your Excel® 170 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght © 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL Integration into iTWO costXL 16.3 Using iTWO costXL Data With the task pane now displayed it is possible to drag and drop data from the task pane into the Excelđ spreadsheet Đ Dragging a Dimension Group from the Name column will place the Name, Quantity and UOM into three adjacent cells § Dragging from the UOM column will place the Quantity and UOM into two adjacent cells § Dragging from the Quantity column will place just the Quantity into the target cell When the Dimension Group is dropped, a dialog box opens It is possible to select a revision, one or more zones (default includes all zones), and the quantity type Once the desired selection is made, click the Insert button and the data is transferred to the sheet It is possible to select a single Dimension Group or multiple Dimension Groups by using Ctrl or Shift keys to multiple select If dragging multiple Dimension Groups into a workbook be sure to select Dimension Groups of the same measurement type (eg all Area) as the dialog box needs to display options for a measurement type common to all selected Dimension Groups eg If an Area and Length were selected the measurement types available for selection would be Length and Count The Auto Drop feature is enabled from the Data ribbon When enabled the dialog box (shown above) is not displayed during the drag and drop process and all values are dropped based on the default for each dimension group selected 171 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght © 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL Integration into iTWO costXL 16.4 Show Dimensions Once a Dimension Group has been dropped into a sheet it is possible to see what has been measured This is done by right clicking over the cell containing the measurement and selecting Show Dimensions A window will appear displaying details of the drawings and dimensions to the left and displaying the drawing with the measurements overlaid to the right The drawing window can be panned and zoomed as within iTWO costX® When the mouse cursor rolls over either a drawing or dimension in the list the drawing window contents display the selection 16.5 Edit Function To review or change details of the dimension eg zones included, rounding etc., select Edit Function from the right click menu 172 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght © 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL Integration into iTWO costXL 16.6 Other iTWO costX® data The iTWO costXL Task Pane can also access Workbook values, Rate Libraries, Constants and Values under each of the respective tabs Note that iTWO costXL cannot directly access iTWO costX® workbooks To access workbook values, use the Named Cell function (refer to Named Cells) in the iTWO costX® workbook Named Cell values are listed under the Workbook Values tab in iTWO costX® and it is these values that are available in the iTWO costXL Task Pane 16.7 iTWO costXL Functions iTWO costXL Functions are fully integrated into the Excel® Insert Function system so can be easily entered into a cell 173 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght © 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL Integration into iTWO costXL 16.8 Refresh Data The data in the Excel® spreadsheet is live-linked to the source iTWO costX® database Therefore, if the iTWO costX® data is amended, the Excel® spreadsheet values can be refreshed accordingly To this, click on the Refresh button on the Data ribbon This will also refresh the data in the Task Pane 174 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght © 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL iTWO costX® Networking 17 iTWO costX® Networking 17.1 Network Features Improved productivity § Ability for multiple users to be working on the same job at the same time on the same set of drawings; § All users work to a common template; Improved information management § Only one file exists which eliminates duplication; § All users can access central Rate and other libraries; § Single file ensures the server file is the latest version - eliminates version mismatch; § No need to merge buildings Improved user flexibility Concurrent license agreement provides flexibility for any users to log in at any time (up to the license number limit), and no need to transfer licenses when staff leave or join Ability to implement a password policy A password policy can be set up to these things: § Prevent users from choosing commonplace passwords by creating your own password blacklist § Require users to change their password after a specified period of time § Set a minimum password length and require specific character types, including uppercase characters, lowercase characters, numbers, and symbols The password policy applies to users of iTWO costX client, iTWO costX server admin, and iTWO costXL For detailed information on how to configure the password policy, refer to the Password Policy section of iTWO costX Help 175 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght © 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL iTWO costX® Networking 17.2 Network Administration The Network software is held on a server, and client software is held on each user computer Under iTWO costX sever admin, user names are held and permissions may be set for each user which will determine which features they are able to access when logged onto their client computer The server has optional authentication Audit logging of user logins and logouts 17.3 External database Connections An iTWO costX® API is available which allows external programs and databases to directly interface with iTWO costX® including both reading and writing for most iTWO costX® data types The iTWO costX API binaries, sample files and documentation are included with the iTWO costX® server installer Refer to the iTWO costX® API Guide 176 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght © 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL iTWO costX® Customization 18 iTWO costX® Customization 18.1 iTWO costX® Options Within iTWO costX®, it is possible to set various customization options for the program These options include workbook specific options (such as default rounding settings), drawing specific options (such as hardware acceleration), and global options (such as metric or imperial units) For details on the various options, refer to the Program Options section in iTWO costX Help 18.2 User-defined Quick Access Toolbar Users may create a customized toolbar using the More Commands option from the customize Quick Access Toolbar switch Drag and drop the command icons from the Customize window into the toolbar space by hovering over the switch until the cursor icon x changes to a + 177 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght © 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL System Administration 19 System Administration Location is set for each project Prices from the rates library are organized according to their location Thus prices are being correctly sourced from the rate library according to the location of the project In a network scenario, these locations are seen by all users Constants are fixed values or figures that can be referenced in workbooks You can think of it as a rate library but for a unit of measure or tonnage Constants not change for each project (eg steel weight in kg/m for typical members) Custom Quantities give you the option to create custom fields on dimension groups so as to calculate additional quantities Dimension Groups are a grouping of dimensions of the same measurement type and generally the same object being measured Dimension groups may be of type Area, Length, Count or Volume Standard Dimension Groups are useful to establish measurement protocols for consistency and to avoid having to create groups from scratch They can be imported and exported via Excel® CSV files (refer to the Standard Dimension Groups section in iTWO costX® Introductory Manual) Zones are set up on Buildings to allow dimensions to be categorized and extracted on a per level/unit/story/functional area basis and could even be used to sort dimensions by time (the stage of construction) You can later filter by these zones Standard Zones are global and can be added to all Buildings and seen and used by all network users (Refer to Zones) Variables are used in dimension group expressions as placeholders for values that might change from dimension to dimension A variable can be dynamically assigned a value by the user during take-off Standard Variables are global and are available to all dimension groups and Standard dimension groups (i.e they can be reused across Buildings and Projects) Units of Measure holds typical abbreviations and properties for units of measure Rounding and decimals to display can be assigned and edited here 178 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght © 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL System Administration Code Libraries are used as a lookup or mapping file when workbook items are resorted according to codes For example, a Code Library can be used to re-sort items from an elemental to a trade format or vice versa It can also be used to sort by any other coding categories such as functional area, building level, building block, options etc (Refer to Using Code Libraries in a Workbook) Phraseologies Standard phraseologies or model description libraries may be imported into iTWO costX® and accessed via a Phraseologies tab to drag and drop text into workbooks Text strings may be selected individually or combined to create detailed descriptions (Refer to Phraseologies) Rate Libraries are a collection of prices that can be referenced into a cost worksheet They can be flat prices for items or built-up composite rates of items Rates can be imported by CSV or entered manually Rate libraries are location sensitive except Default Location which is global (Refer to Rate Libraries) Subcontractors holds Subcontractor details for use in the Subcontractor Comparison feature (Refer to the Subcontractor Comparison Manual) Values can represent any numeric amount that you wish to reference in workbooks For example, Values may represent percentage factors, allowances, GFA values, and even boolean values that are used in conditional 'If' functions in workbooks (use and to represent true and false) Values are live linked so will update in workbooks when they are adjusted Values may also be set up on a per project basis Project values take precedence over global values with the same name 179 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght © 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL Further Information 20 Further Information 20.1 Additional Reading These documents are available under the iTWO costX installation directory (the default path is C:\Program Files\Exactal\CostX\Doc) The iTWO costX® Introductory manual is essential reading for all users of iTWO costX® products Digital Drawing File optimization aims to provide general tips and guidance to Designers for the more common drawing file formats on how the files may be arranged and optimized to improve team communication, and specifically to assist in the quantities measurement and estimating activities It is not intended to be a mandatory requirement for using each file format within iTWO costX®, but rather to reflect some of the more common optimizations which are of benefit The Custom Reports Guide provides a guide for how to use the iTWO costX® Custom Report Builder to create fully customized report output from iTWO costX® The Viewer and Quote Guide provides guidance to users of the iTWO costX® viewer for viewing EXF files exported from iTWO costX® and for Quoting with the iTWO costX® viewer The Subcontractor Comparison Manual provides detailed guidance on use of the Subcontractor Comparison feature within iTWO costXđ 180 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght â 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED) ADVANCED MANUAL Further Information 20.2 Free Training Videos The iTWO costX Website www.itwocostx.com contains a series of training and demonstration videos, as well as other useful resources Demonstration videos Training videos 181 www.i twocos tx.com Copyri ght © 2009-2021 RIB Technol ogi es Pty Ltd (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED)