What Are The Benefits of Upgrading To A Subscription with Enterprise Functionality (Specialist/Hotseat/Enterprise)?
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Embedding LCA at an organisation level has become easier and will provide added value with centralised ownership of LCA models, floating seats, inter-company collaboration for integrated design and unrestricted number of read-only users.

The subscriptions such as the Enterprise, Specialist & Specialist Hotseat, come with the enterprise functionality which is best for organisations that have developed LCA capacity working on a variable number of projects who prefer some per-project costs to help manage fluctuations in the work.

Enterprise functionality benefits and features:

  • Higher discount on project fees – 40% discount.
  • Centralised ownership of LCA models and intellectual property with the user project data stored and managed centrally by the organisation.
  • Full inter-company collaboration with floating seats to complete LCA modelling and unlimited read-only users.
  • Organisation Portal in eTool allowing organisations to allocate available seats to active users (floating software subscriptions) and view user’s activities.
  • Advanced eTool training
  • ‘Read Only’ seats, Specialist, Specialist Hotseat and Enterprise seat collaboration

Check out how it works in this quick demonstration:

Collaboration between enterprise and specialist users – An organisation may waive the minimum Enterprise seats required if at least one user is a Specialist Subscriber and providing the Organisation has at least one Specialist Subscriber they will also qualify for all Enterprise Subscriber functionality.

If the Enterprise user is the lead author of the study there will be a project access fee associated with that specific project. If the Enterprise user is just a collaborator in the study authored by the Specialist user then there ́s no access fees. Their only limitation is that the Enterprise user minimises the effort in the study to less than 20 added or edited Design elements. eTool will warn users in the system if an action will forfeit the Specialist Subscriber Access fee waiver.

See additional info on How to set your organisation up in eTool – Enterprise Functionality.

How Do I Request A Quote or Raise An Access Fee Invoice?
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If you’re on a Consultant or Enterprise subscription, you will need to pay an access fee prior to using eTool to start your project. To raise an invoice for this, you can do so via your eTool dashboard under the ‘Request Quote’ menu.

Even if you do not currently hold an active subscription, you may start the process of finding out which subscription most suits you by requesting a quote anyway.

Alternatively, you can contact us via the link below:

Contact Us

 

What is the eTool Access Fee and why does Cerclos charge for it?
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Consultant and Enterprise subscribers are subject to software Access Fees for any project in eTool that is for commercial gain. Only Specialist/Specialist Hotseat subscribers have this fee waived.

Why does eTool charge an access fee? The fees are for the complete use of eTool software, including all LCA/LCC features associated with your subscription level, development of new features, software maintenance & life cycle inventory data. We also offer our unique certification service without additional charge. Software access fee is paid before you start a new project for commercial gain.

I don’t need Certification, can I skip the fee? The short answer is no as the fee covers more than just the certification. If you intend to publish your results for commercial purpose, our Terms of Service stipulate that you must get your work certified before doing so. Going through the process will give you confidence that you have used the software correctly and that your study is of a high quality.

From day one, eTool recognised the importance of comparable and accurate results flowing from our software. ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards for LCA call for all studies to be verified by a third party, therefore it made sense for us to include this certification service in the Access Fee as we understand the inner workings of the software which is important for an LCA verification. It also provides us with a revenue model that doesn’t require large upfront fees since the project budget is no longer a key factor in commissioning an LCA, thus allowing the proliferation of affordable LCAs and lower impact buildings.

The certification process involves support for the users conducting the LCA by way of coaching them on the use of the software to report and build an audit trail of changes in the model. It is an interactive process to ensure that the work not only meets required standards but also gains the most value out of engaging with Life Cycle Design. If you require more in depth coaching or mentoring for your project prior to submitting your work for certification review, you should consider our Advanced Support package.

How is the fee calculated? Access Fees will vary depending on project size and type. For a more accurate fee figure specific for your project please request a quote. More information on the different subscriptions can be found here.

Access Fee Estimates

The table below shows estimated access fees per project based on the project floor area.

Additional information can be found at the eTool Services Specification, Project Licenses and Project Certification sections of eTool Software Use Terms and Conditions.

Related article:
Certify your design

 

What is the Difference Between 'Specialist Hotseat' and 'Specialist External Seat' in eTool?
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In response to user feedback and demand, eTool now offers TWO dynamic seat sharing functionalities to help improve the seat sharing experience.

Our recently released ‘Specialist Hotseat’ is built on user demand for more flexibility and freedom to share their seats in eTool. With this new hotseat feature, users now have an upgrade option to let the software automate the seat sharing functionality in real-time. This functionality makes seat allocation seamless and enhances the user experience. It also makes the use of purchased seats a lot more efficiently when simultaneous use of the software is not at its limit which is beneficial for multi-discipline design teams. When an organisation has purchased Specialist Hotseats, the org Admin is able to allocate these seats to their users in the ‘Manage Users’ tab. There is no limit to the number of users they could allocate these seats to as the Organisation Admin.

Specialist Hotseat

The ‘Specialist Hotseat’ is an upgraded version of the standard Specialist seat. The upgraded seat means that the software automatically manages the seat sharing function among multiple users that have been assigned the hotseat within the same organisation.

  • Seats are automatically allocated by the software in real-time at login, depending on the number of seats available;
  • Once the Org Admin has allocated the seats, admin users can still control user access to specific projects (Lead, Collaborator, Read Only, Not Involved) while the software will automatically manage seat allocations within the organisation. Please refer to this support post for more detail on managing Organisation members;
  • In-app communication process when all seats are allocated to verify if active users would like to retain access or revert to read-only;
  • only 25% additional cost compared to the standard Specialist seat which has no hotseat functionality (manual management of seat sharing);
  • For more info on how the seat works, please refer to this post.

In addition to new ‘Specialist Hotseat’, we are also introducing the ‘Specialist External Seat’ functionality. The ‘Specialist External Seat’ function allows organisations with this functionality to have external contractors/consultants that ‘bring-your-own’ seat when collaborating within their organisation on eTool. This feature can only configured by eTool application administrators, so please get in touch if you’re interested in activating this feature. 

Specialist External Seat

  • Available only for organisations with a minimum of five (5) Specialist Hot-seats;
  • External consultants with an existing eTool standard Specialist or Specialist Hotseat seat will not require an additional seat allocation within the organisation and will be able to utilise their existing seats when collaborating on projects (note that for Specialist Hotseat users, their access will be dependant on their Hotseat availablility. Otherwise their access will be ‘Read Only’ until a Hotseat is available to them);
  • The external user needs to be invited to join the Organisation in eTool first to be assigned the Specialist External Seat. Please refer to this support post for more information on how to invite users to your organisation;
  • Organisations with this feature activated can assign unlimited ‘External Specialist Seats’ to members of their organisation;
  • For more info on how the seat works, please refer to this post.

Please read the following related articles for more information:

Subscription Pricing Details

Specialist Hotseat: How Does It Work?

Specialist External Seat: How Does It Work?

Set your organisation up in eTool – Enterprise Functionality

How many certification requests can I submit at a time?

 

How to Update My Personal Subscription/Payment Details?
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Note: If you are updating the details of an Organisation / Enterprise Plan containing seats, please see: How to Update My Organisation’s Subscription / Payment Details?
 
If you are in a Open Use plan. As communicated in an official email, this plan has been discontinued. However, we are pleased to offer you a complimentary 14-day Trial plan, granting you unrestricted access to eTool.
 
To continue beyod the trial, upgrade to one of our paid subscription for uninterrupted access, exclusive features, and support. Click here to upgrade.
 

UPDATE PERSONAL PAYMENT DETAILS

 
To update your personal (Consultant) subscription/payment details, please ensure that you have your new card details on hand before proceeding with the steps below:
 
  1. Log in to eTool and in your home dash, click on your profile name at the top right corner of the page and click on ‘My Profile’.
  2. Click on ‘My Plan’.
  3. Click on ‘My Personal Payment Details’ to update your card payment details.
  4. Update your card details in the billing information page as below.
  5. Click ‘CONFIRM UPDATE’ to finalise changes.

UPGRADE PERSONAL PLAN

  1. Log in to eTool and in your home dash, click on your profile name at the top right corner of the page and click on ‘My Profile’.
  2. Click on ‘My Plan’.
  3. Click on ‘Change Plan’ to upgrade your subscription plan.
  4. In the Subscriptions page, select the plan you wish to upgrade to.
  5. For more information on the Enterprise functionality, please continue on to this support post.

 

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CANCEL MY PERSONAL PLAN

BEFORE you cancel your subscription, please ensure that you are aware of what you need to do before you downgrade your plan by reading the post below:

Cancelling My Subscription – What Do I Need To Know?

After you’ve completed the process outlined in the post above, please follow the steps as per below:
 
  1. Log in to eTool and in your home dash, click on your profile name at the top right corner of the page and click on ‘My Profile’.
  2. Click on ‘My Plan’.
  3. To completely cancel your subscription, click on ‘Cancel Plan’.

How to Update My Organisation's Subscription/Payment Details?
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Note: If you are updating the details of an Personal Plan, please see: How to Update My Personal Subscription / Payment Details?
When you create an organisation, your Personal Plan is automatically set to Open Use to avoid double-billing.
 

UPDATE ORGANISATION’S PAYMENT DETAILS/SEATS

Please follow the steps as per below:
 
  1. Navigate to your Organisation Portal <most important step to avoid creating a new organsation
  2. Click on ‘Edit Plan’
  3. Click on ‘Edit Plan’ again to update card & seat details.
  4. Select applicable payment option.
  5. Leave the number of seats as is if you do not wish to change them OR update to the total number of seats required.
  6. Click ‘Next’ to move on to the payment details page. If you have selected the ‘Manual Annual Billing’ option, you will be contacted by one of our staff with the updated invoice.
  7. Update your payment details by clicking on ‘Change Payment’.
  8. Click ‘CONFIRM UPDATE’ to finalise changes.

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CANCEL ORGANISATION’S PLAN

BEFORE you cancel your subscription, please ensure that you are aware of what you need to do before you downgrade your plan by reading the post below:

Cancelling My Subscription – What Do I Need To Know?

After you’ve completed the process outlined in the post above, please follow the steps as per below:
 
  1. Navigate to your Organisation Portal <most important step to avoid creating a new organsation
  2. Click on ‘Edit Plan’
  3. Click on ‘Cancel Plan’ to cancel your organisation’s subscription.

Jump back to contents ↑

RELATED POSTS:

How to Update My Personal Subscription/Payment Details?

How Do I Make A Support Request

What Benefit Does My Organisation get with the Enterprise subscription?

Can you transfer a users data to my account?

How Many Certification Requests Can I Submit At A Time?
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Depending on the type of subscription, you’re only allowed to submit ONE certification per user or per seat at a time.
 
 
Please consider upgrading to the Specialist Hotseat to enjoy the advantage of automated seat allocations so that each user in your organisation can submit a design for certification with added convenience and speed.
 
 

In-flight Certifications On Hold For Long Periods

Having certifications in flight for long periods expose a vulnerability in the review process as there is no way to ‘lock’ the design from getting edited in the interim. As a reviewer, if weeks/months have passed between reviews, there is no way to ensure that the user hasn’t made any undeclared changes to the design without conducting the review all over again which is time consuming.
 
Nonetheless, we understand that things can change with projects which are outside of your control (i.e. projects getting put on hold indefinitely). Therefore if circumstances change with a certification where you are unable to update the LCA due to missing information, you can choose the following two options to proceed:
  • RECOMMENDED whenever possible: complete the certification ‘as-is’ so that the design is ‘locked’ which will speed up the future review process if/when the project gets restarted again. This is because the reviewer will only need to compare the difference between the new cloned & updated design versus the previously certified/locked design. This is particularly important especially if the reviewer has already completed the first initial review. Note that you can ALWAYS get your design certified without responding to any of the reviewer’s feedback if you do not wish to do so bearing in mind that the relevant quality checks & comments will be left in question to highlight the reviewer’s concerns for reference.
  • Only if the initial round of reviews have not been completed: ‘Un-certify’ the design to take it off the certification queue. This is only recommended if the reviewer has not started the initial review yet. If the certification has not been assigned to a reviewer then it would be safe for you to take it off the queue. However if it has already been assigned, please notify the reviewer of your intention to take the design off the certification queue before you click ‘un-certify’ so that they won’t inadvertently waste time completing the initial review only to find out that you’ve taken it off the certification queue.
Getting your design certified as quickly as possible is important so that a ‘line can be drawn in the sand’ with regards to where the design is at that point in time and lock the design. When a certification is put ‘on-hold’ and left in-flight, it compromises the review process as it would be inefficient to review the whole design again to ensure no undeclared changes have been made to the design when you’re ready to come back to it. By locking (certifying) the design at the point before it is put on hold, the reviewer has a reliable reference point from which to continue the review of the updated design.
 
Even though the certified design has been locked, you can always clone the design to continue updating it immediately afterwards. All paid subscriptions can have up to 6 certifications per project. Exemptions may be negotiated case by case if you exceed this number, however it is very rare that you’ll need more than 6 designs certified for the same project. For users who may have difficult clients that are constantly requesting for design updates, we suggest that you give them a deadline for their update requests so that you can limit the number of times you’ll need to submit your design for certification.
 
So from a reviewer’s perspective, you don’t submit a design for certification unless it is ready or necessary to be reviewed so that the whole review process can be completed quickly and efficiently to minimise the review process getting compromised.
 

Can I assign an alternative email for billing purposes?
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Yes and no.  If your business has an enterprise subscription you any member of your organisation with “Admin” rights can enter a “Billing Email” where eTool will send all payment reminders, receipts and subscription notifications.  This is done through the “Organisation Profile” tab in the organisation dash.

If you’re a consultant or open use subscriber unfortunately you cannot assign an alternate billing email within eToolLCD.  However, if for example you work in a business with a separate accounts team who need a copy of the eToolLCD communications, simply set up an email forwarding rule on your email service, for example:

How can LCA models be shared and transferred in eTool?
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The Consultant Plan is intended for individual LCA practitioners. The account is linked with the user email address and all intellectual property (IP) data and LCA modelling belongs to the user and not the organisation who pays for the subscription.

Will your employer want access to your LCA models after you move roles or otherwise stop using eTool? If so, you need the Enterprise or Specialist plan as the Consultant plan does not allow sharing or transferring of models between users during or after your subscription.

We set the Enterprise plan so that businesses who want to retain their IP can do so and eTool can support this practice in a legal manner.  If you are a business that wants to retain your IP as staff transition in and out of your organisation, you will need the Enterprise or Specialist plan.

Related Posts:

Can you transfer a user’s data to my account?

Cancelling My Consultant Plan – What Do I Need To Know?

What Benefit Does My Organisation get with the Enterprise subscription?

How to Update My Personal Subscription/Payment Details?

How Do I Make A Support Request

 

 

Can you transfer a user's data to my account?
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Technically yes, legally no. Our terms are quite specific about data ownership, see the below extract with the red highlighted text:

Subscriber Data
By using the Platform, certain data and design documentation will be uploaded and entered into The Platform. The Subscriber retains all of their right, title and interest in and to its Data, and ownership of such Data shall not be transferred to eTool under this agreement. Subscribers grant us a nonexclusive license to use Data to deliver Services to authorized users of the Platform, solely in connection with the Structure and further grants us a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual license to use usage data (such as, by way of example and not by way of limitation, aggregated and / or averaged Structure performance information) in an aggregated form that does not identify individual persons or organizations, in order to compile statistics regarding life cycle environment and cost impacts, report on the Platform usage and/or to improve the Services.

Our agreement is with the Subscriber (regardless of who pays the bill for the subscriber).  So for non-enterprise users it’s the user themselves who owns the data.  We can’t transfer it or copy it without their consent.  The Enterprise, Specialist & Specialist Hotseat subscriptions have enterprise functionality so that businesses who want to retain their IP can do so and Cerclos can support this practice in a legal manner.  If you are a business that wants to retain your IP as staff transition in and out of your organisation, you will need one of these subscriptions.

If a Consultant plan subscribe gave us consent to transfer data between accounts the actual process is a manual task that has risk associated with it depending on the data in question.  For this reason, Cerclos may refuse the request, or charge a fee for the service if it is agreed to proceed.

Related Posts:

Cancelling My Plan – What Do I Need To Know?

What Benefit Does My Organisation get with the Enterprise subscription?

How to Update My Personal Subscription/Payment Details?

How Do I Make A Support Request

Cancelling My Subscription - What Do I Need To Know?
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When you cancel any paid subscription, please be warned that all your projects will no longer be available to you once you’ve cancelled your subscription.

This just means that your Projects will no longer be maintained within eTool in that online format. However, you may retain all the data of your projects offline by downloading all the necessary reports from your designs. These reports will contain all the information you have entered into your designs and it is even possible to rebuild your LCA based on the info in those reports should you wish to do so in the future. If you must retain these projects online within the eTool platform, you will need to maintain your current Consultant subscription OR upgrade to a subscription that has the Enterprise functionality so that the projects may be fully transferred to another user within your organisation.

Consultant subscriptions can not be transferred to another user. Should you wish to have that functionality, please consider upgrading to one of our Enterprise Plans. You can find more information on our different subscriptions here.

If you only wish to have have an offline copy of your work, we recommend downloading the following reports:

  • LCA Report
  • All Impacts Report
For Certified designs, the following are additional reports that you may consider downloading:
 
  • Certifier Review Statement
  • Scenario Summary Tables (only for comparative studies where improvement strategies have been modeled)

Once you’ve downloaded all your reports, you can proceed with cancelling your subscription as per the instructions in this support post:

Cancel My Personal Plan

 

Related Posts:

How to Update My Personal Subscription/Payment Details?

How Do I Make A Support Request

What Benefit Does My Organisation get with the Enterprise subscription?

Can you transfer a users data to my account?