Salt Lake City, Utah: City Launches New Program, Saving Taxpayers Substantial Time and Money

August 18, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 17, 2009
Contact: Marla Kennedy
Office: 801-535-7177

Web-based plan management tool is key addition to City’s sustainability programs

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Today Mayor Ralph Becker announced Salt Lake City will begin using a new collaborative submission, review and tracking program to streamline development services and interdepartmental communication. ProjectDox® ePlan submission, a program developed by Avolve Software, will enable Salt Lake City to offer online plan submission and review for developers, architects, contractors and residents, eliminating the need to travel to City offices with paper plans for submittal.

By moving plan submission and review online, paper consumption, printing costs, greenhouse gas emissions, drive time and phone-based inquiries to city personnel will be greatly reduced or eliminated for each permit application.

“Paper-based plan submission and review is a resource-intensive process that has basically been done the same way for over a century,” said Salt Lake City Building Services Director, Orion Goff. “ProjectDox makes it possible for us to offer cutting edge technology to our residents while adhering to the City’s sustainability initiatives”. “This technology is going to make a lot of our customers very happy,” added Frank Gray, Salt Lake City Director of Community and Economic Development.

“This new program is an incredible tool for the development community, neighborhood groups, and the City,” stated Becker. “Implementation of the program supports our goals to facilitate sustainable patterns of development that serve the needs and interests of all Salt Lake City residents.”

According to Avolve’s calculations, based on 2,500 building permits issued per year, Salt Lake City and its customers will save approximately, 360,000 miles driven, 512,000 pounds of paper and prevent 2,300 pounds of hydrocarbons from being released into the atmosphere annually.

“Salt Lake City has been recognized nationally as a model of technical and environmental innovation and thoughtful leadership,” said Ron Loback, President and CEO of Avolve. “The ePlan submission and management program has become an essential piece of any serious streamlining program for jurisdictions around the country. The software also integrates seamlessly with Accela Automation,recently implemented in Salt Lake City. It’s a great honor to have Salt Lake City affirm the benefits ProjectDox brings to the community”.

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