FAQ
Frequently asked questions
On this page you can find answers to the most common questions about using Openframe. If you can’t find the answer to your question, feel free to contact our support at support@openframe.org or phone 50 77 88 80.
About Openframe
Openframe Build is a software solution to efficiently operationalize strategy and requirements for sustainability certification of construction and renovation projects.
The Openframe Build process is optimized for the construction process and guides all parties involved through the project from idea to finished project. Openframe provides overview and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
In Openframe, responsibility is delegated in the form of tasks based on the chosen standard for reporting and/or certification.
The openframe method of building sustainably frees up time and increases the likelihood of realizing the chosen objectives.
Openframe in use is a software solution to efficiently operationalize strategies and requirements for ESG reporting and sustainability certification for portfolios of properties in use.
Openframe provides overview and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
In Openframe, responsibility is delegated in the form of tasks based on the chosen standard for reporting and/or certification.
With Openframe in use, you can manage data in a structured database of the sustainability levels of your properties.
Security & privacy
All data is stored within the EU. You can find our Data Processing Agreement
HERE
If you have any questions, please contact us at
salg@openframe.org
or tel. +45 50778877
We perform daily backups of all project data. All data is stored within the EU.
Openframe infrastructure is located in a cloud-based infrastructure within the EU. We use one of the leading service providers in the market. See more in our Data Processing Agreement HERE
About Openframe
Openframe Build is a software solution to efficiently operationalize strategy and requirements for sustainability certification of construction and renovation projects.
The Build process is optimized for the construction process and guides all parties involved through the project from idea to finished project. Openframe provides overview and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
In Openframe, responsibility is delegated in the form of tasks based on the chosen standard for reporting and/or certification.
Openframe’s approach to implementing sustainability initiatives frees up time and increases the likelihood of realizing the chosen goals.
Licenses
We have 3 different licenses. Get an overview at the link HERE
For questions contact us at salg@openframe.org or Tel: +45 50778877
You can terminate a project with 1 month’s notice to the end of a license period.
The license period is the period for which you last received an invoice.
Openframe will be invoiced quarterly going forward.
You can invite as many users to your project as you need.
You can see more about how to invite users HERE
Purchase and payment
All customers pay by invoice.
When creating a customer account, we need to ask for your e-mail address and EAN number for receiving invoices.
Openframe offers framework agreements to our strategic partners. Do you have more projects?
Contact us at salg@openframe.org or tel. +45 50778877
If you want to keep your project in Openframe but not pay for features, you can put your subscription on hold or download your data.
If you have further questions or need help, please contact support at support@openframe.org or phone 50 77 88 88 80.
If you want to keep your project in Openframe but don’t need features for a period of time, you can reduce the cost of Openframe by using hibernation. You can find the price for hibernation in your contract or in our Prices section.
If you have further questions or need help, please contact support at support@openframe.org or phone 50 77 88 88 80
Yes, you can always try Openframe for free for 30 days. Find more info at this link
Or contact our sales team for more information: sales@openframe.org / +45 50 77 88 77
New project
If you want to create a new project in Openframe, as an account administrator, you can do so directly in the tool via the “Projects” menu at the top of the page.
As a starting point, use the “Frame Standard” project template, then you can freely choose between these collections of criteria:
- Project criteria (own criteria)
- The voluntary sustainability class
- DGNB DK, Apartment buildings and terraced houses, 2016
- DGNB DK, Office buildings, 2016
- DGNB DK, Education and childcare facilities, 2016
- DGNB DK, Apartment buildings and terraced houses (NER), 2020
- DGNB DK, Shop (BUT), 2020
- DGNB DK, Childcare facility (BØR), 2020
- DGNB DK, Hotel (HOT), 2020
- DGNB DK, Office buildings (NKB), 2020
- DGNB DK, Logistics (LOG), 2020
- DGNB DK, Production (PRO), 2020
- DGNB DK, Educational Institution (UDD), 2020
- Copenhagen Municipality’s collection of requirements Environment in Building and Construction, 2016 (MBA)
See how to get started quickly HERE
If you cannot create a new project, it is because you do not have the rights to do so on the current account. If you want to get your own account where you can create projects, please contact support on 50 77 88 77 77 or at support@openframe.org.
When working in Openframe, you can eventually use all certification and sustainability schemes in Denmark for your projects.
We are continuously working to expand the amount of sustainability schemes in Openframe. Currently, you can work with the DGNB scheme, which is the industry standard in Denmark, as well as the Environment in Building and Construction and the Voluntary Sustainability Class.
By default, you have access to the following sustainability schemes:
- Copenhagen Municipality’s collection of requirements Environment in Building and Construction, 2016 (MBA)
- Copenhagen Municipality’s collection of requirements Environment in Building and Construction, 2016 (MBA)
- DGNB DK, Apartment buildings and terraced houses, 2016
- DGNB DK, Education and childcare facilities, 2016
- DGNB DK, Office buildings, 2016
- DGNB DK, Apartment buildings and terraced houses (NER), 2020
- DGNB DK, Shop (BUT), 2020
- DGNB DK, Childcare facility (BØR), 2020
- DGNB DK, Hotel (HOT), 2020
- DGNB DK, Office buildings (NKB), 2020
- DGNB DK, Logistics (LOG), 2020
- DGNB DK, Production (PRO), 2020
- DGNB DK, Educational Institution (UDD), 2020
- DGNB DK, Educational Institution (UDD), 2023
- DGNB DK, Apartment buildings and terraced houses (NER), 2023
- DGNB DK, Store (BUT), 2023
- DGNB DK, Hotel (HOT), 2023
- DGNB DK, Childcare (BØR), 2023
- DGNB DK, Office Buildings (NKB), 2023
You can also work on your own sustainability criteria.
When you have been invited to a project in Openframe, it typically means that you are expected to participate in that project. You can participate in different ways depending on what your role is in relation to sustainability in the construction project. When you are invited to a project, you will typically be a ‘contributor’. This means that you have to carry out a defined task that is delegated by the sustainability manager of the construction project (the sustainability manager).
See how to get started quickly HERE
In Openframe, you can work with DGNB2020 mixed-use projects. Just be aware that you cannot create projects with the same usage type. See a guide on how to get started with your mixed-use project HERE.
Project steps
In Openframe, we suggest 15 steps that your construction project should go through from start to finish.
This division reflects the description of sustainability in the new appendix to the sustainability performance specification, which is based on the traditional phasing of a construction project.
Frame integrates all applicable legislation and regulations in the field, including addenda to the sustainability terms of reference. This gives you the assurance that your project meets the applicable standards when using Frame.
In Frame we provide 15 steps for your project. You can read about why in the ‘Why a project consists of 15 steps in Frame’ section of this page.
If you do not need all 15 steps, you can deselect the steps you do not need. You can do this from the project home page “Overview”. Here you can under “Select steps and edit dates” organize the course.
Please note that you deselect steps, before you embark on the project. Once you have started a step, it is no longer possible to deselect it.
As long as the step is not started, you can select and deselect steps.
A step in Openframe typically consists of tasks where you and your team define or fill in sustainability criteria scores and create one or more reports.
These can be either reports on the sustainability of the project or on the project in general, such as a consultancy agreement that needs to be regularly reviewed. Furthermore, as a sustainability manager, you can add your own tasks that you can assign to other users or teams of users in the project.
The nature of the reports may vary slightly. In most cases these are progress reports, but there is also a consultancy agreement (step 0), tender memorandum (step 8), tender memorandum (step 9), sustainability manual (step 11) and sustainability strategy plan (step 12).
When you and your team have finished all the tasks in one step, it will be natural to move on to the next step in the project. You do this from the project home page, where you can select the active step and click on “Move to the next step”.
If you have not finished all the tasks in a step but still need to move on to the next step, you can do so. The unfinished tasks in previous steps will still be available in your to-do list.
If you want to see how to copy tasks to the current step, click HERE
Tasks
You have the possibility to create tasks that are not linked to criteria tasks. From the task list, as a sustainability manager, you can easily create a new task by clicking on “New task”.
Here you can enter a description of what needs to be done and assign it to one of the other people or teams in the project.
If you have been assigned a task (e.g. to fill in a score for a specific sub-criterion), but you are not the one who has to perform the task, you can assign it to another user or person via the sustainability manager.
To do so, open the task and use the comment box to write to the sustainability manager. He/she can then make sure that the job gets to the right person.
If you are a sustainability manager, you have the possibility to assign tasks to individuals or teams. We recommend assigning tasks to teams to ensure handover of tasks in case of job changes, maternity leave, etc.
How to assign tasks:
- Open the main task
- Select the tasks to be assigned in the checkboxes on the left side
- Click “Assign tasks to…” at the bottom of the page
- Select the team/person to whom the task should be assigned
- If you wish, write a message with your award
- Click “Save and assign”
Score & criteria
If you want to see how your project scores against DGNB, select “DGNB” when selecting criteria. If you have already selected criteria, you can change your selection from the project home page.
You can find the score under the “Criteria” tab. Here you can track the total DGNB score, DGNB heart and the number of completed indicator tasks.
If you work with multiple sustainability schemes, you can switch between the schemes in the top right corner. This way, you can track the score of several sustainability schemes in a project.
Yes. When working in Openframe, you can create and work with your own sustainability criteria. For example, your company may have formulated a set of sustainability objectives to be implemented on all projects.
Click on “Select project criteria” under the “Criteria” tab to get started.
Project criteria is your opportunity to create your own sustainability criteria specific to your project.
Your project can include a project criteria collection consisting of your own criteria in combination with existing sustainability schemes, such as DGNB or FBK.
By default, all criteria have a scaling factor of 1 in Openframe. It is possible to give more weight to some criteria than others when adding up the project’s score. This is done by increasing the weighting to 2 or 3. The criterion will then have a double or triple weighting.
Documents
For each step in Openframe, we recommend that a sustainability report is created.
We have predefined a report for each step in Openframe, where we have selected sections that are relevant to that particular step. If the same section is written in a previous report, it will simply be reused in that report.
You can assign different sections to project users or teams. Once the report is complete, you can send it for approval, for example to the client. It can all be done in Openframe. This way, you only need to use one system and you can keep an overview of your communication.
People & teams
When you add users in Openframe, you can assign them to a team. We have predefined teams for you to match typical construction roles.
By using teams, you can assign tasks and report sections to teams instead of individuals, avoiding bottlenecks or extra work if one person leaves the project. You can simply remove the person from the team and assign a new person who will automatically be assigned the tasks of this team.
Tasks can also be assigned to a specific person in a team to avoid the above-mentioned issue. To do this, first select the team and then the specific user.
The sustainability management team is the person or persons who have administrative rights and can manage the whole project. The other persons have only the rights granted to them by the sustainability manager.
If you need a team in Openframe, you can create one yourself. To do so, click on the “Users” menu and then on the “Teams” tab. This way you can align your Openframe teams with your company’s organizational chart.
You can also always rename one of the predefined teams.
Learn more about how to create teams HERE
You can create both active users in Openframe and contacts. Contacts are not users, but simply persons to be included in contact lists. These contact lists can be extracted into reports that can be generated from Openframe.
To resend an invitation, go to “Users”. Then right-click on the person you want to resend the invitation to and click “Resend invitation”.
To move a person from one team to another in Openframe, go to “Users”. Then right-click anywhere next to the person in question. Select “Edit rights” to change which team(s) the person should belong to.
Review
You can submit your documentation and answers for the DGNB conformity check to the Council for Sustainable Building (RFBB) via Openframe. The RFBB’s evaluation is done by email. See more at Guide & tutorials About the procedure
Yes. You have the possibility to conduct internal or external reviews of criteria responses. For all DGNB assemblies, it can do so when the whole criteria scheme is approved or finalized with defects. For all other sustainability schemes, reviews can be done on an ongoing basis as the criteria are finalized.
About Openframe
Openframe In Use is a software solution to effectively operationalize strategies and requirements for ESG reporting and sustainability certification for portfolios of properties in operation.
Openframe provides overview and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
In Openframe, responsibility is delegated in the form of tasks based on the chosen standard for reporting and/or certification.
With Openframe In Use, you can manage data in a structured database of the sustainability levels of your properties.
Licenses
The license can be terminated with 3 months. notice to the end of a license period by giving notice by email to
salg@openframe.org
or your contact person.
- 1 account per license
- Access to all functions
- All to all available collections of criteria
- Unlimited number of users (internal/external)
- Access to support by phone and email
- A maximum number of properties according to the selected level
No. The Openframe In Use license cannot be paused.
You can invite as many users to your project as you need.
See how to invite users HERE
Purchase & payment
All customers pay by invoice.
When creating a customer account, we need to ask for your e-mail address and EAN number for receiving invoices.
If you have any questions, please contact us at
salg@openframe.org
or tel. +45 50778877
Openframe is free to try for 30 days. Fill in the form on the link
HERE
and we invite you to your free test project.
New project
If you don’t already have an account in Openframe, you can contact us at
salg@openframe.org
or tel. +45 50778877 for more information.
If you already have an account on Openframe, you can contact support at
support@openframe.org
or tel. +45 50778880. Please indicate:
- Which account/portfolio should the project be placed in
- Billing information
- Project title
- Sustainability Manager
You can currently work with the DGNB BIU 2023 manual. In the future, we will add more collections of criteria.
Score & Criteria
On the “Criteria” page, you can track your DGNB score – both at indicator level, criteria level and for the overall project. This way, you can see the score development while working on the indicator tasks.