Going Green With Software

Words: Dan KamysMarch 2009 Software & Technology

Going Green With Software

Gray Construction, an ENR Top 100 Green Contractor, has reduced construction submittal response time by 60 percent and cut printing and shipping costs by 50 percent by going paperless with Bluebeam PDF Revu. The product is a PDF creation, markup and editing software for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. The firm has achieved significant results by sharing construction submittals electronically in PDF, rather than printing and shipping paper.

This greener, more sustainable workflow is being deployed on various projects, including the construction of a new 165,584-square-foot distribution center for Kentucky Eagle Beer in Lexington, Ky. Project team members located throughout the United States communicate faster with Bluebeam PDF Revu than paper submittals allow. The team creates PDFs, compares revisions of PDF drawings with the Document Compare feature, and redlines PDFs with customizable markup tools, such as text boxes, shapes, symbols and images. Project documents are then emailed, eliminating the need to print and ship.

Gray Construction has deployed Bluebeam PDF Revu Standard Edition and CAD Edition to more than 200 users.

Return to the main story:
Return to Table of Content
About: Side Story
PPE That Workers Actually Wear: Building Buy-In Through Education and Smart Selection
August 2026

In masonry construction, personal protective equipment (PPE) is often the last line of defense between a worker and an injury. Yet despite its importance, PPE compliance remains one of the most common challenges on jobsites across the country. The realit

Greg Brown
Safety Library
Read More
Zero Laydown: Navigating the Logistics of Tight Urban Job Sites
August 2026

In modern commercial construction, spatial real estate has become just as valuable as the materials themselves. The industry shift toward high-density, urban projects means that the sprawling job sites of the past have been replaced by tight footprints wh

Shayne Sanders
MAP Partner
Read More
Why "The Software Can't Track That" Is Finally Going Away
August 2026

For as long as specialty contractors have used field software, most of them have kept a workaround somewhere: a spreadsheet on a foreman's laptop, a whiteboard in the trailer, or a text thread where crew leads send block counts at the end of the day becau

Erin Koets
Build Smart
MAP Partner
Read More
Monadnock Building
August 2026

Chicago’s Monadnock Building doesn’t dominate the skyline the way it once did. Surrounded by steel-and-glass towers, the dark brick structure can seem almost understated. But for anyone in the masonry industry, it remains one of the most important buildin

Cass Stern
American Treasure
Brick Clay Brick
Read More