Getting Started with Automated Takeoff

What is Automated Takeoff?

Automated Takeoff reads your building plans and pulls out window details automatically. Instead of manually measuring windows and transcribing sizes and performance values off a PDF, you upload the plans, and the feature extracts the windows for you.

It uses AI to read the drawings, schedules, and notes the way a person would, then hands back structured data you can review and use.

What type of building plans should I use?

The feature works best with standard residential construction documents in PDF form. For the most accurate results:

• Include window schedules and elevations. Windows are matched against their schedules for size, U-factor, and SHGC, so plans that include them produce the richest results.
• Prefer plans with explicit dimensions. Plans that only show drawings without any stated dimensions will produce limited results (and may be flagged as missing dimensions).
• Clear, legible PDFs. Vector PDFs or high-resolution scans read far better than low-quality or heavily skewed scans.
• Multiple files are allowed. A single project can include multiple PDFs (e.g., separate elevation and floor plan files), and the takeoff results will be combined.
• One home per project. All uploaded files in a project must belong to the same house.
• Single-unit plans only. Our system currently requires plans focused on a single unit to run an accurate takeoff. We do not yet support multi-family buildings or plans containing multiple units.
• 25MB size limit. Ensure your combined files do not exceed 25MB due to AI processing limits.

What's included in the extracted results?

For each window found in your plans, Automated Takeoff extracts the following:

1. Label: label associated with the extracted window if specified in the schedule or the drawing.
2. Dimensions: width and height (in inches) and the calculated area in square feet.
3. Quantity: how many identical windows share that entry.
4. Performance values: U-factor and SHGC, extracted when they're explicitly listed in a window schedule.
5. Reference: a citation to where the data was found in the plans (e.g., "Window Schedule, row 3" or "Front Elevation, pg. 4"), along with any notes.

Tip: Values like U-factor and SHGC are only pulled when they appear in a schedule - if the plans don't state them, they'll be left blank rather than guessed. Automated Takeoff is a fast first pass, so always review the result (especially low-confidence entries) before using them.

Items currently excluded but required for modeling a window in Ekotrope:

• Orientation
• Window Type

The Automated Takeoff feature is currently in beta. It utilizes artificial intelligence, and its outputs can contain errors, hallucinations, inaccuracies, or outdated information. It is recommended that the user review the results and verify them before accepting them.

If you have any questions regarding this feature, feel free to reach out to us at support@ekotrope.com. We really appreciate your feedback in making it more useful and more user-friendly.