Zonda - Resource Library

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. This course explores the intersection of sustainable building practices and educational environments. Through the lens of recent mass timber projects, including the Evergreen Charter School, the course examines how mass timber construction can address key challenges in K-12 education, such as facility inequity, student well-being, and sustainability goals.

Participants will gain insights into how mass timber supports healthier learning environments, reduces embodied carbon, and offers cost-effective alternatives to conventional construction materials like concrete and steel. The course emphasizes how buildings can serve as an integral part of the educational experience, fostering community engagement and promoting long-term resilience.

Time-honored material offers a bold new expression of architectural excellence. Read why slate is an ideal cladding solution for numerous applications. In an industry and design environment where so many materials ask architects, contractors and owners to make difficult sustainability, performance and aesthetic decisions, consider how the simplicity and elegance of a reimagined building material presents a way forward with minimal compromise.

As people spend an increasing amount of time indoors, the need to bring natural light into building interiors becomes even more imperative. Daylighting is an important part of architectural design for many reasons, with occupant well-being and sustainable practices at the top of the list. This course will explore the health and environmental benefits of daylighting, look at polycarbonate fenestration products as a practical and high-performing option, and discuss design considerations and possibilities, including case studies of polycarbonate products used in daylighting projects.

This course explores the innovative use of mass timber in architecture. Chandra Robinsons’ extensive experience with timber projects showcases the material's potential to advance building technologies while promoting sustainability, equity, and resilience.

Participants will explore various case studies, from affordable housing to commercial buildings, highlighting the practical applications and benefits of mass timber construction.

This course will discuss how architects and business owners can achieve outstanding performance and low-cost operation by incorporating high-efficiency, low-emission propane appliances into commercial new builds or retrofits.

We will discuss the challenges of designing commercial buildings in rural areas, especially those that do not have natural gas service, and how propane can help to meet resilience and sustainability goals, and maximize health, wellness, and occupant comfort. In addition, this course will explore applications for propane in different commercial building types, as well as case studies where propane was used.

Are we able to dive deeper into these numbers to find ways to reduce a building’s carbon footprint in meaningful ways? What are the methods used to measure building material carbon footprint and do they tell the whole story? Are there simple tools to assess material choices? This course seeks to address these and other questions by explaining the principal methods and tools that are used to assess carbon footprint in the context of building materials.

It includes a primer on product terminology, including life cycle assessment (LCA), environmental product declarations (EPDs), carbon footprint, embodied carbon, and whole building LCA (WBLCA) tools. It explains how biogenic carbon is treated in standard LCA methodology and dives into the forest side of the equation, explaining basics of the sustainable forestry cycle. This course also highlights some ways to track and assure wood comes from sustainable forests in North America and why demand for wood products supports investment in forest management.

Brick is a resilient and sustainable material used in high-performance buildings, a key aspect of sustainable design. Sustainable design considers the health and well-being of building occupants and the concept of resilience, which is to withstand extreme weather events, then quickly repair and re-occupy.

The learning objectives explore the age old material, which has gained traction in resilient design and discusses how buildings constructed of the material provide occupant comfort in terms of thermal, acoustic, and non-VOC emissions.

Biophilic design has solidified itself as a staple of modern building design, quickly moving from a trend to an established design principle. An increasing number of building owners and tenants are interested in incorporating biophilic design into their commercial spaces, and because biophilic design IS the future of design, architects and designers are stepping up to meet the need. This course will help architects and designers understand the core concepts of biophilic design and why it’s an essential component of the current interior built environment, as well as the future of commercial spaces.

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. Buildings must be designed to stand up to their natural environment, including high winds, heavy rain events, and freeze / thaw cycles. Increasingly, building systems must also have a positive impact on a building in case of a catastrophic event, such as potential natural disasters. Wood-plastic composite cladding is a great alternative for constructing resilient and sustainable commercial buildings.

The material is highly durable with performance attributes that equate to a longer-lasting, more resilient product than alternative cladding materials. This course will cover the principles of resilient design, the importance of material durability and high performance when specifying resilient materials, and how wood-plastic composite cladding contributes to resilient building design.

Focusing on the future, GE has worked for two decades to advance green building initiatives. Hear what they are working on now and what they offer to help pros advance sustainable building practices.