Zonda - Resource Library

Achieving optimal comfort requires focusing on design principles and selecting materials that address acoustics, indoor air quality, daylighting, cleanability and more — everything occupants see, hear, and feel. Some of the most significant contributors to the aesthetics and performance of interior spaces are ceilings and walls. Today’s architectural ceiling and wall solutions are sophisticated products that play an enormous role in occupant comfort. This course will explore how architects and designers can improve occupant health and well-being through the use of acoustic ceiling and wall systems in the built environment (more specifically in offices, classrooms, and healthcare facilities, where people spend a great deal of time).

Western red cedar is a wood prized for its beautiful color and grain, natural insect and moisture resistance, and durability. It is an extremely versatile building product that can be used both indoors and out and can be finished in myriad ways to complement a building’s aesthetic.

This course will discuss best practices for finishing, care, and maintenance of western red cedar that will ensure a long-lasting finish in both exterior and interior applications.

Integrating interior and exterior spaces has been shown to provide occupants with myriad benefits in a variety of settings. Establishing a connection with the outdoors can improve health and wellbeing for occupants at home or in the office, as well as encouraging healing and reducing stress. In retail settings, connections with nature have been shown to increase consumer spending, and in any environment, views and sounds of nature have proven to reduce stress and enhance concentration. Folding, multi slide, and swing door systems lend themselves to occupant wellbeing by integrating interior and exterior spaces and seamlessly providing controllable access to nature.

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. Glass connects us to the outside world but with a cost: glare and heat can compromise both comfort and sustainability. Dynamic Glass seeks to help designers eliminate this compromise. In recent years, growing market adoption and technology advancements have resulted in Dynamic Glass moving from niche to mainstream. After this presentation, attendees will understand how this technology works, how it impacts building performance and the people in them and learn about specific applications where it is most often employed.

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. For many architecture and engineering firms, the business is not just a career, but a lifestyle. However, when the time comes to retire or slow down, the most important investment you can rely on might not be your 401(k), IRA, or real estate portfolio—but your firm. Succession planning is not just about ensuring your practice can continue without you; it’s about building a valuable asset that can provide significant financial security and wealth, potentially making your firm your most significant retirement asset.

Presented by Steve Burns, FAIA, Founder of The Well-Designed Firm, this session is an essential webinar on the best practices for succession planning and leadership transition designed specifically for firm owners who may not have considered the long-term financial benefits of planning ahead. Steve will show you how to strategically grow your firm’s value, preparing it for a successful transition that can offer you the financial freedom to step back when you are ready.

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. Explore the fundamentals of variable refrigerant flow (VRF) technology and discover how it enhances energy efficiency, design flexibility, and sustainability in various architectural projects.

Learn practical applications, design considerations, and installation best practices for VRF systems.

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. Dumbwaiters and material lifts offer increased efficiency, as well as cost and space savings. They can also reduce or prevent workplace injury therefore appeal to the welfare aspect of architecture. By the end of the session, participants should have a broad understanding of material lifts and dumbwaiters, their technology, application and advantages.

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. Concrete is a rather ubiquitous, tested, proven, and versatile building material. It has been used for literally thousands of years to create long-lasting man-made structures of all types, including buildings. Architects in the past few centuries have found it to be an appealing choice to express dynamic and vibrant designs in ways that other materials could not. The ability to structurally reinforce concrete and form it into custom, free-flowing shapes can give it an organize quality that is different from most other materials. This can produce more design freedom and the ability to incorporate unique and custom features into a building as part of the basic construction process.

It is not surprising then that new technologies, techniques, and design approaches have been developed that allow architects to think and design with concrete in ways that are even more creative, structurally efficient, sustainable, and cost efficient. It is also common to couple the technical knowledge of concrete with the ability to design in three dimensions using building information modeling or similar design software to create award-winning and stunning facilities. Some architects even attest that their careers have not only been made possible but flourished through this combination.

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. Developing the next generation of leaders is essential for every architecture firm's long-term success and sustainability, whether you're a solo practitioner or amongst the largest firms in the world. Leadership development is not just about succession—it's a critical investment in building firm value, motivating employees, increasing retention, and ensuring profitability. Firms that embed leadership training into their culture earn the trust and loyalty of their employees and clients while positioning themselves as industry leaders.

This webinar provides practical, scalable strategies to create a leadership pipeline tailored to firms of all sizes. Building on the principles of succession planning, this session demonstrates how leadership development drives innovation, strengthens business resilience, and secures your firm’s future.

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. The world needs to rapidly reverse the trends caused by extraction economy processes and recognize that sustainability and resilience are not enough to meet global 2030 commitments. Increasing carrying capacity and regenerating the earth is needed to achieve a future of equity and abundance while greatly reducing GHG emissions along with building resilient capacity. Project by project, from small to large, architects can and must be the change to meet these challenges along with dedicated industry partners. This presentation demonstrates projects that fuse together resiliency and sustainability while incorporating ecosystem services strategies to advance regenerative design practice.