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.
Resilience has become a central idea for assessing how our social, economic, technical, constructed, engineered, and ecological systems can withstand and bounce back from a man-made or weather- and climate-related disaster. Globally, wildfires, hurricanes, tornados, typhoons, high winds, hail, coastal and valley flooding, sea level rise, heat waves, seismic activity, extreme cold, ice storms, and snow melt have destroyed ecosystems, caused loss of life, damaged property, disrupted healthcare and financial networks, and in some cases, brought essential services to a halt. During this presentation, we’ll discuss the composition, performance, and application of engineered polymer siding and trim and capped polymer cladding to illustrate the benefits to home and building owners when construction materials are selected with resilience and sustainability in mind.
In this course, you’ll learn about the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) changes related to tall wood construction, including three new building types that allow for wood buildings up to 18 stories and even taller using an Alternate Materials and Methods Requests (AMMR). Rigorous fire testing was conducted as part of these code changes to validate the safety of tall mass timber construction. Along with advancements in tall mass timber construction, the course explores design tactics and relevant code applications used to boost the density of light-frame wood construction.
Finally, this course will review the science related to wood’s embodied carbon and life cycle assessment in the context of curbing a building's impact on climate change, including a growing body of research demonstrating how building with timber represents an opportunity to increase the long-term storage of carbon in today’s built environment.
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Collaboration in architecture is nothing new. However, collaboration between architects and manufacturers is a relatively modern partnership, beginning largely in the early 20th century as new forms of architecture demanded material innovation and new construction technologies. Contemporary trends like Art Deco, Art Moderne, and International style embraced principles of industrialization, and some architects, perhaps most prominently Walter Gropius, espoused the need for the “rationalization, systemization, and standardization” of architecture in an effort to emulate assembly line production without sacrificing individualism. This course will look at some of the history of collaboration between architects and manufacturers and examine the concepts of interchangeable parts manufacturing, collaborative alliances, and mass production and customization. It will also assess several case studies as well as provide tips for creating effective collaborations that can lead to innovation.
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. 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. 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. 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.