Interior PVC Wall Cladding Systems: Performance, Specification, and Installation Considerations

PVC wall cladding is a superior option for interior surfaces in a wide variety of applications, including healthcare, hospitality, commercial and public facilities, and more. It’s a lightweight, customizable, sustainable solution that outperforms other cladding options. This course will explore different types of interior wall cladding and explain the benefits of PVC, including an active antimicrobial panel system. Learners will also explore specific applications for interior PVC cladding and review installation best practices to ensure a successful project.

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Designing with Metal Wall Panels

Webinar On-Demand: This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. After completing this course, one will know how to define metal wall panel substrates and coatings, and explain the basic requirements of a wall assembly. This course will also provide you with the knowledge to be able to describe the different types of metal wall panels and understand the basic detailing and flashing components.

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Email: The Seven Deadly Sins

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. Emails are part of the oxygen of our daily professional lives. They are a primary path of communication and we use them to get things done. Yet given the litigious nature of our world, it is critical to treat this common form of communication with the attention it needs and think very carefully about what we write and why we write it.

This program presents examples of self-implicating and subsequently weaponized emails and guidelines for writing appropriate, shorter, clearer messages.

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The Neurobiology of Biophilia & Spatial Cognition

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. This course explores the neurobiology behind Biophilia’s most healing attribute: a visual connection to nature, which also happens to be the feature with the most robust peer-reviewed research backing its therapeutic qualities. We learn about the connection between the immune system and sensory processing, as well as how environmental features precipitate a neural chemistry that modulates our attraction/aversion to the built environment.

The course unveils the healing potential of indoor sky illusions and how cognitive mechanisms map out our body’s location in relation to our immediate surroundings, as well as to perceived connections to nature. This understanding of how distinct areas of the brain assemble our embodied sense of place provide valuable insights in the design of enclosed interiors for human wellness.

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Enhancing Value of Remodeling Projects with Propane

This course provides an overview of the home remodeling industry, including industry growth trends, demographic insights, and typical project types. The course also explores the potential role of propane technologies in different remodeling applications, illustrating key performance characteristics and how they can add value to remodeling projects. The course concludes by describing the options for propane storage in residential applications.

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Cultivating Successful Collaboration (Print Course)

Architecture has always involved some form of collaboration – and the process begins with the client. Whether working with a developer, an institution, a family, or an individual, clients help determine everything from the location to the budget and often weigh in on form and function. In addition to clients, other stakeholders include engineers, builders, interior designers, and consultants.

Often overlooked, however, are the collaborative efforts between architects – sometimes from different firms – and interdisciplinary teams that result in groundbreaking, innovative structures. This course will examine the benefits and difficulties of collaboration, including the ways in which collaboration can help to address climate change and sustainable practices, as well as how various theories on collaboration apply to architecture.

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In Pursuit of Acoustical Equity (Print Course)

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted intense review of workplace design considerations and solutions. Amongst the A&D community, there is growing conviction that occupant well-being and engagement must be supported through concern with equity—and applied to real-world needs such as acoustical privacy. To reliably design buildings to function acoustically for their users (e.g., provide adequate speech privacy, freedom from distraction, reduced annoyance, a good night’s sleep, and so on), one needs to establish a known and consistent level of spectrally neutral background sound.

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Specifying Low-VOC Architectural and Industrial Maintenance Coatings to Meet Air Quality Standards (Print Course)

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are chemicals emitted as gases from certain solids and liquids, including architectural and industrial maintenance coatings. VOCs are the leading cause of ground-level air pollution and indoor air pollution, which can adversely impact the health of building occupants.

This course will examine the importance of indoor air quality and how it is impacted by VOCs. We will discuss how VOCs are regulated at both the federal and state level, including exemptions, classifications, and how these regulations affect Architectural and Industrial Maintenance (AIM) Coatings. There are new regulations on the horizon that you should be aware of, as coating manufacturers work to develop products that achieve a balance between important performance and application factors and their environmental ramifications. The course will also explore coating technologies that already meet strict VOC standards.

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Greater Heights and Innovative Design: A New Generation of Tilt-Up Buildings (Print Course)

Tilt-up is a method of construction whereby large concrete panels are cast horizontally on site and then raised into final position, usually vertical, with a crane. This building system, which was conceptualized in the early 1900s, is used throughout North America and across the globe. Once considered a method suitable only for large warehouses, today tilt-up construction is employed on virtually every building type, from distribution centers to schools, churches, libraries, retail centers, and office buildings. It has become the method of choice for many developers, designers, and contractors because of its numerous benefits.

This course presents the latest advances in tilt-up concrete technology, which provide economical, energy-efficient, and durable building solutions for a variety of project types, and focuses on several case studies.

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Contemporary Design for Changing Times: How Windows and Doors Influence Architecture (Print Course)

The COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and other forces are changing the face of architecture, including a gravitation toward more contemporary styles and solutions. Many of the related architectural elements — including windows and doors — are rooted in principles introduced by modernists nearly a century ago. This course will closely examine the connection between current events and fenestration design, the enduring influence of modern architecture, design trends and influences in contemporary architecture, and fenestration options for contemporary window and door solutions.

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