Zonda - Resource Library

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.

Hear Sekisui House, Ltd., Marketing General Manager Norio Adachi on what bringing Chōwa to the United States market means to Sekisui House, its leaders, its partners, and its worldwide team of associates.

Industry demands are always changing and evolving from trend to trend, style to style. You need to choose a window and door supplier that you trust their products will live up to their performance and durability claims.

In this age of constant change, it’s important for business owners working in retail, office, and healthcare to be able to pivot their operations and space needs quickly — and sometimes often. Whether you design retail environments, workspaces, healthcare facilities, or other configurable spaces such as education and hospitality — spaces that need to be capable of adjusting to changes in location, circumstance, or even human behavior — you’ve likely too often been forced to make uncomfortable trade-offs. This course will explore the dynamic nature of business environments today and design options for prefabricated, modular, customized structures that can help your clients adapt their physical spaces quickly while remaining design forward. The course will also help you understand how prefabricated structures combat construction waste and address sustainability.

There are numerous challenges facing the construction industry today, but the building process can be optimized with a collaborative design process leveraging advanced components like floors, roofs, and wall systems. An off site construction approach empowers designers to embed off site methods and solutions into the design phase. Harnessing the power of 3D design and building information modeling (BIM) can also help to overcome industry challenges by providing a streamlined, more efficient process.

This course will explore how adopting the design-make-build process, advanced components, and 3D technology creates a common ground that guides each design decision and optimizes construction.

The operation of multifamily and hospitality developments has drastically transformed over the past decade, and more recently since the pandemic. Residential developments are no longer just a place to hang your hat — they have come to represent a resident’s lifestyle and community. Developers have followed suit, offering numerous community-building and wellness amenities. Like in multifamily properties, hotels and resort guests are also seeking home-like and wellness amenities with a touch of luxury.

Restaurants, hotels, and resorts have had to overcome massive hurdles since the pandemic and have come out on the other side with expanded offerings, many centered around outdoor dining, lounges, and green spaces. This course will examine some of the amenities these developments are offering and the role propane can play in attracting new residents and guests with expanded amenities.

Gas appliances like ranges, fireplaces, and furnaces are important amenities that many home buyers want in a new home. However, in some residential developments, natural gas access may not be feasible and on-site propane storage may also have challenges. Community propane systems offer an innovative method for supplying propane to every home in a community through a centralized delivery system. Community propane systems allow developers to offer gas access to builders, who in turn can sell gas amenities to buyers. In the end, both benefit and homeowners reap the rewards of gas appliances and other desired technologies in their home.

This course discusses how community propane systems work; use cases for these systems; value propositions for developers, builders, and owners; and common propane applications for residences and community buildings.

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. Projects are the core of your architecture firm. Not only do they generate profits, but they are also at the center of your firm’s business operations. As such, doing everything you can to ensure their success should be one of your top priorities.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) track project success by measuring how your projects (or team, clients, and so on) are performing. Because each architecture firm has different goals and ways of working, your vital KPIs will vary from project to project.

Effective KPIs, regardless of project type, are:

*Well-defined and quantifiable
*Communicated thoroughly to every employee
*Crucial measurements for tracking the progress of your goals
*Applicable to your firm and industry

Within the world of project performance and finance, certain KPIs should always be used to monitor and improve your success.

Home spaces, and the way people interact with them, have undergone dramatic changes in the past several years, and few residential living spaces have seen as much change as outdoor elements such as decks. The materials available for deck substructure have also seen recent advances. This course will cover the history of deck materials, including new options, and the considerations and challenges involved in building decks — with a particular focus on all-important substructure materials — that will withstand the tests of time and the elements.

Findings from the 2023 National Kitchen and Bath Association’s Design Trends Report pointed to the growing importance of function and flexibility in kitchen and overall home design. Homeowners are seeking order, flexibility to accommodate a wider variety of needs, and breathing room in flowing floor plans and outdoor spaces. This course discusses the growing importance of outdoor kitchens, mudrooms, pantries, and spa-like suites, as well as how multigenerational living is changing household structures. The course will demonstrate how these factors are influencing home design and a wide variety of uses for what are traditionally considered “kitchen appliances” but are indeed household appliances that can help add flexibility and function to these spaces.