Zonda - Resource Library

Wellness is a growing trend in many industries, including building design. This is especially true since the COVID-19 pandemic markedly disrupted how we work, learn, live, and play in the spaces we inhabit.

This course will analyze the growth of the wellness industry as it relates to the built environment and will introduce the learner to the WELL Building Standard, which is a rating system to help buildings and organizations deliver more thoughtful and intentional spaces. Concurrently, we will explore how hearth products such as electric fireplaces can be incorporated into commercial and residential design to enhance occupant health and well-being.

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation with ARCHITECT's Editor in Chief. Specifying wood in building design has a multitude of benefits, including elevating the design of the project, enhancing sustainable initiatives, and incorporating mixed materials for innovative buildings.

In this session, ARCHITECT explores the work and research of several firms using wood for innovative designs.

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. At the conclusion of this program attendees will be able to identify, analyze, and determine the need for alternative design approaches to account for more dynamic weather and climate-related events that pose an increasing risk to the health and safety of the public by identifying likely hazards and project site-specific exposures. Attendees will learn how the standard of care for design professionals is constantly evolving and will change more rapidly as extreme weather and climate-related events pose a greater risk to human life and infrastructure. By understanding how the standard of care evolves, design professionals will be encouraged to develop more innovative resilient designs that better protect people and property.

After completing this program, attendees will learn how to better identify opportunities to assist clients in adopting more progressive resilient design approaches by focusing on the long-term impacts on human health as well as project life-cycle costs. During this workshop attendees will learn how to better communicate and document resilient design alternatives that serve to better safeguard the public and allow society to recover quicker from a natural catastrophe.

The kitchen is the gathering place of the home. What factors are influencing design transformation over the next few years, and how can kitchen appliances contribute to a more connected, multifunctional space? This course will explore the state of the kitchen industry, results from a national kitchen and bath design trends survey, examples of smart appliances and their role in a connected kitchen, and the impact of wellness and sustainability on kitchen design.

Over the past decade, the architectural, construction and engineering (AEC) sector has grappled with unprecedented technological and socioeconomic changes along with an unprecedented confluence of challenges to the health of our communities, our cities and our planet. Climate change is accelerating—the 10 years leading up to 2020 was the warmest decade on record. Buildings and their construction account for 39% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

At the same time, the built environment is growing at a record pace in the US. It is estimated that 2.5 million new housing units are needed to make up for the nation’s housing shortage, a trend that has not abated in the face of a global pandemic. Technological gains within the built environment are making zero-carbon construction attainable, dramatic energy savings achievable and taller mass timber construction possible. Industry research, along with bold demonstration projects, is expanding the sector’s understanding of carbon sequestration, life cycle assessment (LCA), Passive House principles, and biophilic and health-centered design. In this course you’ll learn from design teams who are embracing these strategies and delivering solutions that begin to address some of the most pressing global challenges of our times.

The session involves a brief discussion of the basic how-and-why of traditional neighborhoods, including iconic platting elements like small front yards and public spaces, and the design of individual units with an eye on the block-face to achieve harmonious streetscapes. This program will touch on various elements of sustainability, Green, OSHA requirements, fire safety, wind load, and other general code matters associated with vinyl siding and trim.

It’s a common human reaction; we turn to nature in uncertain times. Nature nurtures, as they say. With the 2020 global pandemic and the limited access to the outdoors it has meant for many, people are looking at their surroundings with new appreciation – and an increased desire for buildings that help them feel good as they spend more time indoors.

While we know that good architecture doesn’t guarantee good health, evidence is growing that a well-designed building can lead to an improved overall sense of well-being for occupants. And, since wood has a natural connection with nature, there is increasing evidence that wood can contribute to the well-being of building occupants when it is left where it can be seen and even smelled. This CEU explores the trend towards architecture designed to improve the well-being of building occupants.

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. In this course we explore the impact that healthcare environments can have on patient and staff wellness. We examine the role natural daylight and perceived open space play in modulating cognitive function, and how we can engage our past memories of natural environments to create a therapeutic patient experience. The course introduces a cognitive approach to design that underscores the restorative value of perceived open space as a healing attribute that can engage our biophilic memory.

Two spatial reference frames present in nature, the perceived zenith, the highest point above the observer, and the perceived horizon line, the farthest point before the observer, can be recreated in an enclosed interior space by staging an appropriate illusion to alter our perception of space. Recreating these fundamental spatial maps through an effective illusion enables a range of wellness benefits normally associated with interiors applying more traditional biophilic design principles.

This course aims to further explore quartz surfacing materials, including fabrication, cleaning, maintenance, and new products that have recently entered the market. A key focus will be educating project teams about the potential implications of respirable crystalline silica dust, OSHA Silica Standards, and best practices for reducing the risk of dust inhalation when fabricating quartz surfaces.

Kitchen Design Pros will give you the resources to stand out from the competition and will simplify the process of kitchen design and remodeling.

Here's your competitive edge.