Leveraging High-Efficiency Propane Systems in Zero Net Energy Homes

There is a misconception that zero net energy (ZNE) means all-electric, but in fact, propane has the ability to provide a clean, efficient, and affordable energy solution for both builders and their customers. This course will discuss how ZNE fits into the country’s energy landscape and how mixed-fuel homes featuring propane can be leveraged to meet ZNE homeowners’ energy and lifestyle demands.

The course will explore design strategies architects can use to achieve zero net energy homes and case studies where propane’s versatility and low-carbon output were harnessed to achieve resiliency, sustainability, and performance in ZNE builds.

Register

The Environmental Impacts of Building Materials – Comparing Concrete, Wood, and Steel

This On Demand CEU is a recorded presentation from a previously live webinar event. The impact of building materials on the environment continues to grow in importance within the construction industry. In addition to performance, budget and aesthetics, design professionals are now being asked to evaluate the environmental burdens of their design choices. Measuring the impacts of buildings, assemblies and products can be complex. Every design decision, from material and product selection to envelope design and construction can have an impact on the environment and the methods used to evaluate those decisions are still not widely understood.


This presentation will address critical issues the design professional should consider when evaluating the environmental impacts of building materials to maximize performance and deliver lasting value.

Register

Wall and Ceiling Products that can Withstand the Demands of High-Traffic Environments

Architects are called on to design to increasingly stringent standards for performance, safety, sustainability, and now occupant wellness. The stakes are even higher in a post-pandemic environment that demands even higher performance from building materials. This course will discuss 100% waterproof, sanitary solid polymer ceiling and wall panels products that can withstand the demands of high-traffic environments such as hospitals and schools. We will cover the challenges these applications face and performance measures such as impact, abrasion, and stain resistance that ceiling and wall panels must meet.

Register

Vacuum Insulating Glass (VIG) Benefits and Advantages in a Sustainable World

Learn how vacuum insulating class (VIG) units are different from typical architectural insulating glass units (IGUs) and how VIG technologies can meet a vast range of needs, ranging from energy savings and occupant comfort to acoustic improvement.

This course also examines the energy performance of VIG units compared to traditional product options and reviews specific code requirements that VIG products can meet and exceed.

Register

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in Building Product Manufacturing and the A/E/C Industry

This course will examine Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) through the lens of the A/E/C industry and building product manufacturers. It will review the evolution of ESG from the 1980s when organizations began to regulate and manage pollution, improve labor and safety standards, and improve other negative outcomes of economic growth. The three pillars of ESG will be discussed generally, then from the perspective of the A/E/C industry, and finally through the lens of a window and door manufacturer and their specific ESG agenda. The course will conclude with a case study that achieved Living Building Challenge certification and helped both an architecture firm and window and door manufacturer achieve ESG goals.

Register

Hard Surface Flooring Options for Hospitality, Multifamily Housing, and Senior Housing Projects

This course will explore three building sectors—hospitality, multifamily housing, and senior housing—and the flooring challenges these projects face, including heavy foot traffic, maintenance, safety, and aesthetics.

Hard surface flooring such as tile, luxury vinyl tile, laminate, and engineered wood can be specified throughout these projects to meet the demands of public spaces such as lobbies and restaurants and private areas such as bedrooms and baths. The course will also examine a case study from each sector.

Register

The Future of Folding Doors: New Innovations Driven by Design

Evolving design trends have driven the emergence of a new range of folding door products that complement modern architecture and improve user experience through performance and ease of operation. This course will review key attributes of these next-generation folding doors, including product styling and sightlines, size capabilities, hardware design and placement, and performance criteria. You will learn how these design improvements open up sightlines, ease operation, and boost the performance of folding doors.

Register

Resilient Design: Fire Safety, Mineral Wool, and Sustainability

Design and construction industries are vulnerable to natural disasters and manmade hazards that can result in everything from reducing the lifespan of infrastructure to loss of life and property. Professionals in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) can mitigate these vulnerabilities by having a fuller understanding of resilience as well as the building materials and construction and operational techniques that lead to stronger, more durable buildings.

This course will examine resilience in the built environment and provide several strategies to achieve resilience at the building scale for stakeholders. It will then assess continuous insulation, particularly mineral wool, as it relates to resilient design before reviewing ASTM resilience testing standards. Finally, this course will help learners evaluate resilience in current code and beyond as well as how to enhance structural systems through the use of mineral wool insulation.

Register

Designing with Fire: An Elemental Approach (Print Course)

Fire. It’s been integral to human evolution and civilization as a tool for heating, lighting, cooking, and socialization for millennia. Today, with the advent of central heating, electric lighting, and highly sophisticated cooking appliances, fire tends to be used primarily for ambience but continues to provide an important role in gathering and socializing.

This course will explore how fire has evolved from a utilitarian element to a technological tool that can be used in both vernacular and high style architecture as a design element indoors, outdoors, and as functional art.

Register

Specifying to Avoid Paint Failure – The Importance of Paint Selection

Architects have an important role to play in proper surface preparation and coatings selection through project-specific painting specification. It’s important for architects and designers to be actively involved in the specifying process and to understand the limitations, benefits, and features of different paints and coatings.

This course will help the learner to understand the main causes of paint and coating failures, the importance of proper surface preparation for various substrates, and problem-solving primers and other coating technologies that can help improve the longevity of structures.

Register