Zonda - Resource Library

The internet has given American consumers unfettered access to the global market, which is greatly influencing our design choices, from clothing and furniture to home and even kitchen design. Whether it’s an indoor/outdoor connection with a breezy island feel, architectural details reminiscent of French bistros, or the functional minimalism of Scandinavia, kitchens play a significant role in expressing the style of a home and its homeowners, which is more global than ever. This course will take a closer look at these global influences, including forward-thinking design ideas from abroad that will impact the sustainability, safety, and accessibility of kitchens. The course will also discuss innovative kitchen appliances that complement many kitchen styles and will explore several case studies that allowed designers to integrate global influences, wellness, and sustainability into their designs.

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.

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.

Resilience is a key component of building design when addressing both seismic and wind design. Properly designed and constructed wood structures that comply with building code requirements are resilient, performing with minimal damage while protecting occupants during both seismic and high wind events.

This course will look at how wood-frame Lateral Force Resisting Systems (LFRS), that resist wind and seismic loads, can contribute to resistance in the built environment.

Conscious planning, designing, and developing for wellbeing is a growing trend in the design industry. Indoor air quality, thermal comfort, acoustics, and lighting in a building, among many other factors, can significantly affect the productivity and comfort of building occupants. Light is one very important tool that can be used to improve the mood, productivity, attention span, and overall health of occupants because it is the main driver of the visual and circadian systems. This course will explore the connection between lighting design and wellness and will examine a new advanced LED chip technology that provides blue peak free lighting that mimics natural sunlight (meaning the traditional harsh blue peak found in most LED technology has been reduced). This technology is being used to improve occupant wellbeing in healthcare facilities, schools, and offices, among other commercial applications.

Achieving carbon neutrality and protecting the world's water supply are vital to the AEC industry because of the significant impact buildings have on the environment and occupant health. The structures that we live, work, and commune in use a vast amount of the energy and water consumed on the planet for building operations and maintenance.

Over the past two decades more and more organizations, from private companies to federal governments, have taken steps to minimize their impact on the environment and, more recently, on society's wellbeing as a whole. This has been accomplished through sustainable building design, social accountability, and ethical economic practices. This course will discuss a Net Positive approach to design and business operations.

Floor trusses are the ideal structural system for single family, multi-family, and other commercial builds due to their inherent design flexibilities, optimized construction advantages, and exceptional strength. Each floor truss is designed and engineered for the unique and specific project. Open-web floor trusses create downstream value through faster and safer on-site installation, efficient MEP installations, and additional opportunities for reduced material costs.

This course will demonstrate project benefits when utilizing open web floor trusses and discuss how they can improve your next project.

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.

Designers have a plethora of options when specifying interior surface materials, but one stands out among the crowd, despite being an age-old material: veneer. This course will explore the evolution of veneering from ancient times to today and how factory-crafted veneer cabinetry remains a handcrafted art. We will also discuss design options and performance benefits that this sustainable material of choice offers.

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.