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MANUFACTURERS - FAQ's
Who owns the course?
You own the course. Our courses are electronic seminars. We work with your subject matter experts to create quality continuing education courses. Once you satisfy your contract requirements, the course is yours and upon request, we'll provide the source files so you can modify the course to meet your needs. However, to host the course for AIA continuing education credit, you must be an AIA continuing education provider unless we host the course for you.
Can I link to the course from my website?
Yes, definitely link to the course from your website. Once we add your course to the online library, we will assign a unique hyperlink so architects visiting your website can navigate directly to your course.
Can I host the course on my website?
Yes, you can host the course on your website also. If you choose this option, we strongly recommend linking to our site for the exam so we can combine the course log in a single database. If you choose to host the course on your website only, you must be a provider to offer AIA continuing education credit.
How many architects visit the website?
Several hundred design professionals visit GreenCE.com each day.
Will architects specify my product?
Although your course can be a marketing tool, the objective is to teach design professionals about a product, a technology or an installation. The primary purpose is not to convince design professionals to specify your product. We add specification links for convenience in case a design professional wants to consider specifying one of the products he/she learns about. We promote these as continuing education opportunities that often evolve to be design tools. If you sponsor and host a course on GreenCE and we don't have a link to your specifications or CAD drawings, please contact russell@ronblank.com to request linking.

What is the course development and hosting procedure?
The procedure is simple. Advise us you'd like assistance developing a course for online delivery. We work with your subject matter experts to Develop Your Course:
1. Establish learning objectives
2. Design graphics
3. Create an exam
We seek your creative input at each design phase.
Host Your Course: We host your course online, promote it to architects across the nation, provide online course statistic reports and process credits through the AIA.
What do I get for the development fee and the hosting fee?
For the development fee, we create an AIA continuing education course. We offer several levels to meet budget restrictions and your specific requirements. Our couse levels are: Silver, Gold and Platinum. The levels vary from least interactive, graphic and educational experience to the most interactive.
The hosting fee includes processing the credits through the AIA, offering printable certificates for non-AIA members state requirements, promoting the CE course to over 50,000 architects in our database, handing out CDs with your online course in face to face presentations in over 50 markets in the U.S., providing online statisical reports that your company can access 24 hours a day, and providing quality technical support for designers taking your courses.
How do you inform architects about my course?
We promote the online course library face to face, email, and online.
Face-to-face: We visit over 1800 design firms every year in 50 different markets. During our presentations we discuss the website, courses, and give the architects CD's with your online course. In addition, we also give the architects brochures and postcards about your CE courses to be distributed to other architects, engineers, and interior designers in the office. We host seminars each year with AIA staff to teach design professionals about continuing education options.
Email: Upon your course completion, we send an email to 50,000 architects to promote the new course. We also send quarterly emails advertising the course library with emphasis on new arrivals. Additionally, we send traditional mailers, flyers and postcards advertising the course library.
Online: We advertise on several websites including the AIA Continuing Education website, USGBC site, 4 Specs.com, AIA chapter newsletters, and on various other sponsor sites.

Why do I want you to host my course instead of hosting or building it myself?
We're an AIA Cornerstone Partner and an executive level provider. We can streamline course development and approval. We are a USGBC Continuing Education Provider and our parent company, Ron Blank & Associates, won the AIA's Continuing Education Award For Excellence in 2003 & 2008.
We're experienced in developing AIA continuing education courses and your staff rarely has time to generate and manage the courses.
We're the design professionals who educate design professionals. We speak the language and we offer an array of complementary consulting services in the market you desire.
Since 1985 Ron Blank and Associates, Inc. and GreenCE, Inc. have been educating design professionals.
Are other formats available?
Yes, other formats are available. Some clients request a CD version of their course to supplement their online course. Others prefer to deliver their course only on CD. We develop both online and CD courses. We don't presently deliver seminars for architects. We count on our manufacturers who need to develop the relationship with the design community to give face-to-face presentations about their specific product.
How can I learn to develop and host my own course?
If you want to develop and host your own course, attend one of our quarterly "How To" seminars where we teach manufacturers how to develop courses, how to talk to architects and how to tailor your product literature for architect's needs.
What are the advantages of online continuing education?
The advantages for manufacturers are greater exposure to more design professionals for a fraction of the cost of your typical brown bag seminars. You also get name brand recognition. You have an inexpensive channel to distribute information about a new product.
For design professionals, the advantage is free, convenient, informative continuing education available 24/7 online.
How do I become an AIA provider?
To become a provider, you need to choose what level you prefer. Providership is available as a basic provider (regional), passport provider and cornerstone partner (executive level). Contact AIA to ask for provider information or request an application.
Once you complete your application, pay your annual provider fee and get your first program approved, you're on your way to being an AIA provider. The most important part of providership is prompt processing of architect's credits.
We take our reporting seriously and we report weekly. You might discover that the AIA transcript office doesn't process with the same urgency. They process thousands of credits every week and it is difficult for them to stay on schedule, but the staff is extremely helpful when you call for status or assistance. Our advice is to make friends with your transcript office.
How do I get started?
To get started, send us a course for review and determine which course level you prefer (Silver, Gold, Platinum).
We'll assess the content of your course and determine whether we need to modify the content or publish it in context. We provide a course quote and contract.
Upon receipt of your down payment and signed contract, we'll build your course in 3 phases. The script phase, the graphic phase and the test phase.
Script phase: We identify learning objectives. This is a text only review. We solicit your feedback to determine whether we're proceeding as you expected.
Graphic phase: We design the course graphic format and solicit your feedback to determine whether you want to match your website graphics, printed graphics or some alternative.
Test phase: We generate test questions based on the learning modules and solicit your feedback to confirm we're addressing the learning objectives you want to emphasize. Upon acceptance, we begin the second part of our contract, the online hosting contract, usually one year minimum in duration.
How do I renew my contract?
To renew your hosting contract, we offer extended billing. If you want to extend do nothing and we'll automatically renew your contract in 6 month increments. If you prefer a new contract, we will generate a new contract to cover the renewal period.
 
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