Discover how the world's most efficient pollinators can transform your sustainable design projects. This course explores the fascinating intersection of bee ecology and green building, revealing practical strategies for architects and design professionals to integrate pollinator habitats into LEED certified projects. Learn how bees can help your projects while delivering measurable environmental, social, and economic benefits.

Plastics like PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and PE (polyvinyl ether) have long been used in the built environment, yet myths and outdated perceptions continue to impact their use in sustainable design. This course explores the distinct characteristics of PVC and PE, focusing on their material benefits, fire resistance, moisture durability, and safety in construction applications. Participants will examine the evolving environmental narrative around plastics, including the realities of recycling, microplastics, and the life-cycle performance of plastic-based building products.

This comprehensive course empowers design professionals to implement personal creative practices for managing stress during high-pressure situations while transforming organizational cultures to improve team well-being. You'll develop creative culture transformation strategies tailored to specific organizational needs, learn to select sustainable materials, lighting, and natural elements for healthier creative workspaces, and master structured brainstorming techniques using established protocols to boost team creativity.

In this one-hour course, we will explore how accordion doors, hardwood rolling counter doors, and space saving doors can help design professionals create a secure and elegant space. We discuss design strategies, ADA compliance, LEED v4 credits, and how these doors can benefit building occupants and owners. Finally, we review case studies, design challenges, and how to achieve successful outcomes using these effective doors.

As cities evolve toward more sustainable and health-conscious design, architects play a pivotal role in shaping the infrastructure that supports active transportation. This course explores the intersection of architecture, mobility, and sustainability through the lens of bicycle parking design, from municipal standards to the growing demand for secure storage in both public and private, indoor and outdoor environments.

Implementing a roof coverboard is a critical component in modern roofing assemblies that offers a multitude of benefits, from enhanced durability to sustainability. Join us for an hour-long course on the nuances of this roofing assembly component in designing buildings that are structurally sound and environmentally responsible. Participants will gain insights into the latest advancements in roof cover board technology, including the development of products with a monolithic core that ensures superior bonding strength, critical for fully adhered roofing systems.

Ready to revolutionize your insulation specifications? Spray foam technology is reshaping how we achieve energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and sustainability in commercial construction. This comprehensive course demystifies open-cell versus closed-cell systems, showing you exactly where each excels in real-world applications. You'll unlock the secrets to maximizing LEED v4.1 design strategies through spray foam specification—from energy performance and low-VOC emissions.

This course examines why medical storage requires a different design approach, as well as additional knowledge, than office or industrial spaces. Participants will explore how hygiene, workflow, and compliance influence layout decisions and how standardized modular systems built to the DIN 3394 / ISO 6040 standard improve compatibility across departments. These systems, available in various materials, sizes, and depths, allow facilities to create tailored solutions that adapt over time while reducing long-term costs.

Digital overload is quietly undermining occupant health—and buildings are part of the problem. This course shows how design professionals can turn that challenge into a powerful opportunity. You’ll learn how to design “digital detox zones” that measurably improve focus, reduce stress, and enhance well-being using LEED and WELL strategies. This course goes beyond theory to show exactly how wellness-driven design decisions support acoustics, daylighting, and integrative process documentation.

You're standing at the intersection of design and destiny. With buildings generating 40% of global carbon emissions, every material you specify and system you design shapes our planet's future. This intensive course transforms that responsibility into opportunity, equipping architects, engineers, and interior designers with practical decarbonization strategies for LEED v4.1.

Concrete brick has often been overlooked, yet it delivers many of the qualities that architects have been looking for all along. With the same familiar look and installation process as clay brick, concrete brick adds advantages that make it a strong option for today’s projects. This course explores how concrete brick is made, how it compares to clay brick, and why its performance, sustainability data, and warranty benefits are getting the attention of design professionals.

Architectural glass and window technologies have evolved significantly, shaping how buildings perform, protect occupants, and promote sustainability. This course provides architects with a comprehensive overview of glass innovations, performance ratings, and sustainability considerations that directly impact health, safety, and welfare of occupants. Participants will examine the evolution of glass and window technology, the fundamentals of FGIA/AAMA performance ratings, and the integration of blinds within insulated glass units for improved daylighting, glare control, and occupant comfort.

This one-hour course describes Southern Yellow Pine’s impact on building structures historically and today, listing its sustainable attributes and characteristics. This course also examines how the by-products and waste of SYP are reusable and compares the life cycle assessment of SYP to other building materials.

In this course, we describe how design professionals can achieve the LEED v4.1 BD+C Sensitive Land Protection credit and reduce environmental impacts for building sites. We review sensitive land areas including wildlife habitat, wetlands, prime farmland, floodplains, and water bodies.

In this course, we describe how design professionals can achieve the LEED v4.1 BD+C and O+M Rainwater Management Credit. In addition, we discuss green infrastructure and low-impact development strategies and how they can help for project sites.

In this course, we explain how to achieve the LEED v4.1 BD+C and ID+C MR: Sourcing of Raw Materials credit and how to specify environmentally friendly building materials. We review FSC certification, recycled content, and how bio-based materials could change the future of construction.

In this course, we explore strategies to improve indoor air quality and how to achieve the LEED v4.1 BD+C and ID+C EQ Low-Emitting Materials credit. In addition, we review the applicable requirements such as (CDPH) Standard Method v1.2–2017. Finally, we discuss how buildings with excellent indoor environmental quality protect the health of building occupants.

In this course, we explain how design professionals can achieve the LEED v4.1 BD+C Indoor Water Use Reduction Prerequisite. We discuss strategies to help reduce potable water use in buildings such as specifying WaterSense labeled products. In addition, our team discusses challenges regarding the nation’s water supply and the need to update water infrastructure.