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.

During this course, we explore how vacuum plumbing can help design professionals create projects that save water, energy, and money and contribute to sustainable design. We review how vacuum plumbing can help contribute to LEED projects and prevent the spread of infectious diseases, especially during a pandemic. Our team illustrates the differences between vacuum plumbing and gravity plumbing and how they compare regarding sustainability, health and safety, cost and design and use of existing real estate flexibility.

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.

Aluminum doors and frames are increasingly popular in commercial interiors for their clean aesthetics and strong performance. This course explores practical applications of aluminum framing systems in modern architectural projects. Learn how to specify systems that meet fire and acoustic requirements, support flexible design goals, and install easily on various wall types. Discover how these solutions comply with building codes, reduce labor, and work with diverse hardware.

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like PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and PE (polyvinyl ether) have long been used in the built environment, yet myths and outdated perceptions continue to impact their use in sustainable design.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 course will go over the basics of vegetated roof construction and how the industry has documented successful installations over the last 25 years in the United States. We will teach the design requirements and standards unique to green roofs. The course will educate the participant on the benefits of the technology- including stormwater management and lowering roof temperatures. We will also provide project examples across the country that incorporate a variety of technologies such as biosolar, amenity decks, daylight harvesting, and agricultural production.

Metal surfaces are widely used in architecture for their durability, aesthetic richness, and evolving character. However, traditional fabricated sheet and plate systems introduce challenges related to weight, seams, structural support, and transportation. This course examines decorative liquid metal finishes systems as an alternative approach to achieving real metal finishes on architectural substrates. Participants will explore system composition, substrate compatibility, adhesion performance, finishing techniques, exterior exposure considerations, and long-term maintenance strategies.

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.

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.

In this one-hour course, we will consider the components necessary to keep an HVAC system functioning efficiently. We will examine various types of sealants and coatings and how best practices concerning their installation and quality control can be used to increase the lifespan of the HVAC system. This course will explore the importance of minimizing air leakage in the HVAC to avoid environmental issues, such as high levels of energy consumption, and to improve the indoor air quality for the building’s occupants.

Thin stone veneers are revolutionizing architectural design by offering lightweight, flexible, and sustainable alternatives to traditional stone applications. We will take an in-depth look at ultra-thin stone veneer technology, its composition, manufacturing process, performance benefits, and broad range of applications. Design professionals will gain insight into specifying these unconventional materials for commercial and residential projects, ensuring compliance with fire ratings, sustainability considerations, and best practices for installation.