The Bullitt Center, a six-story heavy timber building, recently competed in Seattle, is predicted to be the world’s most energy efficient commercial building. It has been designed to last 250 years and to achieve the highest benchmark of building sustainability—Living Building Challenge™ (LBC) certification. A performance-based certification program, the LBC requires buildings to be evaluated after one year of occupancy prior to certification, against criteria that include 100% of energy demands met with on-site renewable energy generation and 100% of water needs met by on-site rainwater collection. In this presentation, Project Architect Brian Court will give a short overview of the LBC, discuss the design strategies for the Bullitt Center, and highlight structural and environmental virtues of the heavy timber structural system such as renewability, contribution to energy efficiency, and light carbon footprint.

Manufacturer sponsors providing content expertise include:
ASI Group, Construction Specialties, Major Industries, Assa Abloy, Ductsox, and Rite Hite

This course takes a comprehensive look at current and future trends in K-12 design, taking into account design programs and product selection providing short and long-term benefits for school districts, educators, students and parents/guardians, are discussed.  Recent events have put renewed emphasis on educational facilities as vital centers for communities that require careful planning, design, construction and regular post-occupancy review in order to provide students with functional, healthy and secure learning environments.

This course takes an in-depth look at resinous coatings, primarily flooring products, employed as solutions for a wide range of applications. It reviews current finishes, costs and methods of assuring successful installation.

Appliance technologies and the kitchen's place in the home have changed drastically over the past twenty years. Modern kitchens have grown in size and are now the heart of the home for entertaining, dining and working. Many times there are several people cooking at the same time. Given these scenarios, it is important to consider the entire range of users, from young children to the elderly. In this course we will discuss how kitchen planning can serve the needs of three generations, from Generation Y (aka Millennials) to the Baby Boomers. We will focus on how these groups differ in their vision of how a kitchen should function, style preferences, appliance requests, acceptance or integration of technology into the space, and universal design.

This fascinating course explores three new and innovative architectural products, each made from precision woven architectural fabric: a new exterior fabric membrane that allows for entirely new forms and functionalities in permanent static or kinetic fabric constructions; a new modular ceiling system made from photometrically and acoustically optimized precision fabric; and a new composite facade material made from a combination of glass, fabric and metal. Design and application, and the functional and sustainable benefits provided by each innovation are explored through real-world projects.

This course investigates the most recent code changes emphasizing building envelope performance. It explores next generation integrated solutions that simultaneously provide protection against moisture penetration, air leakage, and thermal bridging. Installation benefits and on-site quality control issues related to multi-solution integrated systems will also be evaluated.

Arguably, selecting insulation and cover boards is the most important decision when designing a roofing system because of the many benefits these products provide in terms of service life, building safety, and energy efficiency. This course explores the characteristics, advantages, and cautions of the primary insulation and cover boards on the commercial roofing market today, and then considers the installation methodologies that will optimize the building's energy efficiency.

This course provides a comprehensive overview of trench drains - their applications and benefits, their basic components, and the many varieties available, including: cast-in-place, pre-cast, and economical pre-engineered trench drain systems made from HDPE. Students explore new possibilities for blending trench drains into the surrounding environments for improved aesthetics. And case studies explore interesting applications of trench drains.

(Please note: The Study Guide provides a typical specification sheet, multiple product and accessory images, dimensions, details and installation recommendations intended to be a part of the course. Please download upon enrolling.)

The purpose of this presentation is to give you a clear understanding of the features and benefits of textured metals and discover how to best specify stainless steel and metal alloys in your projects. The first part of our talk will introduce the ecological and economic properties of textured stainless steel as well as educate you on the composition of metals and alloys. The second portion of this presentation will illustrate the process of texturing metals and their applications, as well as how to specify them. The session will also review projects that use textured metals -  with beautiful results.

You will be required to download Supplementary Case Study Material from the International Stainless Steel Foundation that pictures and describes exeptional architectural stainless installations around the world. The descriptions reinforce the sustainability, low-maintenance, durability and aesthetic advabtages of designing with metal alloys.