For the good of your practice: This course brings together proven tactics to help increase sales. It specifically empowers architects by showing them how to take control of finding and nurturing new customers.

The program will discuss how architects can get a better understanding of the market today in regards to servicing their customers through the use of personal contact: calling. You will gain a better understanding of the different types of phone techniques to keep specialized services forefront to their customers.

As a foundation, this course examines several categories of LED technology and the appropriateness of each to various facets of architectural design. Then, the balance of the course is devoted to a discussion of color-changing LED technology and its impact on the comfort and health of building occupants.

(Please note: The Study Guide is a White Paper entitled Humancentric Lighting, and is intended to be part of this course. Please download it 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. 

This course will explain the evolution of fenestration specification strategies and will delve into new research from the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs and the Department of Energy's Attachment Energy Rating Council - and how it will change the way that fenestration is specified.

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 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.

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.

This presentation will cover techniques for mitigating fire damage and reducing fire spread while describing how an understanding of code intent can be used to argue equivalent fire performance when wood solutions lie outside typical code-approved applications. Over the last 80 years, prescriptive height and area limitations have remained relatively unchanged in North American building codes while technological advances and fire service capabilities have improved considerably. Through an examination of historical code development and identification of the risk factors on which codes are based, we can set the stage for a re-examination of public perception with regard to combustible construction.

This course, based upon scientific research and emerging medical discovery, illustrates how top daylighting (daylight penetration through the roof) design strategies produce positive biological responses impacting employee health and well-being. Participants will examine how exposure to "skydome dynamic daylight" throughout the workday provides all biologically relevant criteria for positive circadian system impact.