New and ancient sources of natural stone, along with advances in technology, make stone an attractive and appropriate material choice for many different applications. This course will provide you with an introduction to stone, an overview of the principles and drivers in the green/sustainability building movement, and descriptions of how stone makes an attractive and natural material design choice that will contribute to a holistic solution over the life cycle of a project.

Composite decking reflects the beauty of natural and exotic hardwood and offers many advantages over wood decking. This course discusses the features, installation practices, applications, and environmental benefits of using wood/plastic composite and PVC decking materials for residential and commercial design projects.

Air curtains create a seamless barrier of air over any door, window, or opening, offering significant energy savings to building owners and helping to maintain interior building temperatures. This course will provide an overview of air curtains and how they can affect whole building energy consumption by minimizing energy lost through an unprotected opening. Selection, application, and installation of the various types of air curtains will be discussed in detail.

Rain has been cited as the most important thing to control in wall construction. Rainscreen systems have, for over five decades, proven to be highly effective in this regard. Following an analysis of moisture management issues and rainscreen systems, this course then identifies the unique attributes of wood-plastic composites (WPC) for use in rainscreen applications. It concludes with a detailed description of how WPC cladding should be applied and fastened in rainscreen systems.

Vinyl is strong and resistant to moisture and abrasion, and therefore is the most widely used plastic for building and construction. This course presents vinyl flooring, its manufacturing process, testing standards, and performance characteristics. The course discusses the environmental impacts of vinyl flooring throughout its lifespan and its contributions to meeting green building codes and standards.

This course is part of one or more "Course Collections".  Click to view details.

Metal composite panels deliver a clean and elegant aesthetic while acting as a rain screen or barrier wall. These panels can be produced in two different manners which affect their performance and applicability. This course will review metal composite panels, their methods of manufacture, performance capabilities and methods of installation.

Architectural resin panels are engineered to suit the demands of a wide array of interior and exterior applications and offer almost unlimited combinations of color, pattern, and design. This course presents the features and options that allow resin panels to meet design requirements for both function and beauty, and discusses how resin panels may play a role in projects seeking LEED®, Living Building Challenge®, or WELL Building Standard® certification.

This course is part of one or more "Course Collections".  Click to view details.

The regal ambiance a fireplace brings to a space is undeniable and desirable, and with today’s hearth innovations, technologies, and design options, it’s possible to include a fireplace in virtually any room in any type of residential or commercial project. This course examines homebuyer attitudes concerning fireplaces, various types of hearth products, and heat management systems, and provides guidance on specifying the right fireplace for a project.

This course focuses on barrier free shower design and installation. Following a brief review of the reasons, benefits, and legal requirements for barrier free showers it summarizes the features and attributes of shower assemblies, relevant industry standards, waterproofing membranes and drains, best practices, installation methodology, installation tips and techniques, and walk/roll in showers. It includes a review of the design considerations and advice for the creation of perfectly performing showers which follow the latest design trends.

Water is valuable and shortages occur every year in parts of the U.S. Toilets are by far the main source of water use in the home. This course delves into the problem of water scarcity and efficiencies and discusses a solution in the form of dual flush toilet technology, specification and applications.

This course is part of one or more "Course Collections".  Click to view details.

Surveys find that lack of speech privacy is a key source of workplace complaints, and worker productivity increases when acoustic distractions are reduced. This course reviews the role sound masking systems play within the context of speech privacy, with a focus on the principles of speech privacy, the fundamentals of how it is achieved, and what metrics are used to measure it.

This course is part of one or more "Course Collections".  Click to view details.

This course provides an overview of integral blind assemblies and discusses their benefits over conventional blinds, components and framing options, performance characteristics and testing standards, and common applications.

Specifying the right sectional door system for your commercial project can have a great effect on the health, safety, and welfare of building occupants. This course covers commercial sectional door systems, including the various types of doors available and their associated characteristics including energy efficiency and durability, along with a discussion on how to specify the correct door to meet project requirements.

Over time urban parks and other open landscaped areas are being lost to development. One solution to mitigate this issue is to reconsider undeveloped areas such as building roofs to create green amenity spaces. Amenity decks can provide some alleviation of lost green space, while affording developers the potential to monetize unutilized spaces in their buildings and provide an advantage over older buildings to attract tenants.

This course is part of one or more "Course Collections".  Click to view details.

Spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation can be applied with precision almost anywhere, expanding to completely fill gaps and spaces, providing a durable, long-lasting, energy efficient solution to today’s green building insulation demands. This course summarizes the attributes, benefits, and applications of SPF and discusses how spray polyurethane foam insulation meets compliance in terms of energy efficiency, construction, and safety practices within the building codes.

This course is part of one or more "Course Collections".  Click to view details.

There is a current trend by designers to specify large format tiles with minimal joints in order to create a sleek, modern look for floors and walls in contemporary buildings. To create and maintain the desired look, it is important to understand the proper installation procedures and products that should be employed. This course describes in detail the tools, techniques, and installation procedures applicable to large format and gauged porcelain tile and panel installations and illustrates how such installations expand design opportunities for walls and floors.

Contemporary drinking fountains, water coolers, and bottle fillers provide communities with access to safe, clean drinking water. This course recounts the history of the drinking fountain and addresses regulations surrounding drinking water distribution and treatment. It compares the use of bottled water to bottle fillers and provides guidelines for specifying commercial water delivery systems.

A highly efficient building envelope should meet the most demanding performance requirements and contribute to LEED® credits and net zero energy targets. Presented here are the features and performance benefits of insulated metal panels (IMPs). The course provides an in-depth look at a generic IMP EPD, discusses new LEED® v4 contributions, and outlines how IMPs meet the strict energy performance requirements of current codes and standards.

This course is part of one or more "Course Collections".  Click to view details.

The typical challenges faced by designers of multistory building envelopes pale in comparison to wind forces of tornadoes and hurricanes. This course investigates how pressure equalized rainscreens (PERs) address heat loss, air infiltration, moisture migration, fire safety, and lateral forces—even under extreme wind and projectile testing. Aluminum composite material/metal composite material PERs are outlined in detail vis a vis standard tests, types of fabrication, and relevant building code requirements.

This course is part of one or more "Course Collections".  Click to view details.

Ponding water on a low-sloped roof can greatly reduce the performance and lifespan of the roof membrane. Tapered roof insulation systems reduce or eliminate ponding water when a roof deck does not provide adequate slope. This course describes the benefits of tapered polyisocyanurate insulation and discusses the profiles, panel repeats, and design options available. Also addressed are cricket installation guidelines, tapered roof system average R-values, and specification tips.

Safety and security window films offer protection from a variety of events, from accidents and natural disasters, to break and entry and bomb blasts. This course examines safety and security window film and attachment systems, and includes discussions on the history of films and film classifications, the functional benefits and applications of window films and attachment systems, as well as relevant testing standards and specifications.

This course is part of one or more "Course Collections".  Click to view details.

Originally developed to reduce solar heat gain from entering through a pane of glass, window films in today’s market provide UV protection, reduce glare, reduce fading, increase occupant comfort, offer safety and security, and yield energy savings. This course evaluates the performance of different types of solar control window films and offers daylighting strategies for commercial, retail, and residential building and architectural applications.

This course is part of one or more "Course Collections".  Click to view details.

Considering that 90–95% of our time is spent indoors and that 28% of the energy demand in commercial buildings comes from lighting, proper daylighting strategies are more essential than ever. This course describes how to best harness the benefits of natural light without causing occupant discomfort, discusses how to calculate daylighting accurately, and presents case studies on the performance of daylight redirecting films.

The evolution of kitchen design reflects how our lives have changed, and these changes have made a profound impact on the way we use water and our expectations regarding water delivery. This course discusses how kitchen water-delivery technology is changing to: meet and anticipate the evolving needs and expectations of our ever-changing population, provide stylish and innovative solutions that add multi-functionality to faucets, and help consumers find a smarter way to work with water.

The term “post-frame building system” refers to a building erected with structural frames of wood posts as columns and trusses or rafters for roof framing. Post-frame buildings are engineered for site and building requirements and through proper design and quality materials, they can be constructed to be as strong as a steel-frame building. This course covers the attributes, construction methods, materials, of post-frame building systems and their applications for low-rise commercial buildings.