Indiana limestone is featured in many iconic buildings across North America. Limestone composite panels offer the same beauty and durability as solid stone in a lightweight product that gains flexural strength and impact resistance from its aluminum honeycomb core. This course presents an overview of limestone composite panels from fabrication to installation, and explores the benefits, testing, and applications of this cost-saving and versatile cladding option.

As some of the earliest building materials, masonry and concrete have been used for their durability and strength. However, masonry architecture, both historical and contemporary, has been left vulnerable to water—the single most damaging element to masonry in our environment. This course will identify common water-related problems for masonry and concrete, describe protective treatments and their benefits, and explain the process for selecting and applying a protective treatment.

Sustainability seeks to balance resource efficiency, health, and social concerns throughout the life cycle of a structure. Concrete has a variety of benefits to offer in achieving this goal. This course examines the environmental impacts of building with concrete along with a discussion of the features of reflective and decorative concrete floors and their role in a sustainable building strategy. As well, we present a review of the best practices and specification considerations that are required to facilitate a successful concrete floor installation.

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

This course explains and illustrates how high-performance, fully composite insulated sandwich wall panels can be detailed to achieve continuous insulation. It explores the pros, cons, and attributes of wythe connectors such as carbon fiber trusses as well as panel insulation options, manufacturing and testing procedures, and installation methods. It concludes by providing a comprehensive set of sample installations to illustrate the broad range of building types and appearances that can be created with insulated sandwich wall systems.

With the relatively recent development of new products and procedures for polishing concrete, concrete floors have added aesthetic appeal to their list of impressive performance characteristics. This course will discuss improving and prolonging the performance of finished concrete floors by exploring the many benefits of concrete flooring, summarizing the procedure for creating concrete floors, explaining maintenance methods and spill removal, and explaining how a floor protection plan will aid in the prolonged service life of the floor.

This course discusses all the elements that need to be considered to specify a steel stud masonry veneer wall as separate components, including air and weather barrier, drainage preservation, anchors and washers, and codes and standards and offers an alternative in the systemized wall.

Security and sound barrier walls play an important role in sustaining the safety and livability of communities. They separate incompatible uses, protect vital infrastructure, provide security from intrusion and even can become protective in some extreme weather. They are available in different formats: panels that are installed between support columns made from either steel or concrete H-Beams embedded in caisson footings or with integrally cast column and panel wall sections that are supported by steel I-beams embedded into caisson footings and extending up into the column portion of the wall section to provide structural integrity. This course examines the design and construction details of both types.

Stairs are a primary means of egress, exit, and floor-to-floor access for buildings with multiple floors or a change in rise. Metal stair systems designed for commercial and industrial applications can be fabricated out of steel, stainless steel, cast iron, and aluminum. This course evaluates types of pre-engineered steel stair systems and includes discussions on advantages, class, fabricator vs. manufacturer, railings, stair flight and landing construction, connections, and building code requirements.

Over the past few decades, exterior building spaces and roofs have significantly transformed from utilitarian ballasted roof systems to roof systems with highly programmed, environmentally conscious, people-friendly amenities that promote healthier lifestyles. A variety of products and materials can be utilized in the design and construction of roof gardens and decks. This course will review the construction of basic types of roof systems, as well as the range of hardscaping products that are available to designers.

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

In the wake of the green movement, combined with rising energy costs, building sustainability has become an important topic. This course reviews building practices that promote better building envelope design, the codes and standards that apply to energy efficiency, and the environmental advantages of using POLYISO continuous insulation in steel stud construction.

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

Extruded polystyrene (XPS) and expanded polystyrene (EPS) are both types of rigid foam plastic insulation; their different manufacturing processes produce wide-ranging performance attributes, especially in water absorption and R-value. This course discusses the negative impact of water absorption on R-value and structural integrity; explains why codes and standards are sometimes specific in requiring XPS in applications where prolonged exposure to water occurs; and concludes with a look at best specification practices for accurate bids.

The green building movement is gaining momentum worldwide, resulting in stricter regulations regarding the energy efficiency of structures. Conventional construction methods can’t always meet these demands and more innovative and thermally efficient building products are required. This course will focus specifically on thermal bridging, how it affects the overall efficiency of a building, and how it can be effectively addressed.

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.

Segmented pavers have been successfully used for roads, courtyards and paths for hundreds of years. Durability of materials being one of the key reasons for their lasting popularity. These days modern pavers offer up a wide variety of newer performance capabilities and finishes. In this course, we’ll take a look at the unique technologies of segmental concrete paver systems, the types, finishes and their design considerations.

There are many factors to consider in the nurturing and maintaining of urban trees, including those relating to environment (soil, water, climate, etc.), tree rooting conditions, and protection above ground. This course provides a discussion of these factors, along with a review of the surface material options with a focus on stone composite tree grates.

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

Segmental retaining walls (SRWs) can strengthen steep slopes, hold back soil in grade changes, create useable land, and enhance the aesthetics of any landscape. This course looks at the site and application factors that determine whether a segmental retaining wall must be engineered and soil reinforced, and provides technical information about the components and construction of an SRW.

In today’s high performance building market, specifying materials that work together as a complete wall system is more critical than ever. Systems can help designers meet new energy codes, reduce costs and improve building function and sustainability while making the design process faster and simpler. Focusing on the most common exterior wall system, steel stud with masonry veneer, this course will detail key system components, recent advances in building analysis, code requirements and a comprehensive systems approach.

Masonry is an ideal sustainable building construction material as it is extremely durable, recyclable, and reusable. It allows for extraordinary design versatility so it can meet both aesthetic and functional requirements. This course looks at the design elements, components, and construction techniques that characterize sustainable masonry cavity wall building envelopes.

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

Ensuring proper use of methods and materials allows masonry walls to perform well and enjoy a long life. Use of masonry joint reinforcement and accessories is an essential part of this. This course provides a brief history of solid masonry walls leading up to the modern cavity walls of today, including a discussion of the basic working knowledge of masonry joint reinforcing, structural codes, and moisture control in cavity wall construction.

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

Permeable interlocking concrete pavement (PICP) has the ability to create solid, strong surfaces for pedestrians and a range of vehicular uses, and can help maintain a site’s existing natural hydrologic function and reduce the overall impact of development. This course discusses the components of a PICP system and how they work together to manage stormwater in a variety of applications. Also addressed are hydrological and structural factors to consider when designing with PICP, and how PICP contributes to sustainable building goals and projects.

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

Since ancient times, concrete mixes and carved natural stone have combined to create substance, beauty, and longevity in our architecture. Glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) was created to ensure the attributes of concrete and stone continue to be enjoyed but with the efficiency in application that is expected in today’s world of design. This course covers the evolution of GFRC, its applications and how it is custom created, its advantages, and how GFRC compares to other types of architectural concrete

Water intrusion creates a variety of problems for masonry structures, including, freeze-thaw damage, chemical and pollution based attacks, efflorescence, calcium carbonate stains, and mold. This course reviews the application and specification considerations related to water repellents and how they can help to prevent these problems.

Water leaks and damage are some of the biggest problems encountered with masonry construction and cavity walls. The proper choice and installation of flexible through-wall flashing, however, can ensure that moisture is directed out of the wall cavity and the risk of potential damage is minimized.

Provides an overview of methods of reducing moisture intrusion in concrete and masonry walls with an emphasis on the role of sealers and coatings.

There is a growing realization that the buildings we live and work in play an important role in the health and wellbeing of building occupants. Green building rating systems are starting to incorporate health and wellbeing criteria and this course will look specifically at how products and materials can help meet the health and wellbeing requirements across these systems.

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