Understanding the performance of building materials in real-world conditions is key to a successful building design. Recent studies have shown that the commonly reported R-values of polyisocyanurate foams at room temperature may overstate their real-world performance in cooler temperatures. This decline in R-value is driven by complex phase change mechanisms, which modify the foam's insulation performance. Insulations not performing to the expected levels may result in gaps in designed building enclosure assembly performance and quality. In this course, through a theoretical framework and empirical data, it is shown that optimized polyisocyanurate foam insulation results in better insulation performance leading to improved energy savings and reduced potential for condensation. Participants are encouraged to explore innovative insulation materials, understand differences between them, and match optimal materials to specific applications, while meeting modern construction codes and regulations. By matching the right insulation materials to the application, architects can contribute to energy-efficient and cost-conscious construction practices, and help buildings reduce their impact on the environment

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 fast-paced and informative webcast moves through three modules: 1) How our Engineered Insulation Products help builders solve their biggest problem - a shortage of skilled labor. 2) Graphite Polystyrene (GPS) - what it is and why we use it to make some of our key engineered insulation product lines. 3) Builder Success Stories - real world examples of our Engineered Insulation Products helping builders achieve their goals as they overcome jobsite and building science challenges.

When considering the building enclosure, fire safety is an important design factor and needs to be considered hand-in-hand with energy code requirements. The NFPA 285 “Standard Fire Test Method for Evaluation of Fire Propagation Characteristics of Exterior Non-Load-Bearing Wall Assemblies Containing Combustible Components” is a critical consideration with modern building assemblies incorporating combustible materials in non-combustible construction. This presentation will review the history and scope of the NFPA 285 test standard, and its adoption within the International Building Code (IBC). It will outline the criteria for compliance, as well as identify triggers and contributors under the standard. The presentation will review how the selection building components such as insulation, air/water resistive barriers and claddings, can affect the fire performance of an assembly, and identify solutions and common paths for compliance.

The session will explore innovative approaches to streamline AEC workflows through automation, reducing manual tasks, optimizing data management, and refining project schedules. Participants will learn how to enhance project collaboration and increase profitability by leveraging technology to streamline communication and teamwork. Attendees will also gain valuable insights into the latest AEC tools and how to integrate emerging technologies for enhanced building design, construction, and operation. Moreover, the webinar provides an opportunity for knowledge sharing among AEC professionals, allowing them to learn from each other's experiences in improving project collaboration and achieving greater profitability.

Roofing technologies have come a long way from labor-intensive systems that achieved water tightness through redundancy. Today’s single-ply thermoplastic membrane systems are lightweight, consistently manufactured, and efficient to install. This course focuses on thermoplastic single-plies, particularly those that are PVC based, and explores their benefits and limitations. It also identifies the important factors to consider when selecting a roof system, including fastening techniques, warranties, safety, and sustainability.

All AE consulting firms want their projects to be as profitable as possible; however, most will identify their biggest project management pitfall as: doing work outside of the scope (aka scope creep), which greatly reduces profits. Depending on the size of your firm, scope creep could cost you thousands, or even millions, of dollars annually. While this is a common and debilitating challenge that most firms face, the reality is that by installing a few simple processes you can greatly reduce scope creep on your projects. These strategies should be learned and implemented by every project professional as early on as possible in their careers.

Culled from experiences working with more than 3,000 AE firms over 25 years, this session will examine the seven common denominators of every successful firm. Success comes in many flavors. For some, it’s money; for others, it is peer recognition, awards, or fame; for most of us, it’s having access to challenging or exciting projects. Regardless of how you measure success, by adopting these Seven Pillars you will create the framework from which you and every member of your firm can achieve their professional goals.

In this one-hour course, design professionals will gain knowledge of head-of-wall, bottom-of-wall and wall-to-wall assemblies, as well as the respective UL standards for approval, It will discuss different joint treatment types and the components involved with each application. By the end of the course, design professionals will be able to specify, install, and operate fire resistance joints and joint protection to ensure occupant safety.

Great project managers are sometimes under-appreciated and overlooked. They are not the architect who designs the building or produces the drawings, but they are an integral role for any A & E firm. Most small and medium firms rarely have proper training or mentorship for project managers. In this course, we will discuss an overview of the skillset and training necessary to hire or manage an effective project manager.

Creating your ideal business structure is more than just deciding if you are an S Corp, LLP, or sole practitioner. This webinar dives into the various options of business structures and the benefits of each type. Equally as important, we’ll develop an accountability chart and define the difference between an organization chart and an accountability chart. Douglas Teiger, FAIA, will guide you through this process whether you are a 1-person firm, 5-person firm or 25-person firm.

This course delves into the types, composition, performance features, and applications of LVF and SPC flooring designed for durable and aesthetically pleasing solutions for commercial and residential applications.

This presentation will introduce the concept of using interlocking pavers in urban roadways as part of a new trend in American cities to create pathways and streets where pedestrians and vehicles share space. The European concept known as “woonerf” is a design principle that creates or retrofits low-speed roadways by incorporating traffic calming measures to create shared-space streets to reduce traffic speeds and promote the idea of the street as a public space where people can move freely from connected pathways, parking lots and buildings. The presentation addresses how paver systems work and can aid in defining use through creative colors and patterns. Issues related to public access, wheelchair comfort and safety are also addressed. Finally, the program concludes with an update on the latest industry research on the traffic calming benefits of concrete pavers.

In this presentation, participants will learn about NFPA 285 and how it is used to assess the fire performance of exterior wall assemblies containing combustible materials. A brief historical review of NFPA 285 development will be provided so participants understand the basis for the test method development as well as how it is applied and what are the limitations. Recent, significant changes that have been made to NFPA 285 to standardize the testing and evaluation of deviations in project wall assemblies from tested assemblies will be reviewed in the context of how this affects compliance. Examples of this engineering evaluation process using current Engineering Analysis documents will be provided to illustrate how changes in materials and configurations can affect compliance with NFPA 285. The reasons behind the regular changes to product engineering evaluation reports will be discussed to highlight the importance of using the most up-to-date materials, configurations, and constructions.

This program will provide the design community with the knowledge to understand why and how specifying air sealing can help improve the building envelope.

Guided tour of a roofing system fabricating facility. Includes a summary of the manufacturing processes, quality checks, inspection procedures, and testing performed within the facility to conform to UL, FM, and regulatory codes.

Being a brilliant architect rarely translates into having a successful business. With all the years of education and training to make us experts in our profession, the skills needed to have a successful business were conveniently overlooked. This webinar will fill the void and provide you with the business management highlights that every firm needs to apply to achieve their full potential. In this session, we will learn the fundamentals of all successful AE firms and provide the basis for making well-grounded business decisions. We will learn how firms can transition from being professionals providing services, to highly tuned businesses that can identify the needs of the marketplace and create services and products that are appropriately priced and yield consistent and greater profits. Rather than seeking out new projects that merely build upon your current skills, you will start from a business-thinking mindset, where processes that are critical to building a thriving firm are examined and constituted in your firm. We will explore the importance of data within an architect firm and demonstrate how careful collection and interpretation can lead your firm into more exciting and profitable territory. Join us for an engaging, live webinar presented by Steven Burns, FAIA, Chief Creative Officer at BQE Software as he shares lessons learned over 35 years working with over 1,300 architecture firms.

Being a brilliant architect or engineer rarely translates into having a successful business. With all the years of education and training to make us experts in our profession, the skills needed to have a successful business were conveniently overlooked. This webinar will fill the void and provide you with the business management highlights that every firm needs to apply to achieve their full potential. In this session, we will learn the fundamentals of all successful AE firms and provide the basis for making well-grounded business decisions. We will learn how firms can transition from being professionals providing services, to highly tuned businesses that can identify the needs of the marketplace and create services and products that are appropriately priced and yield consistent and greater profits. Rather than seeking out new projects that merely build upon your current skills, you will start from a business-thinking mindset, where processes that are critical to building a thriving firm are examined and constituted in your firm. We will explore the importance of data within an AE firm and demonstrate how careful collection and interpretation can lead your firm into more exciting and profitable territory. Join us for an engaging, live webinar presented by Steven Burns, FAIA, Chief Creative Officer at BQE Software as he shares lessons learned over 35 years working with over 1,300 AE firms.  

Air curtains create a controlled stream of air across a door or window opening, providing significant energy savings to building owners and helping to maintain interior building temperatures. In addition, some have optional features that can clean and sanitize the air near the opening. This course examines additional features that some models offer in the form of airborne pathogen and virus control and irradiation to help manage the virus level and the disbursement of untreated air near the opening. This course examines how air curtains can reduce airborne pathogens and viruses and improve the indoor air quality near the opening and the various technologies to eradicate and/or collect pathogens, how and when to operate air curtains operate and properly identify applications to maximize the disinfection of the air near the opening.

This seminar will help you understand the impact of air leakage on building enclosure performance, current codes and standards for air leakage control with continuous air barriers and recent advances in implementing airtight buildings in practice. Air leakage can impact building energy performance, envelope durability and occupant's comfort. Air leakage control is generally addressed by energy codes. The US energy codes have only recently recognized the importance of air leakage. For example ASHRAE 90.1, IECC, ASHRAE 189.1, and IgCC have only recently introduced quantitative requirements for air barrier materials, assemblies or whole building airtightness. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) recently introduced an air barrier program for building enclosure airtightness, which requires blower door test for whole building airtightness. This seminar will provide examples of successful implementation of USACE program.

Being a brilliant designer rarely translates into having a successful business. With all the years of education and training to make us experts in our profession, the skills needed to have a successful business were conveniently overlooked. This webinar will fill the void and provide you with the business management highlights that every firm needs to apply to achieve their full potential. In this session, we will learn the fundamentals of all successful AE firms and provide the basis for making well-grounded business decisions. We will learn how firms can transition from being professionals providing services, to highly tuned businesses that can identify the needs of the marketplace and create services and products that are appropriately priced and yield consistent and greater profits. Rather than seeking out new projects that merely build upon your current skills, you will start from a business-thinking mindset, where processes that are critical to building a thriving firm are examined and constituted in your firm. We will explore the importance of data within an architect firm and demonstrate how careful collection and interpretation can lead your firm into more exciting and profitable territory.

The course describes the origins and reasons for the increasing use of continuous insulation in commercial exterior walls. Included is the air barrier, moisture barrier, and thermal insulation aspects of the wall system. This understanding is then combined with the design objectives of rain screen wall systems to outline the design issues that must be addressed in rain screen wall systems with continuous insulation. Several methods which can solve these design issues are presented. Attendees will understand how to design more energy efficient and robust rain screen wall assemblies.

This program will provide the design community with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions when specifying a simple solution for exceptional long-term thermal insulating performance and excellent air/vapor battier capability in brick and block walls.

Play and music are both essential parts of our lives. When we can combine music and play together in a fun and engaging space, the benefits are numerous, no matter your age. This course discusses why play and music education perform such a critical role in the development of happy, healthy children. We will discuss the copious amounts of research that tell us that music education has real life benefits such as increased IQ, language development and social engagement, the role music plays within multiple therapies for the elderly and those suffering from mental illnesses, and finishes with an overview of how to design musical play spaces for safety and inclusivity.

This course is designed to provide an understanding of the importance of a properly designed Air and Water Resistive Barrier System. You will learn the importance of an air barrier system and how a properly designed system can contribute to the environment and improve indoor air quality. You will learn to identify the different types of air barrier systems and where each may be more appropriate. You will learn to design a system to properly control air and water vapor, and how this may differ from one area of the country to another. You will learn how to specify an air barrier system, including the performance criteria for and system, and the code requirements, testing criteria other governing factors.