Beauty, functionality, and wellness-enhancing can co-exist in design, with the right products. This article explores solutions that help architects achieve these important multi-benefits. Pavers that create beautiful outdoor spaces that are easy to maintain. Skylights that allow daylight and fresh air into the interior. Underlayment that improves acoustics and sound management, while protecting the integrity of the interior air quality. Each improves the functionality of the space and the wellness of the people in the built environment.

This course will introduce you to the custom balanced door. You will learn about the system components and the differences between a Balanced door and a conventional hinged or pivoted swing door. Then we'll take a closer look at how a balanced door works in an installation. Finally you'll learn about the specific engineering requirements needed to accommodate balanced doors.

HSW Justification:
Balanced doors are safer than conventional doors because they require a smaller interference zone on the sidewalk. Also, they open with ease which benefits smaller people, weak or disabled persons, and the elderly. The majority of this course deals with those benefits and with the mechanical features of the door that make these health and safety benefits possible.

Learning Objective 1:
Understand the differences between the balanced door and a conventional hinged or pivoted swing door

Learning Objective 2:
Know specific requirements for ADA handicap guidelines LO 5: Understand how the balanced door interfaces with power operation LO 6: Understand specific engineering requirements to accommodate balanced doors

Learning Objective 3:
Understand what components make up a typical balanced door system

Learning Objective 4:
Know how the design concept works in an actual installation

This course recognizes the flush toilet as one of the biggest users of water and discusses how toilet design is pushing flush technology to develop ways for homes and commercial buildings to conserve water without sacrificing the performance of the toilet. Industry testing protocols and the water-saving capabilities of different technologies are evaluated. Today—as climate change, population growth, and record droughts present an unprecedented strain on our water supply—conservation technology is building awareness to the importance of having the most water-efficient fixtures in a home or business.

This course aims to familiarize you with the terminology, capabilities, and applications of operable glass walls in both interior and exterior residential settings. You will learn how operable glass walls can enhance the health, safety, and welfare of residents. Additionally, we will share ideas that you can incorporate into your current projects.

Learning Objective 1:
Students will be able to explain the welfare aspect of design and product selection that enable equitable access to all, can elevate the human experience with daylight and outdoor access, and benefit the environment through sustainable building design.

Learning Objective 2:
Students will be able to assess the safety aspects of incorporating product selections that protect buildings and people from harm and damage, particularly considering unexpected violence or vandalism.

Learning Objective 3:
Students will be able to identify and recognize the significance of ongoing health concerns related to residential design and product selection.

Learning Objective 4:
Students will be able to determine ways to incorporate the design principles as presented in case study examples into single family building projects.

The WELL Light concept promotes exposure to light and aims to create lighting environments that are optimal for visual, mental and biological health. This session explores the elements that make up the WELL Lighting concept and provides insights and recommendations for designing to these standards.

Designing with green roofs affords design professionals opportunities to plan projects with exciting new elements, added value, and significant, tangible benefits, thereby enhancing the built environment with newly-created landscapes. This course examines green roof systems, including the types, benefits, components, and related standards. It also reviews a number of installations that demonstrate these principles.

Modern open spaces create a unique set of challenges when it comes to acoustics, particularly because many new buildings are designed with open plans and open plenums. Fortunately, there are innovative acoustic systems on the market that are designed to integrate with open plenums that can help to overcome these challenges. This course will discuss customizable acoustical solutions for open plenum design, including baffles, beams, clouds, and acoustical wall panels, which are available in a variety of materials like metal, wood, fiberglass, and felt. The course will explore the importance of acoustical design and how these open plenum ceiling systems can transform a space aesthetically while maximizing acoustics.

As architects and clients alike demand the creation of what’s next, design teams rely on new product systems and solutions to help them push the boundaries of form and function. This article profiles a few solutions that enable architects to create distinct building envelopes that don’t sacrifice on the efficient performance or sustainable design considerations that also occupy prominent spots on almost every client’s wish list.

HSW Justification:
This article explores solutions that enable architects to deliver a desired aesthetic that also performs efficiently and offers sustainable design benefits. For example, thermal barriers in the aluminum framing that hold the glazing in place allows architects to complete historic renovation projects that exceed thermal performance targets, without compromising the integrity of the historical aesthetic. Composite metal panel systems that support very unique applications and creative demands from design teams can also offer top-tier performance in terms of fire-, water-, and impact-resistance. Extruded aluminum trim beautifully meshes different types of exterior cladding, while helping the envelope to better manage moisture.

Learning Objective 1:
Explain how incorporating thermal barriers into the aluminum framing in the fenestration of the Crosstown Concourse helped the project become the world’s largest LEED Platinum historic rehabilitation project, while maintaining the integrity of its historic aesthetic.

Learning Objective 2:
Specify a composite metal panel system that offers the resistance to fire, water, and impact best-suited to the needs of a particular project.

Learning Objective 3:
List the aesthetic and sustainability-related benefits of specifying extruded aluminum trim on an exterior cladding.

Learning Objective 4:
Describe how the different finishes of precast concrete used in the façade of the Ale Asylum were reverse engineered to perfectly match the concept originally pitched and accepted by the city.

This course aims to help educate the designer about what performance fabrics are, the content of various fabrics, how they work, and the benefits to a sustainable design in meeting and maximizing your goals of occupant health, safety, well-being, and sustainability. Windows, views, and openings in buildings present the classic battle between form and function. The designer naturally wants the building’s occupants to enjoy views and light, but the solar heat gain from these openings can wreak havoc on sustainable goals. Sophisticated and high-performing solar control fabrics can help reconcile the form and function of light, views, and sustainability.

HSW Justification:
Substantially all of this course is dedicated to a discussion of the health, safety and welfare aspects of performance fabrics through their appropriate specification, their fabrics' chemical composition, their proper use, their ability to meet safety and performance standards, and their aesthetic contribution.

Learning Objective 1:
The student will learn how to analyze shading fabrics for solar light management including energy reduction, glare and outward visibility, using published shading coefficient data.

Learning Objective 2:
The student will be able to list certification requirements for indoor air quality, anti-bacterial protection, flame retardancy, and environmental regulations.

Learning Objective 3:
The student will be able to identify fabric composition options with an emphasis on sustainable design.

Learning Objective 4:
The student will be able to apply their knowledge of performance fabric features to unique, real-world applications in healthcare, hospitality, government, business, and residential projects.

Architecture tells us a great deal about society. In fact, glass and glazing are used to blur the lines between inside and out, helping elevate performance and the experiences of people. Yet while humans can use environmental cues to identify glass as a barrier, there is growing realization that birds cannot. The solution is bird-friendly glass that delivers on performance, energy efficiency and the needs of people. This course from Guardian Glass is intended to provide the basis for a better understanding of how to recognize issues affecting the bird population while learning about best practices and design fundamentals for smarter, safer buildings.