Achieving a Balance of Life Safety and Wellness
Designing buildings for life safety and wellness is getting easier.
...Read MoreThis is your go-to source for free AIA-approved continuing education for architects. Plus, almost all our courses are delivered in streaming HD video. Registration is fast and easy, just click on Login/Register above. Then, you can enroll in any of our courses found in any of our programs with a single click. Our courses meet or exceed NCARB's high standards for state board license renewal. AIA member? Your credit will be reported to AIA for you.
Designing buildings for life safety and wellness is getting easier.
...Read MoreThis course will cover introductory level descriptions of various sectional door styles and how they impact energy efficiency, maximize ambient light, add to design aesthetics. Additionally, applicable varieties of industrial doors will also be included.
HSW Justification: Understanding upward acting door and safety device specification and installation contribute to health, safety and welfare of building occupants, including infants, children and the elderly, by helping avoid entrapment, injury, or exposure to exhaust gasses. Additionally, proper installation helps assure comfort control, energy efficiency and better design aesthetics.
Learning Objective 1: Students will be able to recognize and differentiate various types of sectional and industrial doors, with a focus on selecting door types that enhance occupant safety, support energy efficiency, and improve building design aesthetics for a healthier environment.
Learning Objective 2: Students will learn to specify upward-acting doors, prioritizing occupant health and safety by understanding how door selection impacts injury prevention, exhaust gas exposure, and energy conservation, while also enhancing natural light and aesthetic integration.
Learning Objective 3: Students will gain skills in assessing mounting conditions, headroom and side room requirements, and types of lifts and operators, with particular attention to how these considerations affect safety, mechanical reliability, and occupant welfare.
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This article explores some of the latest products and solutions improving the air quality, thermal comfort, electric light, and daylight control that can be incorporated into a project. Each improves the wellness of the people in the built environment.
Learning Objective 1: Explain how air circulation improves thermal comfort and alertness.
Learning Objective 2: Describe the ways that increasing the presence of plants and greenery on a project have been shown to clean the air, reduce urban heat island effect, and positively affect the health and wellbeing of people in the built environment.
Learning Objective 3: Summarize how circadian LED lighting technology delivers health benefits—improving overall sleep quality, daytime productivity, and feelings of wellbeing—that modern architectural lighting lacks.
Learning Objective 4: Discuss how using an underfloor air distribution system (UFAD) improves indoor air quality.
Learning Objective 5: Identify the latest advancements in smart window technology that allows these solutions to control glare and solar heat gains, while maintaining views to the outdoors.
...Read MoreArchitecture 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.
...Read MoreProgram: Architecture, Design, and Building Science
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.
HSW Justification:
Most of this course is dedicated to explaining the aesthetic, ecological and economic advantages of textured metals. Most often, the metal used in stainless steel, which is very long-lived, valuable and 100 percent recyclable. The case studies focus on many beautiful installations that enhance the lives of occupants and visitors through the art and craftsmanship of the installations.
Learning Objective 1:
Students will understand ecological, economic, health and safety benefits of utilizing metals that can be deep textured.
Learning Objective 2:
Students will explore current applications that employ deep textured metals because of their ecological benefits, enhanced performance, and aesthetic attributes.
Learning Objective 3:
Students will learn compositions of metals that can be deep textured, how each performs under varying environmental constraints, and how to safely and economically specify deep textured metals.
Learning Objective 4:
Students will discover end user benefits of deep texturing metals, including performance enhancement, material usage reduction and longer product lifecycles.
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.
High rise fires are not new to us. In fact, we have seen an increase in fire incidents in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East in the last 5-10 years that have amplified awareness on fire safety performance of taller structures. High rise buildings present a greater risk with an increased number of occupants that have a limited means of escape in the event of a fire. That is why the time element for containing a fire is so critical. Also, as we have seen in actual fires, vertical fire spread at the exterior façade can rapidly overwhelm fire fighters means of interceding the fire from ground level. As the fire accelerates and upward spread progresses, it often reaches a height beyond the reach of fire services water streams. That is why containing a fire and preventing it from spreading vertically is so critical for both occupant and first responder safety.
...Read MoreBeauty, 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.
...Read MoreThis 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.
...Read MoreThis course will discuss light pollution and its relation to the International Dark-Sky Association. After taking this course, individuals will know the impacts of light pollution as well as the difference between IDA and non-IDA lighting.
At the end of this course, participants will learn: