Here is a roundup of the most popular AIA/CES Discovery courses on BD+C's continuing education website, BDCUniversity.com. Visit www.BDCuniversity.com to earn 1.0 AIA CES learning units for each successfully completed exam.
1. Applying Modern Energy Codes to Building Envelope Retrofits. When applying current energy codes to existing buildings, a number of issues arise, particularly where the building exterior is concerned. Moreover, envelope assemblies tend to have long life cycles, which can make them difficult and costly to effectively upgrade. www.BDCuniversity.com/applying-modern-energy-codes-building-envelope-retrofits
2. Cool Roofs Can Reduce Peak Energy Demand. This course provides an analysis of the effect of cool or highly reflective roofs in reducing peak demand charges, which may account for a significant portion of monthly electric bills in both new and existing air-conditioned commercial buildings in all North American climate zones. www.BDCuniversity.com/cool-roofs-can-reduce-peak-energy-demand
3. Building Wood Towers: How High Is Up for Timber Structures? The recent push for larger and taller wood structures may seem like an architectural fad—plenty of hype, but only a few dozen completed projects globally. Concrete and steel still rule the world of mid- and high-rise construction. Still, Building Teams around the world are starting to use more large-scale structural wood systems. www.BDCuniversity.com/building-wood-towers-how-high-timber-structures
4. Windows, Doors & Storefronts: Optimizing Safety, Durability, and Client Satisfaction. In nonresidential construction, Building Teams are finding that product and system selection is becoming increasingly complicated, due to increased demands from building occupants, according to fenestration experts. www.BDCuniversity.com/windows-doors-storefronts-optimizing-safety-durability-and-client-satisfaction
5. Guidelines for Designing Low-slope Membrane Roof Systems. Critical aspects of roof system designs are often left unaddressed, resulting in incomplete contract documents. This course identifies the information roofing contractors generally need from roof system designers to provide complete and building code-compliant low-slope roof systems. www.BDCuniversity.com/guidelines-designing-low-slope-membrane-roof-systems
6. Wet-applied Coatings and Finishes for Commercial and Institutional Projects. The rapid pace of development of improved liquid-applied materials and finishes has given Building Teams new options. These sprayable, paintable, or “gunnable” products can add performance and sustainability benefits and reach new levels of resiliency and durability. www.BDCuniversity.com/wet-applied-coatings-and-finishes-commercial-and-institutional-projects
7. Pumped-up Recreation Centers. Sports and recreation used to be confined to dedicated, often isolated, settings. That’s no longer the case. Adopting facility layouts from Asian and European models, today’s sports and recreational buildings are becoming social hubs that accommodate a variety of community needs. www.BDCuniversity.com/pumped-recreation-centers
8. Building Envelope Commissioning: 8 Strategies for Success. Building enclosure commissioning—BECx—is intended to assure building quality by establishing an explicit process to verify that a building enclosure is designed and constructed to meet the owner’s objectives. The concept of building enclosure commissioning has been around for several decades, but it has not been well defined, understood, or utilized. www.BDCuniversity.com/building-envelope-commissioning-8-strategies-success
9. Enhancing Interior Comfort While Improving Overall Building Efficacy. Providing more comfortable conditions to building occupants has become a top priority in today’s interior designs. Optimized daylighting, shading strategies, well-coordinated lighting controls, and underfloor air distribution systems can contribute to improved occupant comfort and energy savings. www.BDCuniversity.com/enhancing-interior-comfort-while-improving-overall-building-efficacy
Visit www.BDCuniversity.com to earn 1.0 AIA CES learning units for each successfully completed exam.
Related Stories
Architects | Mar 31, 2016
Auto-shading windows and point-of-decision design are among the research projects to receive AIA funding grants
Firms represented by the projects and initiatives receiving grants include HKS, DO|SU Studio Architecture, and McClain + Yu Architecture and Design.
Hotel Facilities | Mar 30, 2016
The Usonian Inn, a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired motor lodge, is on the market for $665,000
The Usonian Inn proudly displays many Wright-inspired characteristics, the most prominent of which is the use of cantilevered overhangs.
Designers | Mar 30, 2016
A technical pen for the modern age
Morpholio’s new ScalePen feature dynamically sets line weight depending on the scale or zoom level of the drawing.
Architects | Mar 29, 2016
Why drawing remains relevant in the design process
Hand-drawn concepts allow ideas to emerge and build stronger connections between the design and the audience, as Gensler Principal and Design Director Alex Fernández writes.
Education Facilities | Mar 28, 2016
Steven Holl wins invited competition to design Rubenstein Commons
The new Rubenstein Commons will be a 20,000-sf structure at the center of the campus for the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J.
Wood | Mar 28, 2016
Waugh Thistleton designs one of the tallest timber office buildings in London
The nine-story Development House has vertical open spaces for light and air flow.
Architects | Mar 20, 2016
Ars Gratia Artis: A North Carolina architect emphasizes the value of art in its designs
Turan Duda says clients are receptive, but the art must still be integral to the building’s overall vision.
Architects | Mar 16, 2016
PGAL acquires Dallas-based Pro Forma Architecture
The merger adds a firm that has specialized in municipal projects.
Events Facilities | Mar 15, 2016
Bjarke Ingels, Foster+Partners, and Grimshaw all winners in Expo 2020 pavilion design competition
BIG designed the Opportunity Pavilion, Foster+Partners submitted the winning Mobility Pavilion, and Grimshaw created the Sustainability Pavilion.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Mar 14, 2016
Washington Redskins tease new stadium model designed by Bjarke Ingels
The location isn't yet determined, but the new stadium will have a moat for kayaking.