Cool Roof Rating Council unveils first AIA-approved continuing education course

Oakland, CA, USA – April 10, 2009 – The Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC) has launched its first solo-sponsored Continuing Education (CE) course.  The CRRC has worked closely with the well-known publishing group and AIA Accredited CE course provider, McGraw Hill Construction, to create a dynamic educational tool to inform architects about the wide variety and benefits of cool roofing products. 

In line with CRRC’s mission, the CE course creates an opportunity for architects, roofing contractors and consultants to learn more about cool roofing options as well as codes and green building programs that either require cool roofs or offer credit for them.  In addition to increasing the overall understanding of cool roofs and dispelling some of the common myths that surround them, the course provides an opportunity for interested parties to obtain American Institute of Architects (AIA) Continuing Education System (CES) credit.  The CRRC CE course has also obtained certification for the Roof Consultant’s Institute (RCI) Continuing Educational Hours program.

Because cool roofs are a powerful energy efficiency measure that can help offset Urban Heat Island Effect and Climate Change, the course falls into the new Sustainable Design (SD) category that AIA enacted on January 1, 2009.  In order to maintain AIA accreditation, members are required to collect a minimum of 18 annual CE credits, four of which must fall within the SD category.  This requirement, combined with a growing awareness about energy efficiency and the benefits of cool roofing, has put the CRRC’s course in a very “cool” position. 

While codes and green building programs may hold the power to transform markets, those who are actually specifying products – architects, roof consultants, contractors – are the ones setting market trends.  The more knowledgeable these specifiers are about the variety of roofing products available to them the better equipped they will be to make creative and suitable choices that meet their client needs as well as the rising demand for sustainable buildings. 

A truncated version of the cool roof CE course has been published in the March/April issue of McGraw Hill Construction’s popular magazine GreenSource.  The full course and quiz are available to the public online at the McGraw Hill Construction (MHC) continuing education website at:  http://continuingeducation.construction.com/article.php?L=68&C=488.  Registration is required to take the quiz, but there is no associated cost.

The CRRC will be exhibiting at the 2009 AIA Convention in San Francisco, CA, April 30th through May 2nd. Please visit our booth for additional information and updates, or contact us at info@coolroofs.org or (866) 465-2523. 
Contact: Sherry Hao (sherry@coolroofs.org or (510) 482-4420 x256)