Upcoming live courses
Glazed and (Not at All) Confused: Residential Window Detailing
Thursday, May 7, 2026 | 2-3:30pm ET
A window must do everything a wall has to do. . . and also allow you to see through it. This is no small task, and when combined with the seemingly infinite number of window profiles available in residential architecture, often make the prospect of detailing them seem like a hopeless task. But there are general principles and rules of thumb that can help demystify and greatly simplify how architects approach window design. This session will discuss those general principles, their technical justification, and application to the most common combinations of window profiles and wall types. The speakers will review flanged and un-flanged window systems and discuss, step-by-step, how they can be properly detailed in both framed and mass walls with various kinds of water and air control membranes. This course will equip architects with better technical skills and information to manage their own risk by providing better details and ensuring those details are followed to completion during construction administration.
WELL Certification: Setting New Standards for a Healthier Tomorrow
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 | 2-3pm ET
When faced with an inefficient building that could no longer meet patient needs or provide required services, SSM Health set a new industry standard. The SSM Health Dean Medical Group’s South Madison Campus is the largest healthcare facility in the United States and the first in Wisconsin to achieve WELL v2 Pilot GOLD Certification demonstrating a profound commitment to patient and employee health and wellbeing.
The 175,000-square-foot outpatient clinic consolidates over 18 specialty services, including oncology, orthopedics, and therapy, in a highly functional and sustainable building. The design emphasizes environmental stewardship, occupant health, and comfort, incorporating features such as natural daylight, views of nature, and air quality improvements. The building scored highly across all ten WELL Building Certification categories, including air, nourishment, light, and movement. With a focus on health at every level in both the design and operations, this clinic achieves industry leading wellbeing targets, exceeds Wisconsin’s energy codes, and includes provisions for future expansions and operations.
This session will highlight design strategies that lead to achieving premier sustainability goals, such as WELL Building standards. Specifically, how the design at SSM Health Dean Medical Group’s South Madison Campus has created healthier, more sustainable spaces for patients and staff.
Meeting Energy Codes with Wireless Lighting Controls
Thursday, May 14, 2026 | 3-4pm ET
As lighting controls become a cornerstone of modern energy regulations, this course explores methods to achieve 2026 code compliance through wireless mesh networked systems. The presentation details how these controls effectively save energy and lower carbon footprints during the project planning and design phases. Participants will gain insights into balancing regulatory requirements with the practical needs of occupant comfort and intuitive user interfaces of lighting controls.
Safety Assessment Program (SAP) Evaluator Training 2026 | May 20-21
May 20-21, 2026 | 12 - 4pm ET / 9am-1pm PT
Intended for licensed architects, engineers, or certified building inspectors, this training certifies attendees as Building Evaluators in the nationally recognized Safety Assessment Program (SAP).
- To register | Click Add to cart and complete the checkout process.
- Evaluator Field Manuals | ATC 45 | ATC 20 | Participants are responsible for purchasing these texts from ATC. They are not included in the course cost.
The program is managed by Cal OES with cooperation from professional organizations, including AIA. It utilizes volunteers and mutual aid resources to provide professional engineers, architects and certified building inspectors to assist local governments in safety evaluation of their built environment in an aftermath of a disaster. SAP is the training standard of the AIA Disaster Assistance Program, which provides leadership, advocacy, and training to architects who are interested in volunteering their professional skills in times of crisis. This workshop will teach participants to conduct rapid damage assessments of structures affected by earthquakes, wind, and water. Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to consistently and safely assess structures for habitability and will receive a nationally recognized Cal OES registration ID card from the state of California.
New on demand courses
Design-Build Project Delivery: Risks & Rewards for Architects
As owners, constructors, and architects, all parties share professional, legal, and financial interests in the success of a project. This course explores how architects can transition from a potentially subordinate position to a principal or shared role with co-managing authority within Design-Build (DB) delivery. A panel of industry expert architects from the design and construction sector within the federal, state and local government will present and explore focused remarks about architects' roles in design-build project delivery. Participants will gain insights into navigating the technical and financial risks inherent in DB agreements, such as managing contingencies and ensuring cost transparency. By focusing on early engagement and clear project criteria, architects can better advocate for design excellence while mitigating professional liability and contractual gaps. Based on the article, The Role of Architects in Design-Build Project Delivery: A Crucial Conversation about Opportunities and Risks, published in 2025 by the Project Delivery Knowledge Community (PDKC).
This session was recorded live on March 31, 2026.
Engineering Equity: The Design Process and Outcomes of the University of Washington's Interdisciplinary Engineering Building
One of Seattle's newest buildings, the University of Washington’s Interdisciplinary Engineering Building (IEB), first opened for the fall 2025 academic semester and was designed with a particular emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion. In this session, members of the design team at KieranTimberlake will discuss how they approached the project through the lens of equity in design, the depth and rigor of research involved, and how they applied DEI principles to specific architectural decisions. The panel will also address challenges and solutions from the first phase of delivery, including compromises and adjustments that were made in response to client feedback.
This session was recorded live on March 19, 2026.
Fundamentals of Construction Contract Administration
This course provides an overview of construction contract administration and introduces relevant topics encountered during the construction phase, including effective communication and preparation, submittals, requests for information, modifications, site visits, and more. This course establishes a foundation of fundamental knowledge to launch or refresh one's CCA career.
Participants will leave this course with best practices and insight into how they can successfully lead a project through construction contract administration. They will be equipped with a skill set that includes knowledge of fundamentals, contract language, and pitfalls to be aware of during construction. Participants will be better prepared for their career progression, client conversations, and construction growth.
This is the first of several courses in a series developed by the Construction Contract Administration Knowledge Committee (CCA) focused on demystifying CCA. Later courses in this series will dive deeper into various aspects of risk identification and mitigation.
This session was recorded live on March 18, 2026.
Beyond the Chatbot: What AI Actually Does for Healthcare Design
Artificial intelligence is transforming the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, yet many professionals remain uncertain about its practical applications. This panel discussion brings together healthcare owners and project delivery professionals to separate the hype from reality. The session will begin by clarifying what AI means for AEC beyond generative chat tools, followed by a data-driven snapshot of current adoption based on a pre-webinar survey of Academy members. Panelists will demonstrate the potential for AI applications in healthcare design and planning, and in particular, discuss how proper AI-assisted code compliance validation and space programming can ensure facilities meet regulatory requirements and support optimal clinical workflows. As AI tools can help identify design deficiencies earlier in the project lifecycle, firms may see a reduction in the number of costly changes thereby improving the overall quality of healthcare environments. The discussion will conclude with practical guidance on how owners and design teams can organize their historical project data today to unlock AI capabilities tomorrow while avoiding siloed point solutions. A live Q&A will ground the discussion in real project experience.
This session was recorded live on March 17, 2026.