Upcoming live courses
Economic Update Q3 2026 ABI Insights
Friday, July 24, 2026 | 2-3pm ET
Join AIA Chief Economist Richard Branch for a quarterly conversation about the AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI). The ABI is a leading monthly economic indicator that uses proprietary AIA data to predict nonresidential construction activity 9–12 months ahead. Get ahead of emerging challenges and opportunities and inform your strategic planning with key insights into the industry’s latest economic data and trends.
Women in Healthcare Research and Design
Tuesday, August 11, 2026 | 2-3:30pm ET
Research is essential in advancing evidence-based design and fostering innovation in healthcare environments. This webinar features accomplished international women researchers based in the United States, each of whom has made significant contributions to healthcare design through rigorous research. Presenters will introduce themselves, share their key work, and highlight architectural design recommendations and practical applications from their studies. The session will also address current gaps in healthcare design research and explore emerging directions to guide future innovation. Attendees will gain valuable insights into how research drives best practices, informs design decisions, and improves outcomes in healthcare architecture.
The Flexible Firm: Staffing Independent Contractors to Navigate Risk and Workload
Wednesday, August 12, 2026 | 2-3pm ET
Architecture firms often face unpredictable workloads and resulting staffing challenges. New projects come and go , specialized expertise may be needed temporarily, and future staffing demand is uncertain. Used strategically, independent contractors can help firms create a more resilient practice capable of adapting its capacity, skills, and geographic reach without resorting to cycles of frantic hiring, overwork, and layoffs. When independent contractors can achieve the life-balance they are seeking, everybody wins.
Through examples from sole practitioners, a small remote firm, and a large architecture practice, this course examines how firms use independent contractors to expand capacity, access specialized skills, respond to workload surges, and accommodate different ways of working. Panelists will share several approaches, including direct contracting, staffing agencies, project-based collaboration, and contractor-to-employee transitions. Participants will also explore worker-classification requirements, jurisdictional differences, cultural and operational challenges, and lessons learned from models that did, and did not, work as intended. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for determining when independent contractors are an appropriate staffing strategy and how to use them to strengthen practice resilience while reducing business and compliance risks.
AI in the Flow of Work: Turning Project Data into Executive Decisions
Thursday, August 13, 2026 | 3-4pm ET
AI’s real value isn’t better answers—it’s reducing the time between insight, decision, and action. This session explores three shifts reshaping the next 12–24 months: copilots evolving into connected workflows, insights becoming embedded governance, and disconnected point tools giving way to unified platforms. Using real-world examples, we’ll examine how AI can help firms surface risk earlier, streamline approvals, and improve project readiness while maintaining trust, consistency, and control. Attendees will leave with practical considerations for turning project data into faster, more confident executive decisions.
New on demand courses
The Architect’s Edge: Smarter Specification Workflows with AI
Specifications are essential, yet they often lag behind modern design workflows—siloed, text-heavy, and difficult to coordinate. By digitizing resources like AIA MasterSpec within a Common Data Environment, firms can unlock specification data as a foundation for AI-driven workflows. This session shares practical examples of how GenAI improves accuracy, reduces errors, and strengthens collaboration—helping architects transform specifications from a late-stage task into a connected, future-ready practice that accelerates delivery and elevates project outcomes.
This session was recorded live on June 17, 2026.
Economic Update Q2 2026 ABI Insights
Join AIA Chief Economist Richard Branch for a quarterly conversation about the AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI). The ABI is a leading monthly economic indicator that uses proprietary AIA data to predict nonresidential construction activity 9–12 months ahead. Get ahead of emerging challenges and opportunities and inform your strategic planning with key insights into the industry’s latest economic data and trends.
This session was recorded live on May 22, 2026.
Sustainable Polycarbonate and Acrylic Sheet Solution for Health, Safety, & Welfare
This course provides a comprehensive overview of key product categories—facade and roofing systems, interior finishes, daylighting solutions, and security features—emphasizing their role in sustainable and modern architectural design. Through case studies and technical insights, architects and designers will learn to evaluate and specify materials that align with project goals, meet code requirements, and support long-term environmental performance, resilience, and value.
Resilience by Design: Lessons from Climate-Impacted Communities
Communities across the country are experiencing the impacts of a changing climate—from stronger storms to flooding, heat, and other climate-intensified hazards. Architects and landscape architects have an important role to play in helping communities prepare for these challenges and better recover after disasters.
This session will highlight the value of cross-disciplinary collaboration and community-driven design in building climate resilience. Last year, the Communities by Design (CxD) program hosted a project in Bakersville, North Carolina, after the small community was hit by Hurricane Helene. Architect Cheryl Morgan, based in Birmingham, Alabama, and landscape architect Aida Curtis, from Miami, Florida, will share lessons from their work on that project and other resilience-focused initiatives developed through the CxD program. Drawing from their experiences both within and beyond CxD, they will discuss how design professionals can work alongside local leaders, residents, and other experts to identify risks, strengthen community capacity, and implement strategies that help communities adapt to changing conditions.
Participants will gain practical insights into how collaborative design processes can support preparedness, recovery, and long-term resilience in communities facing increasing climate pressures.
This session was recorded live on April 23, 2026.