Esports, or electronic sports, is a rapidly growing form of sports competition using video games. This emerging sports gaming market needs venues to have unique spatial requirements to serve the needs of the players and spectators. While a traditional sports stadium is the closest equivalent, a copy/paste approach will not hit the mark—presenting designers with a new and exciting challenge: Designing a new arena.  Get an overview of the current state of the esports market. Learn what types of spaces are currently being used in esports venues. Explore the unique creative opportunities that can be mined in this emerging building typology. Moderated by Luanne Carleton and presented by ​Simon Hoffiz of Nelson Worldwide​. This course was recorded live on May 23, 2024.

Tuesday, July 8, 2025  |  2:00-3:00pm EST Designing healthcare facilities requires a deep understanding of life safety systems that protect patients, staff, and visitors. This presentation is tailored to expand designers’ knowledge of life safety requirements and gain practical tools for integrating these critical elements into hospital and ambulatory care design. Through an exploration of passive fire protection strategies, attendees will gain clarity on the often complex and overlapping requirements found in the International Building Code (IBC) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. We will look at egress requirements tailored to healthcare occupancies and explore how to approach egress planning that meets code, supports operations, and prioritizes life safety.  In addition to passive strategies, the session will address active systems, offering an overview of basic design requirements for fire alarm and sprinkler systems. Designed to be both informative and actionable, this session will equip attendees with tools to better collaborate with engineers, code consultants, and authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) to create projects are both compliant and safe. 

Take a deep dive into architectural ethics—focusing on professionalism, integrity, and competence—in this interactive course examining the AIA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. Gain greater awareness and understanding of how AIA members are committed to the highest standards of practice and how the code guides their conduct in fulfilling those obligations. Plus, learn how the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct can assist in attaining individual and organizational objectives while safeguarding the public's health, safety, and welfare. Course expires: 01/16/2027

Upholding ethical obligations to clients and fellow professionals is the cornerstone of a successful architecture practice. These essential courses will reinforce your ethics knowledge and skills, helping you effectively navigate ethical dilemmas. Explore the foundations of client-professional relationships with a focus on the importance of ethical standards and legal requirements and steering clear of conflicts of personal gain.  Learn how the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct can assist in attaining individual and organizational objectives while safeguarding the public's health, safety, and welfare. Review anti-discrimination laws and specific sections within the AIA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct that underscore the critical need to prevent harassment and discrimination, especially concerning protected characteristics Learn strategies for preventing and addressing harassment and discrimination, such as cultivating a respectful workplace culture, establishing clear policies, and providing education on diversity and inclusion Save up to 15% when you purchase the bundle.

Architects are always evolving their practice to meet the needs of clients. As billion-dollar disaster events become the new normal, resilient design solutions that reduce risk and impact—and protect your client’s assets—present a tremendous opportunity for architects. This intermediate-level course unpacks best practices for retrofitting and upgrading existing buildings— often beyond current building codes—to reduce potential damage from key hazards. In addition to strategies for existing buildings, you’ll review unique complexities and opportunities for retrofitting historic buildings. At the end of this course, you’ll have in-depth knowledge, technical information, and resources that will help you improve a building’s disaster resistance and implement strategic design decisions that mitigate the damaging impacts of water inundation, wind and storms, other climate-related hazards, and geologic/seismic hazards. This course is part of the AIA Resilience and Adaptation Series, a multi-course series that provides you with the tools and knowledge you need to design for resilience. Take all of the courses in this series to earn a certificate of completion. This course is sponsored by Owens Corning

This session will explore artist and designer responses to environmental resilience. Using nature as inspiration these designers have investigated what it means to create a closed-system environment, what we can learn from other organisms and how we can push our own thinking about the futures of the built environment. Course expires 1/25/2026

Go behind the scenes to discover the science, techniques and software used to create both usable data sets for architects and exploratory design platforms. This panel will uncover the actual processes used to pull weather data and climate analysis to influence design decision-making as well as explore the game creation process. It will explore the ways designers are responding to the challenge of potential climate catastrophe and how resilient principles can help avert a dangerous future. Course expires 1/25/2026

Join us to learn about key new resilience resources: the AIA Resilient Project Process Guide, the ROI: Codes, standards and reporting supporting resilient design, and the ROI: The economic case for resilient design. Complementing each other, these resources highlight the attributes of resilient and climate-adaptive design, while envisioning how to convey the importance and thus achieve climate-adaptive outcomes across the different phases of design. In this interactive session, you'll select questions related to current projects, discuss how you've used similar questions in the past or how you might use them in the future, and share experiences in resilient project design processes. Course expires 8/29/2025

Understanding financial fundamentals is essential for architects looking to build resilient, profitable firms. This course provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to the core financial statements and ratios that shape a firm’s financial health. Designed specifically for architects and design professionals, it demystifies complex financial concepts through practical examples, engaging multimedia content, and interactive exercises.  You’ll explore the structure and function of income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements while gaining hands-on experience analyzing financial ratios. By connecting financial fundamentals directly to architectural practice, the course empowers professionals to make informed business decisions that drive sustainable growth and long-term success.  This is a new, interactive on-demand version of the course, adapted from the live session held on April 22, 2025.  

Make sure you’re prepared for the rapidly evolving digital revolution with a comprehensive introduction to the core concepts, principles, and applications of artificial intelligence (AI). Learn key components of AI, explore the current and future implications of its use, and gain insights into the real-world applications in the industry.   Whether this is your first foray into the topic or you’re looking to update your skills, this course will equip you with the foundational understanding needed to explore AI further.  Course expires 10/25/2026 This session was recorded live on December 14, 2023.

In a time of seemingly constant change, how can we as design professionals plan for the future effectively? Future Proofing is an approach that flows through every aspect of the project to organize all elements of the experience will a focus on human connection.  We will start a conversation around the advantages of investing less in fixed assets, instead putting the emphasis on programmable space that can host a range of uses from workplace to retail, edutainment to events, and gatherings of all types with equal ease.  In this discussion we will explore ways to listen, and learn from trends and culture, with an eye toward adaptability for everything from master plan to retail footprints, from touchpoints to memorable moments.  We will consider new ways to problem solve the creation of noteworthy destinations that connect emotionally with the community we want to engage. Hosted by the Retail and Entertainment Knowledge Community (REKC). Course expires 12/18/2025

Emergency Departments (ED) can be instantaneously overwhelmed, requiring resilient, adaptable, and flexible solutions of the built environment. Like many healthcare organizations, UC Health, an academic medical organization located in Cincinnati, Ohio, experienced major space challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic on-set and peak. This scenario, and others that ED’s are faced with, can be better supported by innovative uses of non-clinical environments on campus. In this presentation, we will demonstrate solutions applied to an adjacent space to the renovated ED at University of Cincinnati Medical Center that provides added social distanced seating for the entire campus, accommodates separate entries to avoid cross-contaminating infectious and non-infectious presenters, activates additional patient care environments supporting the ED proper, and integrates security and safety measures for all in high-stress, potentially dangerous situations. UC Health has received congressional funding for this project through the CARES (Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act as it will benefit the readiness of the only Level 1 Trauma Center in Cincinnati to better serve the community with a future-proof, resilient facility. Upon completion, the space activation methodologies will be folded into regional readiness training for emergency scenarios and serve as an example of the future of Level 1 Trauma Centers.  Hosted by the Academy of Architecture for Health (AAH). Course expires 5/29/2026

A panel of experts discusses how to excel at getting your work published in print. From documenting the project, preparing and arranging professional photography and promoting the project through various channels. You’ll learn how to create the story behind the project and how to pitch it to editors. Sponsored by AGS Stainless, Inc., an AIA National Cornerstone Partner.  Hosted by CRAN.  Course expires 10/19/2025

Building certification systems offer valuable frameworks for designing buildings with environmental and human outcomes in mind. This presentation reviews the mechanics, goals, values, and the relative cost and effort of five common building certifications on the market today (LEED, WELL, Fitwel, Living Building Challenge, and Green Globes) providing attendees with a deeper understanding of which rating system might be most appropriate for their next project.

Learn how to recognize, anticipate, and plan for the impacts shocks and stresses have on communities and buildings. In this interactive course, you’ll explore the relationships between hazards, vulnerability, and risk in the built environment, which will, in turn, inform a holistic design process that protects public safety and reduces damage to property. Designing communities that are safe, healthy, and sustainable rests on this foundation. This course is part of the AIA Resilience and Adaptation Series, a multi-course series that provides you with the tools and knowledge you need to design for resilience. Take all of the courses in this series to earn a certificate of completion. This course is sponsored by Owens Corning    

Dive deeper into the relationship between building materials and human health in this eye-opening course. You’ll discover the three ways substances move from the environment into our bodies. You’ll also learn about health risks—what makes certain populations more vulnerable and why health impacts can vary from person to person. Embracing the precautionary principle is one of several actions explored in this course to help you better consider human health risks when selecting materials. This course is sponsored by CertainTeed Course expires on 6/12/2025

This panel discussion featuring a university educator, AAH next generation practitioner, AAH mentoring advocate, American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA) leader and a firm principal involved in succession planning focuses on the opportunities and challenges in career development and progression.  This session was recorded live on October 10, 2023.

This plenary will present the latest research on designing for heath, both within healthcare environments and in a wider urban setting. Healthcare morphologies and research on green space will be explored as well as research discoveries occurring in practice. Course expires 1/25/2026

This session will delve into tools and techniques in healthcare design to improve outcomes and plan for resilience. Using artificial intelligence  to evaluate and discover scenarios for preventative design in healthcare spaces will be uncovered as well as material health in healthcare settings. Using nature to increase patient outcomes will also be explored, including ongoing research with human subjects in a healthcare setting. Course expires 1/25/2026

Since its establishment in 1901, the National Bureau of Standards (NIST) has been committed to setting standards worldwide. In addition, NIST is a proud steward of scores of historically important research laboratories, facilities, and architecturally significant structures and landscapes. Historic preservation has become an integral component of the planning, design, operations and maintenance activities across all of its campuses nationwide. NIST’s Master Plan, which facilitates this preservation, has been the recipient of both local and national awards. This session will discuss NIST’s exemplary federal agency leadership in preservation practice.  Hosted by the Public Architects Committee (PAKC).   Course expires 9/19/2026 This session was recorded live on December 5, 2023.