Learn how to refine your delivery, manage presentation anxiety, and effectively engage with your audience. From mastering rehearsal techniques to confidently addressing audience questions, you’ll build the tools and confidence to deliver presentations that leave a lasting impression. This course is a free resource that does not offer credit for completion. Feel free to engage with the lessons that align with your needs and in the order that best suits your requirements. Each lesson is packed with engaging video lectures, enlightening readings, interactive quizzes, and hands-on assignments designed to facilitate the practical application of the concepts covered.

Individuals with justice system involvement or individuals impacted by the justice system are among the most disadvantaged populations in the U.S. They often experience complex challenges and harmful stigmas that prevent them from successfully reentering society. These challenges include accessing education, employment, affordable housing, substance abuse treatment, health care, and family services.  Architects have a unique opportunity to help. Learn how the key principles of trauma informed care can inform trauma informed design and create environments that actively address these challenges. Trauma informed design has the potential to significantly improve the health, safety, and well-being of justice-impacted individuals—creating spaces, residences, and facilities that help them become contributing members of society.   This session was recorded live on April 8, 2025.

Healthcare institutions are rethinking capital planning strategies and the future of care, as a reaction from the COVID pandemic and continued financial strain.  These changes are expected to be permanent.  In a study of over 100 healthcare engineering professionals, the importance of community trends and agility/flexibility of spaces are priorities.   The future of project delivery for healthcare spaces requires strategic alignment of health systems, real estate developers, design professionals, and builders.   Chantily Malibago, Director of Healthcare Development with Mortenson, presents healthcare research and market trends on the impact of the built environment and project delivery. Course expires 01/25/2026

Tri-Faith Commons serves as an international model for interfaith learning, collaboration, and community-building. This unique project brings together a synagogue, church, mosque, and interfaith center on a 38-acre campus in Omaha, Nebraska. Using Countryside Community Church—the most-recent architectural addition to Tri-Faith Commons—as a case study, discover how these diverse communities worked with the design team to find common ground to create a built space that unites populations that have been traditionally perceived to be in conflict in an ongoing conversation.  Through a conversation with Executive Director Wendy Goldberg, explore how the project evolved to create four distinct spaces that coexist within an intentionally planned landscape.  This session was recorded live on February 15, 2024.

Thursday, February 26, 2026  |  2-3pm ET Design professionals across the United Kingdom have been at the forefront of efforts to promote international adaptation of collaborative design practice since the 1980s. In 1988, a seminal joint design assistance team project took place between UK and American professionals in Pittsburgh, leading to a wave of new practice across Europe and beyond. This session will explore comparative experiences in collaborative design and planning with two leading thinkers, as well as the development of the Association for Collaborative Design. The session will share experiences with collaborative planning events from the UK and elsewhere and introduce the new Engagement Overlay to the RIBA Plan of Work, a tool to promote best practice and ensure the most successful and collaborative project outcomes.

As a member of an awards jury, it’s critical to foster an inclusive and equitable selection environment—ensuring that every candidate is evaluated fairly and objectively. Often, that begins with acknowledging the potential impact our own biases may have on the outcome. Sometimes, we're aware of our biases. Other times, we have to work to identify them. In this course, we'll explore unconscious biases, understanding their impact on decision-making and the fairness of award outcomes. Through self-reflection and practical strategies, we'll learn to identify our own biases and apply techniques to mitigate their influence. We'll equip ourselves with the knowledge and tools to continuously monitor and address bias, promoting a culture of awareness and inclusivity in the awards selection process.

This session delves into the unique challenges faced by Black women and women of color (WOC) in the AEC industry. Attendees will gain invaluable insights into their experiences, exploring topics such as work-life balance, power dynamics, and pay scales. The session critically examines the path to leadership for WOC, highlighting systemic obstacles and bias. It emphasizes the importance of removing subjectivity from processes, supporting mentorship, and fostering leadership roles for Black women and WOC. Executives' role in supporting diversity is discussed, with actionable steps provided to drive positive change and promote inclusion. The session highlights the detrimental impact of excluding these voices and inspires attendees to create a more inclusive environment. Course expires 10/22/2026

As an AIA leader, you shape how the organization is seen, heard, and trusted. This self-paced course empowers you to represent the Institute with confidence and clarity that is grounded in our shared mission, vision, and values. You’ll discover how consistent tone, visuals, and messaging not only reinforce AIA’s identity but also build credibility across every touchpoint. Because every leader plays a vital role in telling one unified story: advancing the power of architecture to create a better world.

AIA leaders play a vital role in ensuring that the organization’s resources are used responsibly, transparently, and in alignment with its mission. Whether you're a seasoned board member or stepping into a leadership role for the first time, this course is designed to build your confidence and competence in interpreting financial reports and understanding your fiduciary responsibilities. Through four concise, self-paced lessons, you’ll explore the fundamentals of nonprofit finance, governance, and accountability—empowering you to lead with transparency and strategic foresight.

As architects, we should be familiar with the milestone ADA standards that govern accessibility in public and federally funded facilities; we should also be familiar with how the IBC & ICC A117.1 are used and applied to multi-family residential buildings. How can we use these and other resources to help inform the best way for us to design homes where we can age in place gracefully, without needing to spend an exorbitant amount of money to recreate an environment to suit our future needs? The presentation will focus on the inclusion of universal design within residential architecture. The course will begin with a touch on the civil rights legislation that helped spur the accessibility codes and standards that we use today, along with the development of those standards and how they come into being, including important distinctions between ADA, IBC, and ICC A117.1. The 7 Principles of Universal Design and their applicability in the built environment will be discussed. Helpful resources for inclusive design will be shared, like the Housing Design Standards for Accessibility and Inclusion, created by the Kelsey (a non-profit centered around disability-forward housing solutions). Finally, we will discuss many simple, low-cost universal design considerations for residential builds. We will focus on holistic design aspects of the residential environment, rather than simply a checklist of accessible elements to be incorporated. Hosted by CRAN®. This session was recorded live on April 13, 2023. Course expires 3/5/2026

Specifically designed for healthcare architects and emerging professionals in healthcare design, this course offers a focused exploration of codes and regulations pertaining to doors and door hardware within healthcare facilities. The course will address the specific requirements for doors and hardware based on their use and occupancy, highlighting the critical need for highly durable, code-compliant, and safe solutions in hospitals. Key discussions will encompass essential aspects such as life safety, security, and long-term performance capabilities, detailing the basic regulatory requirements, various codes, and standards applicable to doors, especially those in a means of egress and their associated hardware. Attendees will gain insights into how door and hardware choices can impact design, learning practical tools for communicating door hardware and function, and discovering potential solutions for compliance to effectively prevent unintended code violations. This session was recorded live on September 9, 2025.

In 2023, why is sharing a BIM still such a debated issue in project delivery? Certainly, the contractual silos of Design-Bid-Build play a role as compared to Design-Build, but if the efficiencies provide by BIM and VDC are so well documented, why are project teams so reluctant to share models without lengthy disclaimers that amount to nothing more than statements of “you can use it for reference, but you can’t rely any on it?” This session will provide insight from industry professionals about how construction technologies can be merged with project delivery to bridge the gap of the risk management (or avoidance) issues the industry faces, as well as share past challenges and successes of engaging VDC into early project conversations. Course expires 1/17/2026

Upholding ethical obligations to clients is the cornerstone of a successful architecture practice. This essential course will reinforce your ethics knowledge and skills, helping you effectively navigate ethical dilemmas and prioritize client interests.  Dive into 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. Gain valuable insights into identifying, disclosing, and managing conflicts of interest, ensuring decisions are made professionally and without bias. Build strategies to apply with confidence in your daily practice, including communicating effectively, building trust, ensuring project success, and maintaining the integrity of the architect-client relationship. With a focus on the AIA Code of Ethics, you’ll learn how to align your communication strategies with ethical guidelines—from project initiation to completion—while maintaining transparency and confidentiality. Through analysis of a real-life scenario, you’ll develop the tools to uphold your ethical obligations—making decisions that protect client interests and reinforce the trust and integrity of the profession. This course was developed in close collaboration with members of the National Ethics Council. Course expires 06/30/2027

Energy modeling is an essential tool for architects and design professionals seeking to reduce carbon emissions and improve building performance. This course introduces the core principles and practical applications of energy modeling, emphasizing its role in achieving decarbonization across the building lifecycle.  You’ll learn how to integrate energy modeling from early concept through final construction, using it to inform critical decisions on massing, orientation, envelope, and systems selection. This course also covers modeling tools, predictive techniques, and simulation workflows that support both performance optimization and code compliance. Through real-world case studies, you’ll examine how energy modeling has driven measurable carbon reductions in diverse project types and explore emerging trends shaping the future of low-carbon design.  

Balancing work and personal life often seems unattainable. However, new forms of practicing architecture—or starting a firm—are delivering the flexibility employees want and the cost savings that firms need. Join us for a close look at the virtual architectural practice model. From soup to nuts, you'll acquire a deeper understanding of legal and insurance requirements, licensing differences, and how to implement cloud server technology and the like.

This course explores how access to clean, well-designed drinking water access points can support human health, behavior, and wellness in the built environment. Architects and designers are increasingly asked to go beyond code compliance – to shape spaces that promote hydration, trust in water quality, and equitable access. This course equips design professionals with the latest thinking on how water access points can serve as visible, functional wellness touchpoints across commercial, institutional, and public settings. This session was recorded live on August 27, 2025.

Materials that comprise the building envelope must be able to endure fire, hurricanes, flooding, and extreme cold and heat. This session will demonstrate how to construct building envelopes that can withstand catastrophic weather events and drastic temperature swings by using fiber cement cladding. See how fiber cement cladding can help you build sustainably while promoting resiliency, structural stability, and life safety. You'll learn about the design and engineering behind fiber cement products that enhance flexibility and function across a variety of climate zones. Plus, explore the evolutionary progress made in fiber cement products for the built environment and architectural specification. This session was recorded live on September 18, 2025.

The store is a 3D manifestation of what the customer has been promised through marketing, while providing an engaging, pleasant, and successful shopping experience for the customer, and delivering sales and margins that provide a profit. Post pandemic, research shows that while customers value the in-store experience and want to return to brick and mortar shopping, they want stores to do better on innovative use of the space for shopping and fulfillment. Retail stores are not solely destinations, but rather a physical space that provides the why, how, and where people shop. The store must fulfill a series of functions that reduce the physical space allocated to the presentation of merchandise. This course examines creating blended, flexible spaces that accommodate autonomy, convenience, education & engagement. This is hosted by the Retail and Entertainment Knowledge Community (REKC). Course expires 03/25/2026

Designed for architects, design professionals, and learners who aspire to champion respect and inclusivity in their firms and practices, this course defines what makes a respectful firm—highlighting key characteristics, benefits, and the necessary steps for its creation and growth. Central to the discussion are 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.  Through case study analysis, you’ll understand how to effectively apply the principles of national anti-discrimination laws and the AIA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct—enhancing your readiness to address these issues in your own firm. You’ll also 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. Course expires 07/29/2027

Join us for an insightful webinar session as we delve into the most common and expensive disaster in the US: flooding. Architects have a critical role to play in preparing communities for the increasing occurrence of floods. During this session, participants will discover innovative approaches and best practices that architects can employ to safeguard structures and minimize the devastating effects of floods. This session will examine the different kinds of flooding that occur, comparing the challenges faced by coastal regions to those experienced in the middle of the country. Gain a comprehensive understanding of the unique factors that contribute to each type of flooding and the implications they have on structures and communities. Additionally, we will explore the crucial topic of insurance in flood-prone areas. Gain insights into the insurance options available and how they can provide financial protection and aid in the recovery process. To bring these concepts to life, we will showcase compelling case studies that highlight successful initiatives in flood resilience and preparedness. Gain inspiration from real-world examples and learn from the experiences of communities that have effectively tackled the challenges posed by floods. Don't miss this opportunity to deepen your knowledge and contribute to the creation of more resilient communities in the face of flooding.  To explore more resources on how to helping communities before and after disasters, visit aia.org/disaster. This session was recorded live on September 7, 2023.