The building sector is the single largest consumer of energy and producer of greenhouse gas emissions.The 2030 Challenge, adopted by the AIA, provides a path to reducing our sector’s negative impacts and reaching carbon neutral design as the standard practice. This series will inspire architects to meet the 2030 Challenge through design strategies, efficient technologies and systems, and applying renewable energy resources. The 2030 Challenge outlines a set of incremental design targets moving towards carbon neutral design. Those targets should be part of the design process from the start of the project. This course examines tools that can help set your project’s energy targets and track progress towards those goals. You'll also learn about setting targets, not just for the whole building energy use, but for energy end uses of the building, which is critical to achieving results. Finally, you'll explore how energy modeling can be used at all stages of design to verify progress towards realizing the project’s goals.    The AIA+2030 Online Series is an AIA and Architecture 2030 co-production. It's based on the highly successful AIA+2030 Professional Series, which was created by AIA Seattle and Architecture 2030, with support from the City of Seattle and Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.

The goal of the 2030 Challenge is to create buildings that use zero fossil fuels. After implementing low/no cost design and efficiency measures in a building project, renewable energy emerges as the final step to reaching aggressive carbon elimination goals. This session will explore the relationships between efficiency and renewable energy, and investigate current renewable energy opportunities both on-site and off-site at neighborhood, district, and utility scales.  The AIA+2030 Online Series is an AIA and Architecture 2030 co-production. It's based on the highly successful AIA+2030 Professional Series, which was created by AIA Seattle and Architecture 2030, with support from the City of Seattle and Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.

As businesses strive to maximize their bottom line, tax saving opportunities are becoming increasingly important. This course is specifically designed to assist architecture firms in identifying if they qualify for the R&D Tax Credit, the 179D Energy Efficient Commercial Building Deduction, as well as opportunities to be aware of related to the 45L Tax Credit and Investment Tax Credit. Attendees will learn about the history of these tax incentives, what legislative changes have taken place, where the tax incentives are headed in the future, and how your firm can capitalize on them.  This session was recorded live on April 3, 2024.

Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA, is principal/owner & founder of Olson Kundig—a collaborative global design practice whose work expands the context of built and natural landscapes. Tom’s diverse body of work champions the formal and technical yet makes a genuine connection with the people who inhabit it. His longstanding interest in the ways people engage with their environments, both built and natural, was honed throughout his extensive career designing private residences, but it is just as present in his larger scale work. In this way, Tom’s design practice is an ongoing exploration of architecture’s elemental qualities: materiality, texture, and detail in dialogue with the human condition. In this session, Tom will speak to his contextual approach to design, providing an overview of his work that often serves as a backdrop to the built, cultural, or natural landscapes that surround them. Moderated by Sarah Broughton, Tom will share his philosophies around craftmanship, collaboration, and what it means for humans to be in a relationship with architecture. Presented in partnership with AIA Colorado.

Join us for a rich presentation by Studio Gang’s Founding Partner Jeanne Gang, FAIA, on how her practice is leading the way for architects across the globe towards a more sustainable and equitable future. In her keynote lecture at the 2022 AIA Women’s Leadership Summit, Gang shares several projects, ranging in scale and typology, that demonstrate how her firm is pushing design’s ability to generate meaningful change and offer practical solutions to larger issues like climate change. She also discusses her firm’s major step towards pay equity after closing the gender wage gap for all Studio Gang employees in 2018. Course expires 06/18/2027

This course is a free resource that does not offer credit for completion. Equip yourself with the necessary skills and strategies to create and deliver engaging presentations that effectively convey your message and inspire your audience. Whether you are looking to enhance your professional communication skills, captivate stakeholders with your ideas, or become a more confident speaker, this two-part course will provide you the comprehensive insights and practical skills to achieve your goal. 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.

Learn how to effectively define your presentation objectives, organize your content, enhance accessibility, and use visual aids. Each step is carefully structured to ensure a seamless and thorough understanding of the art and science behind impactful presentations. 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.

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.

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.

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

In the first of the five-part Video Storytelling for Architects Series, hear from firm owner Joe Valerio and Marketing & Communications Director Francisco Lopez de Arenosa, AIA Film Challenge 2021 Runner Up, on why video is utilized in practice, including examples of how a film can bring an architecture project to life. Course expires 05/24/2025

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

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

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. Course expires on 11/24/2026.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted migration patterns in fundamental ways, as remote work has altered how and where people conduct business.  Virtual Migrations, the third in the three-part series, underscores the dynamics at work as technological advances and pervasive high-speed internet are enabling greater efficiencies.  Course expires 12/26/2024  

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

With a wide variety of roof systems used on commercial buildings, selecting low-slope roofing assemblies can be complicated. Starting with four unique roofing case studies to review design considerations, we will ask the infamous question “What if?” Attendees will leave this interactive session with a better understanding of best practices in low-slope roof system design, including ways to establish air tightness, reduce moisture intrusion, and lower the overall risk of failure on your next project. This free course is brought to you through a partnership with GAF. By registering for this course, you grant AIA permission to share your name and email address with GAF.  This session was recorded live on August 22, 2024. Course expires 8/27/2025

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