This course focuses on practice management from the perspective of supporting both public welfare and client interests through enhanced service delivery. The emphasis on public welfare is critically important because architects, as professionals and service providers, must prefer client interests over their own, and when the issues are clear, they must prefer public interests over both. This suggests that, if circumstances warrant, architects must raise client values to align them with public values. Indeed, the AIA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct implores members to “promote and serve the public interest.” So how can architects and their practices best operationalize professional obligations to clients and the public? They can engage in the following strategies that are discussed in the course: Provide public interest professional services. Share practice knowledge and experience with colleagues and the public. Conduct practice-based research. Investigate emerging technologies. Cultivate firm culture that supports learning and innovation and includes justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) initiatives. Collaborate effectively to facilitate client and stakeholder relations.

Ethics provide a method for architects to deal with the dilemmas they often encounter in practice. This course provides a framework for analyzing difficult situations through ethics. It introduces the moral foundations theory, virtue ethics, deontological ethics, social contract ethics, and utilitarian ethics. Using this framework and the AIA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, the course examines a number of scenarios.

This course provides practical advice about security considerations in both the business operations and project delivery aspects of architecture practice. Hypothetical design examples are presented to demonstrate the application of security strategies and measures to selected building functions. This course is part of an eight-part series that covers concepts, principles, and processes for incorporating enhanced security into the design of new and existing buildings. Each section can be taken as an individual course. This course was last revised in 2022.

The course “IAQ in Practice - Building Moisture” is the fifth of six courses in the learning program, “Indoor Air Quality for Architects: Design Buildings to Promote Health and Wellness.” This course is designed to educate architects on the benefits and risks of building-related moisture as it pertains to indoor air quality. The key factors in successful moisture management include understanding that you cannot prevent all moisture from penetrating a building, designing to minimize moisture penetration, and providing opportunities for drainage and drying.

This course provides an introduction to and overview of the advancements, trends, and predictions for the world of sustainable design, relying on studies, reports, and analyses from a variety of trusted sources. This course is part of a six-part series that presents practical guidelines for designing sustainable buildings. Each section can be taken as an individual course. This course was last revised in 2021.

The course “IAQ in Practice - Building Case Studies” is the final of six courses in the learning program, “Indoor Air Quality for Architects: Design Buildings to Promote Health and Wellness.” This course is designed to educate architects on the most important and practical key points identified within the series by demonstrating, through a variety of case studies, the lessons taught throughout the first five courses. The course includes a review of fundamental indoor air quality concepts and their importance for human health and safety, examples to show how design can affect indoor air quality, the practical application of key concepts, and more.

While wind pressure typically develops on the surfaces of any obstruction placed in the path of the flow, the distribution of pressure on any surface of the obstruction varies, and the variation depends on the size, shape, and proportion of the obstruction. This course reviews the relationship between stream flow and pressure development, with particular emphasis on the nature and distribution of pressures developed on building surfaces. Also reviewed are pressure coefficients, the effects of internal and external pressures on buildings, and some general considerations of standard procedures for wind force analysis. This is the second in a series of five courses on wind forces. Each part may be taken as an individual course. This 2022 edition is a substantial update of the original Wind Forces course first published in 2017.

The course “IAQ in Practice – Building Materials and Finishes” is the fourth of six courses in the course series, “Indoor Air Quality for Architects: Design Buildings to Promote Health and Wellness.” This course is designed for architects to consider how the selection of building materials and finishes can either positively or negatively affect the indoor air quality within a building. By leveraging third party resources discussed within this course, making informed design decisions, and creating specific language within construction documents, architects can play a major role in improving indoor air quality both during construction as well as when spaces are occupied.

The course “IAQ in Practice – Building Systems and Activities” is the third of six courses in the learning program, “Indoor Air Quality for Architects: Design Buildings to Promote Health and Wellness.” This course is designed to educate architects on the different ways in which air contaminants can be introduced and how they can be addressed in a building. Building systems and activities are discussed in detail as this course dives deeper into how building enclosure systems in particular can be designed to improve indoor air quality (IAQ). This course also describes how to qualify and quantify the effectiveness of systems to control contaminants as well as daily practices for maintaining healthy indoor air.

This course provides an overview of NCARB’s Model Rules of Conduct as they apply to competence, with actual and hypothetical cases illustrating the importance of attention to detail, listening carefully, and thinking like an engineer as a means of ensuring competence in the practice of architecture. This course is part of a five-part series that reviews and discusses the standards all architects are legally obliged to follow. Each section can be taken as an individual course.

This course provides an overview of registration rules for architects, with a discussion of the meaning of the practice of architecture and the design professional. The requirement for state-by-state registration, the reason for registration, and penalties for failing to do so are also addressed. This course is part of a five-part series that reviews and discusses the standards all architects are legally obliged to follow. Each section can be taken as an individual course.

This course provides an overview of the Model Rules of Conduct as applicable to accountability, with actual and hypothetical cases illustrating the importance of the designer having detailed knowledge of the content of the plans during their preparation as a means of exerting accountability in the practice of architecture. This course is part of a five-part series that reviews and discusses the standards all architects are legally obliged to follow. Each section can be taken as an individual course.

This course provides an overview of the Model Rules of Conduct pertaining to honesty, with actual and hypothetical cases illustrating the issues related to corruption and bribery in the practice of architecture. Also included is a discussion of the difficulties in applying the rule forbidding the wanton disregard of the rights of others. This course is part of a five-part series that reviews and discusses the standards all architects are legally obliged to follow. Each section can be taken as an individual course.

Transitioning from employee to sole proprietor of an architecture firm is the dream of many architects, but it comes with a need to understand licensing laws more fully and have a good grasp of acceptable rules of conduct for the profession. This course examines the ethical and legal considerations involved when an architect sets out to establish their own practice. In particular, this course considers how legal requirements for soliciting work may vary between jurisdictions.

This is a required training course for those who have accepted the role of reviewing an AXP Portfolio for an employee they supervise. It explains the supervisor’s role and obligations in the licensure process for the candidate.

Some of the most common disciplinary actions against architects consist of those related to the use of the architect’s seal. In these case studies, we review the legal requirements and ethical considerations related to the use of the architect’s seal, responsible control, the boundaries between architecture and other disciplines, and interstate practice.

Work experience under supervision is a requirement for architectural licensure throughout the United States. This course explains NCARB’s requirements for supervision in the Architectural Experience Program®, as well as practical and ethical considerations for supervisors and mentors. The course explains learning science related to professional training, how to give useful feedback, how to utilize the AXP to provide structured experience, and considerations of unconscious biases which may affect licensure candidates in their professional development. Case study examples help learners to better understand how to apply the concepts described. Anyone who is approving experience or mentoring a licensure candidate will find value in this course.

Soil and subsurface water conditions affect the design and performance of building projects. Therefore, it is important to recognize the problems of working with ground materials for the purposes of building and site construction and general site-surface development. This course discusses site development considerations, the management of site materials, and what can go wrong along the way. This course is part of a four-part series that examines soil mechanics as it relates to building construction and performance. Each part can be taken as an individual course. This course was last revised in 2022.

This course is intended to prepare the architect to recognize and respond appropriately to ethical dilemmas encountered at work, especially when engaging with forceful clients or clients with differing values. The three scenarios presented here will help the architect successfully recognize potential ethical challenges and build effective strategies to meet their duty to the client and the public.

This course provides an overview of the Model Rules of Conduct pertaining to conflicts of interest, with actual and hypothetical cases illustrating the issues of compensation and disclosure, as well as a discussion of how to best understand the concept of a conflict of interest. This course is part of a five-part series that reviews and discusses the standards all architects are legally obliged to follow. Each section can be taken as an individual course.

This course addresses those elements that comprise the standard of care and the linkage to liability that an architect faces during a project’s pursuit, negotiation, design, and construction document production and the construction administration process that affects the architect’s standard of care. This course was last revised in 2021.

The course “Indoor Air Quality Overview” is the first of six courses in the learning program, “Indoor Air Quality for Architects: Design Buildings to Promote Health and Wellness.” This introductory course is designed to educate architects on fundamental indoor air quality (IAQ) concepts, including the relationship between IAQ and indoor environmental quality (IEQ), health impacts related to IAQ, common contaminants, and how contaminants may be measured. This course defines the architect’s role and the role of the broader building design, construction, and management team in promoting acceptable IAQ, and includes references and resources that architects may find useful when evaluating designs for IAQ considerations.

Wildfire damage mitigation has become increasingly important as wildfires themselves steadily increase in frequency, size, and ferocity, putting more communities, buildings, and lives at risk. The property damage they cause is rising even more dramatically. This course examines wildfire behavioral attributes and the wide range of wildfire damage mitigation techniques that architects can implement when designing residential and commercial buildings. It draws from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guidelines that range from risk assessment to site analysis and selection, community and infrastructure connections, site planning, and building and envelope detail design techniques.

The design of complex objects involving many people and functions requires careful management if progress is to be made toward a successful conclusion. This course examines the role of design management in seismic performance. Particular attention is paid to the use of construction observation and performance-based design as approaches that can be used to design structures with predictable and defined seismic performance goals. Also reviewed are a variety of design resources that can be used by architects when designing for seismic mitigation. This is the last in a series of six courses on seismic mitigation. Each part may be taken as an individual course. This 2021 edition is a substantial update of the original Seismic course first published in 2017.