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.

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.

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.

The course “IAQ & Building Design” is the second 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 importance of indoor air quality (IAQ) for human health and safety, and to explain why IAQ is monitored during building operations. This course recognizes the building design considerations that impact IAQ and outlines the steps an architect can take to promote healthful IAQ by reducing, removing, and diluting contaminants.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

The structures architects design and bring to life offer joy to clients, building occupants, and the public. However, for a small number of people, these structures become a place to end their pain. This course is a primer for architects in preventing suicide falls. By the end of this presentation, we hope you will have a better understanding of how architects can play a role in preventing suicide.

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.

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.