.png "Norstone Natural Stacked Stone Veneers Logo")
AIA Continuing Education Credits During Covid-19 Crisis
Everybody’s normal has been turned upside down as the Covid-19 crisis continues it hold on the United States starting in mid March and gaining steam in April. One thing we at Norstone have always worked hard to do is seek out and foster relationships with architects and designers that are doing amazing work. The main way we do this is to create awesome architectural grade natural stone products that these professionals want to work with, then backing those products up with great service during all stages of an architecturally specified project. Another way we support the A&D community is by going to their offices and teaching continuing education classes that architects are required to take to maintain their status with the American Institute of Architects, or AIA.
The AIA is the leading voice for architects in the United States. The AIA promotes education within the industry and works with both government and the private sector to advocate and champion architecture and the professionals in the industry. One of the main components of the education component of the AIA is that they partner with a number of different groups, including building material manufacturers like us, to create classes for their members. As a subject matter expert in a particular field, a building material manufacturer is a great resource to teach architects about that particular field or topic. The AIA continuing education classes are first and foremost about the education – each class is reviewed by the AIA before being approved to be taught to any of its members and the classes are brand agnostic, meaning although the presenter might be from a specific company speaking about the industry they are in, the classes are not an hour long sales pitch about their products.
In normal times, we enjoy teaching these classes in the offices of some of the great architecture and design firms we have the privilege of working with. Whether its over a box lunch or a mid afternoon snack plate, in person classes give us the ability to not only connect directly with A&D professionals but also bring in lots of materials to make the education deeper and more fulfilling.
Since these certainly aren’t “normal times”, we’ve recently begun scheduling these classes in a “live – online” format, meaning the class will be taught live, allowing for interaction and communication between the presenter and the architects, but instead of meeting in a conference room we are all joined together remotely via webinar. While it’s not the same as being there, we do enjoy teaching these classes, making connections across the A&D community, and sharing our knowledge.
We enjoy learning and teaching about tile and stone and an industry that has been around since the pyramids but still finds ways to be relevant every day. The class we are currently teaching has to do with things to consider when designing with direct adhered natural stone cladding. The course qualifies for the standard 1 hour continuing education unit with the AIA and also has a the HSW (Health, Safety, & Wellness) designation. In the course we cover what direct adhered natural stone cladding is and what makes it different from traditional building stone, how to specify it according to building code, and some of the sustainable and green friendly products of these types of products.
It might not be the routine way of getting credits, but while some architects and designers are experiencing a lull in project work as the economy remains unpredictable, working on their 2020 CEU requirements now will free up time when things return to normal later this year. If you are an architecture firm looking to coordinate live-online AIA continuing eduction units please contact us at sales@norstoneusa.com or call our main line at 407-401-7094 and ask for the A&D team so we can connect and get something scheduled.
