Registration is available at the bottom of this page.

Seminar description

Architectural details are the drivers of design. Each unique condition we detail solves for aesthetics and function, making the act of detailing equal parts artistic expression and technical proficiency. Yet, surprisingly, the importance of details as a driver of building performance is often overlooked. As architects and design professionals, we have tremendous agency to leverage our skill and role on projects to achieve high-performance design through good details that incorporate rigorous building science. This program will examine issues of occupant health, safety, and welfare through the lens of design execution by exploring the impact that architectural details play in realizing a design. Four local experts in architectural design and building science re-frame good design through details that perform. Topics include reducing risk of building failures, improving occupant health and comfort, and reducing operational efficiency. Panelists will share their process for developing their detail for performance and design execution while solving for a common architectural condition.

Learning objectives
1. Explain how building science concepts of thermal bridging, air infiltration, and moisture mitigation impact building performance and examine how designing details can resolve these issues.

2. Develop an understanding of how the artistic expression and building science inherent in detailing impacts health, safety and welfare.

3. Explore the opportunities to maximize attendees’ professional value through development of details that lower operational costs, increase occupant comfort and well-being, reduce risk of building failures, and minimize embodied carbon.

4. Explain how different client/consultant relationships are fostered to increase the probability that sustainable strategies are successfully implemented on diverse project types.

Presenters

Simona Fischer, AIA, is the director of sustainable practice at MSR Design. She develops and tests processes to integrate building-science-informed sustainable design seamlessly into the workflow of architectural practice. She is a project manager with
expertise in sustainable materials, including Living 
Building Challenge documentation. 

Marcy Conrad Nutt, AIA, CPHD, LEED AP
, is a licensed architect who has worked on a variety of small- and large-scale commercial, institutional, and residential buildings in the U.S. and Canada over the past 20 years. She is an architect at Alchemy in St. Paul,
where she spearheads the sustainability initiatives, 
integrating Passive House and AIA 2030 into the firm’s daily work.

Elizabeth Turner, AIA
, is an architect with a passion for finding synergies to create thriving, equitable communities that depend less on the purchase of energy, saving both operational costs and carbon emissions. She founded Precipitate in 2017 to explore emerging methods of holistically integrated design at the intersection of architecture, research, and education. 

Kathryn Van Nelson, Assoc. AIA, LEED
, is a senior associate and designer, with Snow Kreilich Architects. Kathryn enjoys technically challenging projects with an innovative approach to integrating performance and design. She feels strongly about celebrating the site-specific qualities of a project through its response to the program, climate, region, and community. 

Moderator
Thea Rozenbergs, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, is a senior architect and sustainable design professional at Alliiance with 15 years of professional experience. She is a creative problem solver with a passion for envisioning a collaborative, thriving future. Her practice focuses on a holistic approach to integrating sustainability and resilience from goal setting through development of design details and integration of specifications. 

Cost 

AIA members $50
Non-members $65

Continuing education credit

This program has been approved for 1.5 HSW LU Hours for AIA.

Instructions

  • Complete registration and payment
  • You will then receive a confirmation email with the link and password to access the webinar 
  • View the 90-minute webinar and then complete the ten-question quiz (must score 70% or above for credit)
  • Within 48 business hours you will receive a certificate of completion and/or credits will be recorded to your AIA member transcript

Questions

Contact Deanna Christiansen, Continuing Education Director.