Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

In a world where securing top talent is a competitive business advantage in the workplace, employers spend time devising ways to attract and retain an exceptional workforce. As companies look to recruit the best and brightest from college campuses, they often overlook the one ideal recruitment strategy...the campus design itself.

Despite the transformations necessary to equip students with 21st century skills, planners and decision-makers at schools and institutions continue to design classrooms and campuses that reflect outdated modes of teaching. This CEU examines the opportunity to explore educational space design using a
learning per square foot” concept, thereby improving student success, creating a community of learning and strengthening our country’s competitive position for the future.

High-tech companies are changing so quickly on the inside that they are determining the rate of change on the outside. Their pace makes industry iterate faster and identify weaknesses more quickly. High-tech companies aren’t discovering new ways of offering the same product. They are identifying a completely new service or product.

A discussion and review of true learning influences over 2,500 years and the impact on the changing world of education. During this course, the attendee will discover the power of “Play” within learning, understand how “Making” fosters collaboration and discuss how “Design” transcends disciplines and silos.

Living in a world that generates more waste than it recycles, Generation Scrap explores Gen Z’s attitudes and design solutions to the global climate crisis. Through a collaboration between Ohio State’s Interior Materials course and Mohawk Group’s Product Development team, students research and identify sustainability challenges impacting their generation to develop macro design trends that are translated into speculative carpet designs. From ocean plastic to fast fashion waste and even climate refugees, topics addressed circular design with a real-world understanding to develop innovative carpet design solutions that positively impact the natural environment and the human experience. This partnership project highlights the importance of collaboration between educational institutions and industry to create designs that support the growing demands and values of Gen Z.

Increasingly we are exposed to different types of events requiring us to rethink resiliency. Whether a man-made or natural event, different types of considerations need to act as the basis for how we get through disasters of any kind. This presentation will focus on the experience of experts who can share their perspective on how they have addressed different types of resiliency needs either from an owner’s or designer’s perspectives.

Water is essential for all life and is nature’s currency. As humans, we have been influencing and managing the capital of water for our own benefit and survival. But not all water is the same. Beyond this, we have reached a new era in the Anthropocene where there are critical challenges and instability to water supplies. These factors put tremendous stress on our natural ecosystems, and we have an urgent need to redesign how we interact and utilize water in order to survive, as well as to enjoy the benefits of water in all aspects of our lives. It’s up to us to be efficient and resourceful stewards of water. So how can we be inspired to think of water as a precious resource, and use the power of design to solve issues of climate change and social equity? Only we can ensure that water will be clean, healthy, and available for generations to come. By looking at examples from the past and present, as well as speculations for the future, we can tell our water story. What is your water story?

This course provides a thoughtful discussion of why a holistic approach towards sustainability is important. A multi-attribute approach towards product sustainability from the different viewpoints of lifecycle, acoustics, indoor air quality are important. Additionally, sustainability should be considered with an environmental and social approach, Through this course, we will understand what aspects of sustainability should be considered while choosing flooring products. We will also examine third party product and green building certifications, allowing the design professional tools to make sustainable decisions with confidence.

The presentation outlines the criteria supporting WELL certification in which over 100 performance metrics, design strategies, and policies work harmoniously with LEED.

This interactive 1 hour course is a live presentation that includes an indoor powerpoint presentation and an outdoor nature trail presentation. Participants will receive a deeper understanding of how responsible forest management and forest certification is conducted. The course provides detailed information on how forest management affects hardwood availability and quality as well as optimized forest ecosystems for biodiversity, wildlife habitat, and carbon sequestration. Participants should have a better understanding of the designer’s role in supporting and promoting responsible forest management and the use of sustainable certified wood products within the interior space.

In this CEU presentation, you’ll learn about the history of healthy buildings and why they matter. You’ll also find out about the healthcare industry’s impact on climate change, along with how the physical environment of healthcare buildings affects patient and staff health and safety. Finally, you’ll learn about the business case for healthy buildings, as well as gain insight on some strategies for designing healthy building interiors.

This CEU is designed to illustrate the importance of the global wellness industry at large, identify the external factors driving wellness in design, and highlight the importance of the WELL Building Standard™. In this course, we will provide an overview of the wellness economy, review the generational demand for wellness in the workplace, and explain what drives consumer buying behaviors. We will then take a look at how the 2020 pandemic and demands for social responsibility has catapulted the need for wellness in all aspects of our lives. The WELL Building Standard™ v2 has been adapted from v1 to meet the needs of our current times, and we will take a look at some of the major principles and concept changes between v1 and v2. As a conclusion, we will highlight a few projects and show how they have been positively impacted by WELL Certification.