Earn AIA continuing education credits from National Gypsum
Strengthen your knowledge and earn required credits with free AIA-approved continuing education courses
While National Gypsum Company is best known as one of the industry’s top providers of reliable, high-performance building products, we’re also committed to providing the building design and construction community access to free AIA-approved continuing education credits through onsite and online courses.
National Gypsum’s Building Knowledge Together® continuing education program courses are developed to provide designers information that qualifies as health, safety, and welfare (HSW) by AIA’s Continuing Education Standards definition.
“When we submit a course to AIA for HSW approval, we are required to include justification of how our content specifically addresses the health, safety and welfare of the occupants of the built environment,” said Amy Hockett, National Gypsum’s Manager, Architectural Services & Sustainability. “We know our customers need educational credits to maintain licensure — and the Building Knowledge Together program allows National Gypsum to provide specific, timely industry information to educate them quickly on relevant topics that are integral to every building type.”
“National Gypsum provides so much more than a product,” said Jaysen Good, IPG, Incorporated: Architects & Planners. “They offer courses that provide comprehensive explanations to assemblies and principals vital to architectural design and construction.”
With a wide variety of free programs available — all of which qualify for AIA HSW learning units — participants can choose course topics related to product application, technical standards and industry trends. These continuing education credits are suitable for architects, specification writers, design professionals, facility managers, school system building groups, in-house architects, architecture students and building owners.
“There are two primary values in taking a CEU course from National Gypsum: One, it helps our staff meet their AIA and state continuing education requirements. Two, our staff usually receives valuable information that we can utilize almost immediately from a product representative that we can trust,” said Patrick A. White, project architect at RLF, Architecture Engineering Interiors.
Onsite continuing education from National Gypsum
In-person courses are taught onsite and facilitated by National Gypsum certified presenters. In addition to qualifying for AIA credits, these in-person courses help educate new professionals entering the industry, keep existing professionals updated on changes and enhancements, and can advance the knowledge base for a wide cross-section of an architecture firm’s staff.
“National Gypsum offers educational programs relevant to both your newest employees and your more experienced staff,” explained Scott Hughes, construction design manager with National Gypsum. “Covering topics like UL designs, STC ratings, indoor air quality and the five levels of finish, just to name a few, we will help you train your staff in both systems solutions and product knowledge.”
- A Healthy Building Blueprint: How to Improve Indoor Air Quality for Occupants — Explore strategies that help improve indoor air quality and learn which products to specify to meet sustainable design criteria, along with how design professionals can apply IAQ strategies to projects.
- Acoustically Enhanced Gypsum Board for High STC Wall Partitions — Learn about the different sound resilient assemblies available for the design and construction of high STC wall partitions.
- Advantages of Using Coverboards on Low Slope Roofing Assemblies — Overview of low-slope roof systems and background to discuss selecting the appropriate coverboards and thermal barriers for your project, including the primary features, benefits and challenges for each board type.
- Area Separation Wall Systems: Designing Better Fire and Sound Protection — Overview of the advantages of using moisture-resistant, fiberglass shaftliner panels for 2- and 3-hour area separation walls in multifamily, multilevel housing.
- Best Practices: Fire and Sound Solutions by Building Type — Overview of designing for sound transmission through wall partitions and selecting a sound-rated assembly that also meets the fire-rated design
- Finishing Gypsum Board: Because Appearance Matters — Learn the differences between the “Five Levels of Finish” and gain a better understanding of when to specify each level based on environmental conditions and program requirements of the space.
- Gypsum Fundamentals: Design with Confidence — Covers the basics of gypsum board and introduces the latest innovation of high-performance products available in the marketplace.
- High Performance Gypsum: Protect Against Mold, Moisture and Exposure — Focuses on the five most common types of gypsum products manufactured with fiberglass facing, which replaces the paper facing typically used on gypsum board, along with the basic applications, attributes, advantages and limitations of each.
- Innovative Cement Board Applications with Continuous Insulation — Learn about cement boards and their use in exterior applications, focusing on cement board stucco systems and cement board masonry veneer systems, using continuous insulation as an option to meet International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) requirements.
- Stronger and Safer Walls: Abuse- and Impact-Resistant Gypsum Board — This course covers the different types of abuse- and impact-resistant gypsum boards, along with the performance attributes of each system.
- Understanding the UL Fire Resistance Directory — How to use the online UL Fire Resistance Directory resource, UL Product IQ. Participants will also learn about the three types of fire-resistant gypsum wallboard, how to analyze gypsum wallboard fire-rated designs and how to determine the most effective gypsum UL Design for their project.
- Unlock Acoustic Excellence: Design Strategies that Impact STC Ratings — This course explores six fundamental concepts that could impact STC ratings in wall assemblies, enabling the achievement of the desired acoustical performance.
“There are two primary values in taking a CEU course from National Gypsum: One, it helps our staff meet their AIA and state continuing education requirements. Two, our staff usually receives valuable information that we can utilize almost immediately from a product representative that we can trust.”
Patrick A. White
Patrick A. White
Project ArchitectRLF, Architecture Engineering InteriorsContinuing education courses online
National Gypsum’s online courses are a convenient way to access on-demand videos that qualify for continuing education credits.
“Our online courses provide an easy and convenient way to earn AIA credits,” added Hockett. “The same rigor that goes into developing our in-person programs goes into creating these online courses, all of which are submitted for AIA HSW credit approval.”
- Acoustically Enhanced Gypsum Board Designed for High STC Wall Assemblies — Explore sound transmission and acoustical requirements in buildings.
- Advantages of Using Coverboards in Low-Slope Roofing Assemblies — Learn about low-slope roof systems including various coverboard types and reasons for their use, benefits, primary features, and challenges.
- Abuse- and Impact-Resistant Gypsum: Stronger and Safer Walls — Review the ASTM C1629 test standard for abuse- and impact-resistant gypsum and uses this data to distinguish between these two types of gypsum board.
- Finishing Gypsum Board Because Appearance Matters — Explore the different levels of gypsum board finishes and when to specify each according to the needs of the project.
- High Performance Gypsum: Protect Against Mold, Moisture and Exposure — This course focuses on gypsum products manufactured with fiberglass facing.
Enrollment for these five online courses is easy and free via National Gypsum’s partnership with Ron Blank & Associates, Inc. A certificate of completion is available immediately after successfully completing a 10-question exam, with an 80% or better score required to receive AIA credit.
Building Knowledge Together
Our Building Knowledge Together program answers the need for free, convenient continuing education courses. National Gypsum draws on identified market needs, including technical knowledge gaps and common challenges, to develop a course curriculum that is both high value and relevant to professionals working in the construction industry.
“The content within each course is developed through consulting with subject matter experts, verified with industry-approved documents and codes, and submitted to AIA for review and approval,” said Hockett. “Education is at the heart of our trusted advisor ethos.”
Explore all of the continuing education programs provided by National Gypsum.
