Northeast
EVENT THEME
Detailing High-Performance Facades: Strategy, Specifications, and Advanced Cladding Materials
Today’s high-performance facade standards require the deft balancing of aesthetics, technical detailing, and the demands of the client and local building regulations. This workshop will discuss both material and technical solutions to meet those standards. Experts will be on hand to lead tutorials on the most recent innovations in rainscreen cladding, sealant solutions, and much more. Attendees will leave with a greater knowledge of material applications at the cutting-edge of energy performance and code compliance, all while learning of attractive solutions for clients and end-users.
Agenda
10AM - 11AM
Credit type: 1 LU/HSW
Provider: Atlas Roofing
This webinar explores how strategic continuous insulation (CI) choices can alleviate pressures on building enclosures and elevate building envelope performance, sustainability, durability, and life safety. Attendees will gain insights into NFPA 285 compliance, the role of CI in rainscreen systems, and key considerations behind insulation material selection. The course highlights key attributes for comparing insulation types—such as R-value, thickness, installation requirements, and environmental impact—and suggests design opportunities using higher-performance insulation products. Through real-world assemblies and best practices, participants will learn how to simplify insulation choices across multiple applications to meet evolving codes, optimize wall assemblies, reduce thermal bridging, and even reclaim interior square footage. Discover how doing more with less supports design efficiency and construction practicality.
Learning Objectives
- Identify how insulation selection impacts NFPA 285 compliance and understand how different assemblies perform with various continuous insulation materials under varying environmental pressures.
- Evaluate sustainability attributes, installation efficiencies, and design flexibility of continuous insulation types to maximize thermal performance and minimize installation complexity.
- Explore rainscreen applications and determine critical design and installation considerations for effectively integrating continuous insulation across varied enclosure types.
- Examine how high R-value insulation can reduce wall thickness, simplify attachment systems, and reclaim usable space within building envelopes.
Presenters
Lance Williams
Architectural Sales Manager
11AM - 12PM
Credit type: 1 AIA HSW LU
Provider: Northern Facades
This course helps architects understand why thermal bridging mitigation is no longer an energy issue, it is now central to building resilience, durability, occupant comfort, and professional risk management. As codes become more performance-driven and climate pressures intensify (extreme heat and cold, wildfire exposure, grid instability), attachment strategies and envelope detailing increasingly determine whether wall assemblies perform as intended. Through clear visuals and real-world examples, participants learn how cladding support systems affect moisture risk, constructability, fire performance, and long-term building reliability. The course emphasizes how to evaluate cladding attachment systems holistically, moving beyond narrow R-value comparisons to consider structural efficiency, fire testing, durability, and ease of installation. Attendees leave better equipped to ask informed questions of manufacturers and consultants, avoid common value-engineering pitfalls, and confidently specify high-performance attachment systems that support future-ready, defensible envelope design.
Learning Objectives
- Explain why thermal bridging mitigation now impacts resilience, durability, occupant comfort, and long-term building risk, not just energy performance.
- Identify how evolving energy codes, climate pressures, and wildfire-related requirements are influencing exterior wall and attachment design.
- Recognize how attachment strategies affect condensation risk, moisture durability, and fire performance in wall assemblies.
- Distinguish between theoretical performance (modeled R-values) and real-world performance based on constructability and installation consistency.
- Evaluate cladding attachment systems using a holistic framework that includes thermal performance, structural efficiency, fire testing, durability, and ease of installation.
- Understand how thoughtful envelope detailing supports passive survivability and occupant comfort during extreme weather events and power outages.
- Apply a more informed, critical approach when reviewing specifications and value-engineering proposals related to exterior wall assemblies.
Presenters
Jennifer Hickman
Technical Sales professional
12PM - 1PM
Credit type: 1 AIA HSW LU
Provider: Porcelanosa
This course covers the fundamentals of rainscreen systems, including their purpose and benefits. It highlights the advantages of using porcelain as a cladding material, such as water and fire resistance, and sustainability. Participants will learn about designing with cladding, optimizing installation, and understanding cladding systems, components, detailing, and building science. The course aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of porcelain cladding systems and their applications.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the benefits and function of ventilated facades
- Recognize the advantages of porcelain as a cladding material
- Explore various cladding systems
- Learn efficient panel layouts for labor economy
Presenters
Jose Velez
Regional Sales Manager
1PM - 2PM
Credit type: 1 AIA HSW LU
Provider: Tenmat
This course provides an introduction to topics related to fireblocking in exterior wall covering assemblies. Attendees will learn specific requirements in the IBC, as well as how to balance compliance with these and other performance expectations of exterior wall assemblies.
Learning Objectives
- Develop an understanding of basic rainscreen design for proper water and air management
- Learn about existing fireblocking requirements for the exterior wall covering in the IBC language
- Compare and contrast the use of intumescent fire block materials vs other materials listed in the IBC
- Explore potential wall details for proper incorporation of intumescent fire block in rainscreen assemblies
Presenters
Mirka Carlson
Sales Representative
2PM - 3PM
Credit type: 1 AIA HSW LU
Provider: Pilkington
Different buildings have differing needs for aesthetics, performance, and functional operations. Few building materials have as great an impact on all three of these areas as glass since it plays a unique and important role in building design and the environment. The use of glass in buildings affects design, appearance, thermal performance, and occupant comfort. Historically, glass was used mainly for windows to admit air and light, but with advanced manufacturing options and the need for high performance buildings, it is now integral to interior and exterior architecture. Glass now plays a critical role in achieving a wide variety of dynamic and varied performance requirements from reducing bird strikes to generating power. These evolving technologies enable a variety of occupant and building performance improvements such as air quality improvements, fire protection, and improved acoustic performance. Additionally, these technologies can be used to enable significant reductions in the energy usage of existing and new buildings, which further improves sustainability and the push towards zero net carbon building future. Therefore, the selection of the right types of glass is a crucial element of the design process to create solutions that not just achieve the performance and aesthetic targets, but also directly lead to the greater goals of occupant health and comfort as well achieving the macroscale building demands in terms of sustainability and operations. Architects who understand the full range of possibilities available from glass manufacturers can use them to design the aesthetics, performance, and wellness standards required of the built environment today.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the different types of high-performance glass that are available and explain how these products impact occupant health, safety, and sustainability.
- Investigate the design potential and innovative opportunities to reduce bird strikes, improve sound attenuation, reduce fire risk, and improve surface cleanliness using advanced glass technologies.
- Explain how window retrofit technologies and power generating/dynamic glazing contribute to green and sustainable design in buildings.
- Acquire insights into emerging technologies being used to achieve healthier, safer, and more sustainable buildings, beyond achieving performance and aesthetic targets.
Presenters
Franco Cordano
Regional Sales & Marketing Manager
