September 15, 2025, Edition Ignite your mind and improve the way you are #CreatingWherePeopleLive This weekly newsletter is created by and for those designing homes in North America. Its editorial staff is the American Institute of Building Design, Inc., the premier association of residential design professionals. Here's what you get: Industry News Announcements Events & Training Recent Committee Activities Amazing sponsors who help keep this newsletter free for the industry. Let's dive in....
about 1 hour ago • 3 min read
Design. Innovate. Celebrate. We’re thrilled to announce that the September–October 2025 issue of AIBD Magazine is now available! This edition is packed with exclusive insights and highlights tailored for the residential design community: Design+Build Asheville 2025 Recap Designer of the Year New College of Fellows Inductees Committee Updates Design Feature: the modern lanai concept Technical Insight: "The Case for a Higher Roof Pitch" ARDA 2026 Prep And more! Read the full issue here:...
3 days ago • 1 min read
After working for myself for 25 years, except for a short time teaching during the 2008 recession, a design-build firm reached out to me. They were looking for someone with my skill set. I talked it over with my wife and a couple of close friends, and in the end I took the job. In this session, I will share how this happened and how you might be facing the same chance. Our speaker, Joey Martin, is the Senior Project Coordinator at Nicholas Design Build. He is a well-known designer with over...
4 days ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, Congrats on surviving Monday and crushing Tuesday. Now, Wednesday beckons you to take a break and celebrate this week's Midweek Vibe! “Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution.” – AristotleAnd speaking of intelligent execution… have you ever wondered where building codes came from?Let’s rewind a few thousand years.One of the earliest known building codes dates back to ancient Babylon around 1750 BCE....
5 days ago • 6 min read
Join us for the upcoming High-Performance Homes Team session: Will Mini-Splits Work in All Floor Plans? (1.0 P4 CE) This session shows how mini-split HVAC systems work in different types of homes. You will learn which design features help these systems work best and how the layout of a house, whether it is open or has more separate rooms, can change their performance. You will get clear advice to help you choose and use mini-splits in any project. Each month, the High-Performance Homes Team...
6 days ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, Eight years ago today (September 5, 2021), a man was sentenced to prison in New York after being caught in an architectural fraud investigation dubbed "Operation Vandelay Industries." A man named Paul J. Newman was convicted of fraudulently operating as an architect without a license. He was sentenced to 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison and ordered to pay $115,000 in restitution. The New York State Attorney General's office named their investigation after the fictional company from...
10 days ago • 4 min read
Join Next Week’s Coffee With Bernie It’s almost time for another session of Coffee With Bernie, our monthly roundtable for AEC professionals and teams. This fun, informal virtual gathering is a lively place to bring ideas, questions, challenges, and your favorite coffee mug! Next Session: Topic: Using QR Codes on Construction Drawings (1.0 P3 CE) Date: Friday, September 12, 2025 Time: 10:00 AM EDT Duration: 1 hour This month, we’ll explore how QR codes can be used on construction drawings to...
11 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Congrats on surviving Monday and crushing Tuesday. Now, Wednesday beckons you to take a break and celebrate this week's Midweek Vibe! Today is National Skyscraper Day, chosen to celebrate the tall buildings and the engineering they represent. Also decided to celebrate the birth and influence of Louis Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924), often referred to as the "father of skyscrapers." Sullivan is also known as the "father of modernism," and the principle he...
12 days ago • 5 min read
Are you ready to take your residential design expertise to the next level? Join us today at 2:00pm EDT for our latest AIBD webinar:Chief Architect Structural Plans – Foundation & Framing Plans (1.0 P3 CE) In this next step of our popular series, we’ll move beyond floor plans, roof plans, and basic foundations to focus on completing the exterior elevations. Our comprehensive template gives you all the cameras you need—now it’s time to refine line weights, perfect your layer set, and select...
13 days ago • 2 min read
