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Stay on top of the industry’s latest topics and trends with free courses from ARCHITECT U (formerly Hanley Wood University), brought to you by the team behind ARCHITECT magazine. Our online courses are created for architects, designers, engineers, builders, and other industry professionals, and are accredited by: AIA, AIA/HSW, ASLA,
GBCI, IDCEC, NAHB, NARI, and NKBA. We report AIA and IDCEC credits on your behalf, as well as provide a certificate of completion.
With homeowners spending more time at home and wanting to extend their living spaces into the outdoors in the new normal resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, it shouldn’t come as much surprise that the pool, hot tub, and spa industry is experiencing record sales, as well as demand for longer swim seasons. And commercial pools and related amenities aren’t far behind.
Learn how pool builders and designers can utilize propane heaters to support this trend.
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Heating oil, also known as fuel oil or Number 2 oil, has been a popular choice for homeowners since the early 1900s. As an alternative to coal or wood as a fuel source for boilers and domestic hot water production, heating oil proved to be a reliable, clean, and economical choice for millions of consumers, especially in the Northeast where other fuel types were often more difficult to acquire or were more expensive.
But it is not an environmentally conscious fuel choice. Propane gas has the same remote fuel benefit, coupled with fewer emissions and higher efficiency equipment. This course details economic and environmental reasons why switching from heating oil to propane is a good choice for homeowners, residential builders or remodelers.
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This course will discuss how architects and business owners can achieve outstanding performance and low-cost operation by incorporating high-efficiency, low-emission propane appliances into commercial new builds or retrofits.
We will discuss the challenges of designing commercial buildings in rural areas, especially those that do not have natural gas service, and how propane can help to meet resilience and sustainability goals, and maximize health, wellness, and occupant comfort. In addition, this course will explore applications for propane in different commercial building types, as well as case studies where propane was used.
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Making good decisions about improving an existing home's energy efficiency and lowering its energy costs can be challenging for a consumer. Homeowners, builders, contractors, and weatherization agencies have a wide range of energy efficiency upgrades to choose from, each with different benefits and costs.
This course compares the popular upgrades and systems available to help you make the best choice for your projects and is intended to serve as a guide to answer questions about prioritizing energy efficiency investments for existing homes. By closely examining a study commissioned by the Propane Education and Resource Council, the “Analysis of Energy Efficiency Upgrades for Existing Homes,” this course will provide objective information about the most effective measures and/or equipment choices across five climate regions in the United States.
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Architects, engineers, developers, and facilities managers have numerous choices when determining fuel sources for commercial buildings, whether those choices involve the practicalities of space and water heating, the aesthetics of fireplaces, fire pits, and outdoor lighting, or the functionalities of building site energy needs.
Combined with these choices is the ever-increasing need to build and plan not only cost-effectively, but with sustainability in mind. This course will help specifiers compare the advantages and disadvantages of a variety of fuel sources and storage options, as well as examining the flexibility and reliability of propane, so that they can more readily determine which fuel source best meets the needs of individual commercial projects.
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This course will explore the benefits of a flexible dual-fuel home and how partnering with propane can offer lower costs, fewer emissions, and greater stability. In addition, propane should be considered as a primary energy option in areas of the country not under electrification mandates, as it offers favorable cost and emissions savings over electricity.
It should also be incorporated into all homes as a backup power option, but this is particularly important in all-electric or electric-ready homes.
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