AIA CES

While we were looking at creative ways to market our firm we kept coming back to the phrase, "What If", we do this or "What If", we do that. That is when we decided to utilize the idiom, "What If" in our marketing campaign and explore the possibilities of, "What If" within our firm and with our clients. With a strong, progressive and creative leadership team in place, this allowed us to forge ahead and discover just that..."What If”…
We began our campaign of "What If" with postcards sent to our partners, clients and industry peers, periodically throughout the first year highlighting important information regarding "Green Design." In 2009 we began to incorporate seminars with expert speakers on subjects related to "Green Design" such as Rainwater Harvesting, Solar Energy and Green Roofs. These seminars, which are provided free of charge and include lunch, target our clients, teammates and anyone else interested in our Green Design topics. Our next step in providing information to our clients was to become a provider through AIA (American Institute of Architects) in order to provide CEU's (Continuing Education Units) to the attendees of the seminars. Our goal for later this year is to become a provider for USGBC (United States Green Building Council) so we may offer not only CEU's through AIA but also learning units through USGBC.
Although, there has not been an actual measurement of success, per se, we do correlate our success in this campaign by providing a service and invaluable information interrelated to LEED to our clients and others in our industry. For Dunlap & Partners it is a “win-win” effort while we continue to explore the possibilities of “What if”….

Dunlap and Partners Engineers is a Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection engineering design firm. We also provide building commissioning services and have on staff twelve (12) LEED Accredited Professionals, Certified High Performance Building Design Professionals, Certified Healthcare Facility Design Professionals, Certified Commissioned Process Management Professional, Energy Auditing and Energy Modeling Professionals.
For more information please visit our website at www.DunlapPartners.com or contact Debbie Reading at dReading@DunlapPartners.com

Since its founding in 2004, Green Ideas has been committed to the concepts of teamwork, creativity and excellence in creating energy-efficient and environmentally- responsible buildings. Our vision is bold: we are dedicated to transforming the market through education, by promoting buildings that are designed, built and operated in a manner that improves the health, well-being and productivity of people and the environment in a fiscally responsible manner. Green Ideas provides a unique perspective on green building design, construction and operations and maintenance that is unmatched in the industry.

Our education department offers courses in different formats: live seminars, live webinars, and online On Demand courses. Our courses are available for GBCI's CE hours and AIA LU's . We also offer LEED exam preparation courses to help you pass the exam the first time!

We're not JUST a training company! Learn from professionals that have experience in the field with the LEED Rating System!

Wanted to share a little info about our in-house training program called Schmidt Academy.

Lifelong learning has always been a key value of Schmidt Associates, and an integral part of our culture. Schmidt Academy has become a way to institutionalize learning and intentionally plan for the firm's training needs.

Schmidt Associates created Schmidt Academy in 2005 to provide in-house training for a wide range of disciplines and careers within our A/E firm. The primary goals are to provide:
• convenient, on-site training (usually over the lunch hour) to meet learning unit requirements
• relevant topics that reflect training needs and strategic firm initiatives
• opportunities to share in-house expertise and lessons learned
• opportunities for cross communication between disciplines.

Each year a committee—comprised of staff from all disciplines—compiles a course list of 35-40 classes that are classified into four key categories: general, design/technical, project management, and rainmaking (marketing). The category designations help to direct staff to classes that are appropriate to their training needs and interests, and to ensure that a wide range of courses are developed.

Schmidt Academy classes have lead to many positive improvements to our processes over the years. We have seen construction supplements (dollars paid to Owners for errors and omissions) significantly reduce; voluntary turnover from staff has decreased; best practices are shared and grown among staff; and ultimately, Schmidt Associates was named as one of the Best Places to Work in Indiana six years in a row. This designation is based heavily on staff surveys that highlight training and advancement opportunities.

Over the last seven years, Schmidt Academy has helped staff further their professional development goals and maintain a focus on lifelong learning and cross collaboration in the office. The success of the program is evident from the high scores on course evaluations and 100% staff participation. The tangible and intangible benefits are far reaching, and help to make the firm a highly respected and competitive environment for staff and new recruits.

What kind of nonsense? This is not interesting. There is no such a thing.