On May 25 at 9:00 a.m. ET, NELMA’s first-ever accredited continuing education course for design professionals went live! Hosted by AEC Daily, one of the largest providers of online continuing educational courses in North America, a 1-hour credit course from NELMA is now available 24/7 as an option to fulfill the ongoing requirement needs of continuing education by the architecture and design community.
Titled Eastern White Pine: Sustainable Versatility, the 73-page course has been 3 months in the making, developed to provide credit seekers with a full-overview of the species in 7 sections. Starting with an “Introduction to Eastern White Pine”, the course uses high-resolution imagery to stimulate the learning process as viewers move through each section. The Course continues with information regarding the species sustainability, history, the grades, product sizes, profiles & patterns, culminating in a showcase of typical and extraordinary uses for Eastern White Pine. A complete resource section ends the educational portion of the course, followed by a 10-question quiz that must be passed to receive the I-hour unit of continuing education.
The course is currently certified by 21 organizations and includes the all-important American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the US Green Building Council (USGBC) and their Green Business Council Inc. (GBCI), which administers the LEED certification systems. Other important organizations that recognize the NELMA course for continuing education includes the National Association for the Remodeling Industry (NARI), American Institute of Building Design (AIBD), and the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA). The course also qualifies for Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW) continuing education hours. 
Eastern White Pine: Sustainable Versatility is one of 1,200 currently available within the online course catalog, and 1 of 73 in Section 06 – Wood, Plastics, and Composites. As part NELMA’s subscription, AEC Daily promotes the course in direct emails to 112,000 within the US and Canada, with a random, rotating banner ad for the program that also advertises the course continually. Daily reports are accessible to NELMA that includes the number of course views and complete information regarding those that complete the course. A 10-item survey is also available to a course taker to give candid feedback on their experience with the subject matter.
“This is an exciting advancement in our overall marketing strategy to further engage this important design professional community on their terms through a continuing education online course,” stated Jeff Easterling, NELMA President. “Using a major provider of CEU courses such as AEC Daily will provide us with measurables and additional information the Marketing Committee can use to gauge this new activity at the end of the year.”
Note: As of 3 weeks online, the program has had 55 professionals complete the course for credit.
