AD101: Natural Stone 101: Everything You Need to Know About Designing with the Oldest Building Material

This introductory course covers common quarrying and fabrication techniques and finishing methods for working with natural stone. Use this knowledge to enhance your ability to select the right stone, fabrication technique, and finish for your project.

AD103: Natural Stone Principles

This one-hour course is your introduction to using natural stone as a building material. By reviewing the fundamentals of its formation and mineral composition, you will gain confidence in specifying this versatile material.  Let us open your eyes to the endless possibilities for these beautiful, durable and valued natural stones.

AD135: Why Choose Natural Stone?

With so many building materials on the market, why continue to choose genuine natural stone for your projects? This course covers the inherent durability of natural stone, its performance ability in commercial and residential applications, and technological advancements that are keeping natural stone at the forefront of design trends.

AD130: Why Specify Certified Stone | How the Natural Dimension Stone Sustainability Standard can Assist Green Building Projects

Learn how the products certified to the Natural Stone Sustainability Standard can help your project achieve its sustainability goals. This course covers the importance of life cycle analysis, chain of custody standards, and other green building components.

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AD140: Achieving Green Building Goals with Natural Stone

Natural stone is nearly complete as a building material in its natural state and has proven its durability over the centuries. Combine these attributes with knowledge that the industry has committed to lowering impacts, being socially responsible, and aligning with green building programs. Most design teams already agree that natural stone is inherently a great solution for projects with green building goals. This session will elaborate on why and show you where to find the documentation needed to check more boxes than you might have realized were possible with natural stone.

AD150: Designer Talk: Why Natural Stone?

With so many building materials on the market today, why is natural stone the best material for your application?  Join us as a group of design professionals discuss why they chose natural stone as their premier building material.  Learn tips on how to choose and specify the correct natural stone for your application.  Come away with a plan to build natural stone into your design repertoire. 

AD155: Designer Talk: Using Natural Stone in Landscape Architecture

With so many building materials on the market today, what makes natural stone the best material for your application?  Join us as a group of design professionals discuss why they chose natural stone in their exterior projects.  During this session, we will discuss exterior sitework, including plazas, water features, outdoor living spaces, parks, and memorials.  Come away inspired with best practices to expand the use of natural stone in your portfolio.

AD156: Case Studies: Using Natural Stone in Landscape Architecture

With so many building materials on the market today, what makes natural stone the best material for your application?  Join us as a group of design professionals discuss why they chose natural stone in their exterior projects.  During this session, we will discuss exterior sitework, including plazas, water features, outdoor living spaces, parks, and memorials.  Come away inspired with best practices to expand the use of natural stone in your portfolio.

T160: Stone Exterior Wall Cladding: Best Practices and Techniques

This session will discuss several varieties of exterior cladding systems and explain the minimum skills and experience that should be secured before venturing into each type of work. Come away from this session with a plan for researching and writing specifications to meet industry standards.

AD160: Designer Talk: Using Natural Stone in Residential Architecture

With so many building materials on the market today, what makes natural stone the best material for your application? Join us as a group of design professionals discuss why they chose natural stone for their residential projects. During this session, we will discuss residential architecture and the opportunities tied to stone applications in exteriors, outdoor living spaces, fireplaces, and interior specialty spaces. Come away inspired to incorporate more natural stone in your design portfolio.

AD161: Case Studies: Using Natural Stone in Residential Architecture

With so many building materials on the market today, what makes natural stone the best material for your application? Join us as a group of design professionals discuss why they chose natural stone for their residential projects. During this session, we will discuss residential architecture and the opportunities tied to stone applications in exteriors, outdoor living spaces, fireplaces, and interior specialty spaces. Come away inspired to incorporate more natural stone in your design portfolio.

T162: Exterior Adhered Stone Veneer

Many contractors and design professionals have preferences for either adhered or anchored methods of applying stone veneer, but the decision shouldn’t be based on preference.  Project details, structural support, anticipated loading, stone variety, and even local climate often provide a more objective answer as to whether adhesive or anchored methods are more appropriate. This session will discuss the code mandated and industry recommended parameters that should be evaluated to determine the system to use, and the components included in that system.

AD205: Natural Stone Countertops: Considerations for Marble, Granite, Quartzite and Soapstone

This one-hour course will demonstrate how natural stone applications can add beauty, character, and value to any living space. By communicating the proper expectations for performance and maintenance requirements, the consumer will gain a better understanding and appreciation for using natural stone in their kitchens and bathrooms.

AD155: Natural Stone Thin Veneer: The Basics

This course is designed to provide a basic understanding of a relatively new application (thin veneer) of a classic product (natural stone). Learn how this product is produced, common application techniques and opportunities, and best uses for different types of this unique material.

T175: Virtual Quarry Visit: Polycor Indiana Limestone Quarries

This one-hour virtual experience will allow you to visit an active limestone quarry and see the natural stone in its original environment. Discover the history of the quarry, the geological components of the stone, and what makes it unique to this site. Stone professionals will provide technical information concerning stone installation, and you will discover creative applications and opportunities with a designer. Join us and connect with nature’s oldest building material. 

AD210: Marble Use in the Kitchen

Marble use in the kitchen is on the rise. This course covers various aspects of working with marble in the kitchen, including requirements for care and maintenance, design trends, and setting proper customer expectations for marble countertops.

AD335: The Art of Specifying Natural Stone

There are many factors to consider when specifying materials for a project. Use this course to get the resources you need to help ensure the stone you choose meets the standards and design intent set for your application.

AD350: 2020 Award Winning Projects Featuring Natural Stone

In this course, three projects showcase the ingenuity, sustainability, and versatility of genuine natural stone. Explore innovative ways natural stone is being used in contemporary design and understand the material selection played an important part in each of these award-winning projects.

AD351: 2021 Award Winning Projects Featuring Natural Stone

Each year, the Natural Stone Institute honors several projects that represent the best use of natural stone through innovation, beauty and craftmanship. The award-winning projects featured in this course are notable for their ingenuity, sustainable attributes, and material selection. It is our hope to both educate and inspire architects and designers on the many benefits to building and designing with natural stone.

AD265: Designer Talk: Using Natural Stone in Commercial Architecture- The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial

With so many building materials on the market today, what makes natural stone the best material for your application? Join us as a group of design professionals discuss why they chose natural stone for their commercial projects. During this session, we will discuss why natural stone is the premier choice for commercial applications in cladding, interior and exterior art installations, and public spaces. We will also share tools to avoid challenges associated with these applications. Come away with a plan to incorporate more natural stone into your design portfolio.

T140: ASTM Standards and Stone Testing

Join Natural Stone Institute Technical Director Chuck Muehlbauer for an overview of ASTM standards and stone testing requirements for projects in the United States. Learn the requirements of performance placed on stone at the time of installation and in the future, and how these standards serve as benchmarks for quality limits of products.

T141: Stone Testing: Attachments

Attachment of stone units is accomplished by either mechanical anchorage or adhesive bonding, or in some situations a hybrid system using both methodologies. Test methods exist to proof both mechanical and adhesive systems. Given the vast variety of products and designs available to accomplish attachment, the test methods tend to be less standardized than physical property testing methods to allow for customization of the method per the specific parameters of the project components. This session will uncover the mysteries of the ASTM C1354 (Individual Stone Anchorages), ASTM C1201 (Full Panel Stone), and the newly published ASTM C1823 (Shear Bond of Adhered Stone) test methods. Attention will be focused on how the methods are customized to address specific and unique situations.

T165: Stone Application Case Study: A Technical Discussion on a Los Angeles Home Installation

Join the Natural Stone Institute and Stone World Magazine as we discuss an award-winning residential natural stone project. This Los Angeles residential project includes exterior stone cladding, vein-cut travertine paving, bookmatched countertops and more. During the session, we will review project drawings and discuss the unique techniques utilized to complete this application.

T170: Using Stone in Wet Areas

Stone selection is an excited process for members of the design community, as well as stone professionals.  When it comes to using stone in an area defined as a “wet exposure” application, such as showers, there are some key elements you will want to be aware of. This session will provide some of the properties to be evaluated to ensure success when installing stone in wet areas, as well as some of the proven installation methods. We will also discuss common mistakes that can lead to premature failure of these applications.

T210: There’s Something About Quartzite

Quartzite is a beautiful building material.  With that beauty comes unique fabrication and installation techniques. Join the Natural Stone Institute and Stone World magazine as we discuss the world of geological quartzite.  During the session, we will discuss the geology, fabrication, and installation practices that provide the best product application of this material. We will also review how to set expectations with customers to ensure successful installation and a happy client.  Come away with a plan to maximize the value of quartzite to both your company and the customer.