Under the approval, an AIA member can earn up to 20 AIA Health, Safety, Welfare and Sustainable Design Learning Units by attending the full conference. Alternatively, up to five LUs can be earned by attending WREF for as little as one day. A LEED Professional can earn up to 33 credits by attending the full conference.

“By attending, an architect can come up to speed on the state of the art in solar and sustainable design, and get all the required AIA Learning Unit credits for an entire year,” said David Panich, chair of the Solar Buildings Division at the American Solar Energy Society.

The WREF schedule includes forums and technical sessions highlighting topics ranging from Active Solar to Zero-Net-Energy, and everything in-between, including:

• Daylighting and Bioclimatic Design
• Building Integrated PV
• Solar Shading Strategies
• Building Performance Modeling and Design Tools
• Merging of Sustainability and Affordability
• Building Case Studies and Examples of Exemplary Design
• Emerging Architecture (highlighting the AIA Committee on the Environment 2011 Winners)

Sessions approved for credit will be marked on the detailed WREF schedule with the terms “AIA Approved” and/or “GBCI Approved.” To view the schedule, go to ases.org/conference/program/wref-detail/

Of additional interest to architects, WREF will host the annual meetings of the Society of Building Science Educators (SBSE) and the Solar Buildings Division of ASES.

WREF 2012 will be held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, May 13-17. Register today at www.wref2012.org.