Coldspring– the leading quarrier and fabricator of natural stone and bronze manufacturing in North America – announces it will participate in a continuing education seminar entitled “How NSC 373 Certified Stone Can Assist Projects with Sustainability Goals,” during the 2016 AIA National Convention in Philadelphia. The seminar will be presented on Friday, May 20 and Saturday, May 21 and is one of six Learning Lounge courses offered in Booth 803LL through a collaboration of natural stone industry organizations jointly exhibiting as the Natural Stone Academy. This seminar is sponsored by MIA+BSI: The Natural Stone Institute.

With the recent launch of ANSI/NSC 373 – a standard for the sustainable production of natural dimension stone – many design professionals are wondering how the new standard can align with LEED and the Living Building Challenge. This course will address NSC 373’s application to building product disclosure and optimization in LEED and its acceptance in version 2015 of the International Green Construction Code as an approved standard for material selection. NSC 373’s acceptance by green standardization bodies can assist projects with sustainability goals. Participants will learn how to source third-party verified and certified sustainable stones now available in the market to bring environmentally responsible choices to their projects.Attendees will earn one LU/HSW credit for this course.

On Friday, Coldspring’s Marketing Director Kathy Spanier will lead the seminar. Kathy is actively involved in the Natural Stone Council (NSC) as the Sustainability Committee Chair and was on the forefront of the Stone Sustainability initiative helping steer the industry’s initial development of the NSC 373 standard.  Kathy is a member of USGBC, at the national and state level. Saturday’s seminar will be given by Bill Eubank, LEED AP, CSI CDT, CSI CCPR. Bill has more than 23 years of sales and sales management experience in the natural stone industry. As a Regional Sales Manager for Coldspring, Bill currently works with architects and contractors throughout Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Bill is a founding member of the NSC’s Sustainability Committee and played an active role in the initial development of NSC 373.

The 2016 AIA Convention will be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia May 19 to 21. This important industry event brings together influential practitioners and company leaders -- principals, partners, designers, planners and more. With more than 83,000 licensed architects and associated professionals as members, the American Institute of Architects has been the leading professional membership organization for licensed architects, emerging professionals, and allied partners since 1857.

For more information about the 2016 AIA Convention, visit https://convention.aia.org/.