Short Courses
IAST online courses provide a comprehensive approach to façade design and engineering, tailored to meet the evolving demands of the building envelope sector. Each flexible course is designed to equip you with specialised knowledge essential for designing and constructing high-performance façades. You will engage with widely used types of façades, components, materials and industry best practices in façade design and engineering.
These courses are suitable for a wide range of professionals, including design managers, architects, estimators, technical sales specialists, and business owners, making them highly relevant across various roles within the industry.
Delivered by experts at the Institute for Architectural Science and Technology (IAST) in the UK, these courses maintain industry relevance, ensuring you are well-prepared to meet the challenges of modern façade design and engineering.
Trusted by industry leaders as a corporate training provider, IAST maintains strong connections with the façade industry, ensuring that each course remains relevant and valuable for professionals looking to advance their careers in modern façade design and engineering.
MC026
Structural Engineering
The complete structural calculation course for building façades: five modules and ten lectures covering system load paths, every load acting on the envelope, wind pressures, brackets and fixings, mullions and transoms, insulating glass units, calculation reports, and movement and tolerance coordination. Presented by Eugene Korch, it follows one continuous chain of numbers from wind pressure to anchor capacity — calculations you can carry out, check, and defend.
Course Fee £
MC026-01
Introduction to Structural aspects
A facade is held on by connections no one ever sees. When the calculations are right, it carries wind, weight, and movement for sixty years without anyone noticing. This lecture opens our course on the structural calculation of building facades and gives you the map before the calculations begin.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC026-02
Structural Logic of Façade Systems A Comparative Guide
Join Live Seminar - 10 December 2026 - Free to attend live
This introductory course maps the full scope of structural verification across a typical façade package: from glass panels and cladding fixings through to mullion sections, brackets, anchors, and connections to the primary structure.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC026-03
Engineering the Envelope: Structural Load Assessment for Façades
Join Live Seminar - 13 August 2026 - Free to attend live
This course covers self-weight, imposed loads, wind pressure and suction, seismic actions where applicable, impact loads, and the load combinations required by relevant structural design codes.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC026-04
Wind in Action – Practical Wind Load Calculations for Façade Design
This course walks through the complete wind calculation process: from basic wind velocity and site terrain roughness through to peak velocity pressure and the application of external and internal pressure coefficients.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC026-05
Bracket and Fixing Design for Cladding Systems
This course provides with practical knowledge of structural support and fixing design for rainscreen and overcladding systems – where the challenge is repetition, substrate variability, and installation quality at scale.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC026-06
Bracket and Fixing Design for Curtain Walling Systems
This course helps you review curtain wall fixing proposals, understand cast-in versus post-fixed strategies, and manage the structural interface that is often the most coordination-intensive element of façade delivery.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC026-07
Mullion and Transom Design for Curtain Walling Systems
Every glass facade is carried by a slender aluminium skeleton nobody sees. This course works through the mullion and transom calculation in four steps — loads, model, forces and deflection, section — and answers the question that surprises engineers
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC026-08
Theory and Standards for Insulating glass unit analysis
Glass is the part of the facade everyone looks at and almost no one thinks about as a structural element. Every pane carries wind, sometimes people, and — in a sealed unit — a pressure load that exists whether or not the wind blows. This course builds the understanding behind every glass calculation and report.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC026-09
Reports preparation General requirements
Every facade calculation ends as a report — the only part of the work anyone else ever sees. Nobody reads your model; they read your document. This course covers how facade calculation reports are written so they can be reviewed, and reviewed so they can be trusted.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC026-10
Facade Movement and Tolerances
This course provides architects and building design professionals with practical knowledge of movement accommodation and tolerance management – the discipline that keeps all of these behaviours from turning into cracking, leaking, or worse.This course helps you review curtain wall fixing proposals, understand cast-in versus post-fixed strategies, and manage the structural interface that is often the most coordination-intensive element of façade delivery.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC024-1.2
Glazing for Light and Energy: Daylight and Solar Gain in Facade Design
Through parametric studies and glass performance data tables, this course equips you to evaluate the daylight and solar implications of façade specification choices early in the design process.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC024-7.2
Thermal Analysis of Multi-Layered Walls: Calculation and Compliance
The course covers the principles of steady-state heat transfer, thermal resistance of individual layers, surface resistances, and the combined U-value methodology used in international and European practice.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC024-7.3
Thermal Bridging in Facade Systems: Point, Linear and FEA-Based U-Value Analysis
This course gives focused knowledge of U-value assessment specific to rainscreen cladding and overcladding systems – where the support structure, not just the insulation, determines the real thermal performance.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC024-7.4
Thermal Performance of Curtain Wall Facades: Calculation and Compliance
This course helps you evaluate curtain wall thermal performance claims, understand why the frame – not the glass – is usually the thermal weak point, and write thermal specifications that address the right parameters.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
C029
The Cost of the Envelope: Facade Economics for Designers
This course features insights from Massimo Chies, Director and Cost Consultant – Façades at AECOM, drawing on his experience across major facade projects in the UK and internationally.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
C027
Structural Glass Performance
Enrolment open — Course starts 24 December 2026
This course provides with practical knowledge of structural glass behaviour – covering annealed, heat-strengthened, and fully toughened glass, along with laminated and insulating glass unit configurations.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC024-9.1
Measuring Carbon in Facade Systems: Methods, Tools and Compliance
Enrolment open — Course starts 28 January 2027
This course provides architects and building design professionals with practical knowledge of carbon footprint assessment for façade systems, covering the full life-cycle.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
MC024-7.8
Hygrothermal Modelling in Practice: Dynamic Condensation Analysis for Facades
Enrolment open — Course starts 25 February 2027
This course introduces to the transient hygrothermal simulation approach that addresses these limitations – the method increasingly specified when Glaser alone is not sufficient to demonstrate moisture safety.
Course Fee £120
Free for FI Pro Members
FI-C006
Low-Rise Masonry Brick Façade
Case Study on Energy-Efficient and Cost-Effective Masonry Facades
Course Fee £50
Free for IAST Members and FI Pro Subscribers
Introduction to Façade Engineering
This introductory course explores definitions, roles, responsibilities, and design specialisations within the building envelope sector. It is included in all short courses that contribute credits towards the Level 5 Diploma in Façade Design and Engineering – a UK-accredited professional qualification (DipFDE).
MC002-02
Core Principles of Façade Design and Engineering
Short Course on UK Regulatory Compliance, Standards, Building Regulations, Financial Considerations, Efficiency, Comfort, and Practicality in Façade Design and Engineering
Credits towards the Level 5 Diploma in Façade Design and Engineering – a UK-accredited professional qualification (DipFDE)
Course Fee £280
Free for FI Pro Members
MC002-03
Types of Façade Systems
Short Course on Design and Performance Considerations of Modern Façade Types: Ventilated Rainscreen, Brick Masonry, Precast Concrete, Curtain Wall, Insulated Render, Sandwich Panels and Emerging Façade Systems
Credits towards the Level 5 Diploma in Façade Design and Engineering – a UK-accredited professional qualification (DipFDE)
Course Fee £280
Free for FI Pro Members
MC002-04
Components of External Walls and Façade Assemblies
Short Course on Façade Components: Design Considerations for Walls, Windows, Doors, Balconies, and Balustrades, Focusing on Performance, Safety, and Compliance
Credits towards the Level 5 Diploma in Façade Design and Engineering – a UK-accredited professional qualification (DipFDE)
Course Fee £280
FI Pro Member Course Fee £140
MC002-05
Façade Materials: Critical Considerations for Design and Engineering
Short Course on Façade Materials: Key Considerations, Properties, Applications, and Safety Compliance of Glass, Stone, Clay Brick, Concrete, Ceramics, Metals, Timber, and Insulation
Credits towards the Level 5 Diploma in Façade Design and Engineering – a UK-accredited professional qualification (DipFDE)
Course Fee £280
FI Pro Member Course Fee £140
MC002-06
Building Physics in Façade Design and Engineering
Short Course on Building Physics Fundamentals for Building Envelope Design: U-Values, Thermal Bridging, Condensation and Moisture Management
Credits towards the Level 5 Diploma in Façade Design and Engineering – a UK-accredited professional qualification (DipFDE)
Course Fee £280
FI Pro Member Course Fee £140
MC002-07
Fire Safety in Façade Design and Engineering
Short Course on Critical Fire Safety Aspects in Building Envelope Design: Material Classifications, Normative Documentation, Cavity Barriers, Fire Stops, Advanced Safety and Fire Risk Considerations
Credits towards the Level 5 Diploma in Façade Design and Engineering – a UK-accredited professional qualification (DipFDE)
Course Fee £280
Free for FI Pro Members
MC002-08
Acoustic Performance in Façade Design and Engineering
Short Course on Acoustics for Building Envelope Design: Mitigating Airborne Noise, Controlling Flanking Transmission, and Managing Self-Noise in Façade Assemblies
Credits towards the Level 5 Diploma in Façade Design and Engineering – a UK-accredited professional qualification (DipFDE)
Course Fee £280
FI Pro Member Course Fee £140
MC002-09
Structural Considerations in Façade Design and Engineering
Short Course on Structural Aspects in Façade Design: Load Types and Calculations, Movement and Tolerances, Construction Access, and Maintenance Strategies for External Wall Systems
Credits towards the Level 5 Diploma in Façade Design and Engineering – a UK-accredited professional qualification (DipFDE)
Course Fee £280
FI Pro Member Course Fee £140
MC002-10
Key Factors in Façade Package Procurement
Short Course on Important Factors in Façade Package Procurement: Stakeholder Responsibilities, Procurement Routes, Design Stages, Maintenance Provision, and Cost Management
Credits towards the Level 5 Diploma in Façade Design and Engineering – a UK-accredited professional qualification (DipFDE)
Course Fee £280
FI Pro Member Course Fee £140
Retrofit Strategies for Precast Concrete Façades
Advanced Short Course on Retrofit Strategies for Precast Concrete Facades inspired by the 20th-Century Brutalist Icon - Welbeck Street Car Park (London, the United Kingdom).
Course Fee £280
Free for FI Pro Members
Enrollment options:
For Individual Learners:
Visit www.iast.uk to purchase the course and begin learning today.
Consider becoming an FI Pro Member first to benefit from member discounts on IAST Short Courses.
What to expect when you join FI Pro
Instantly access all FI Pro Member Learning Resources on Façade Intelligence
To activate your course discounts, create a user account on www.iast.uk using the same email address as your FI Pro Membership
You'll receive a welcome email with full instructions
Short courses included in FI Pro will appear on your dashboard on www.iast.uk
Please allow 1–2 working days for all benefits to be activated