If you’re a licensed architect and a member of the AIA in the United States, you already know the annual CE math: 18 Learning Units, at least 12 of which need to carry the Health, Safety, and Welfare designation. Multiply that across multiple state licenses and a busy project schedule, and finding quality continuing education that doesn’t cost anything starts to feel like its own project.
Three platforms have become go-to resources for design professionals navigating this every year: Ron Blank & Associates at ronblank.com, GreenCE at greence.com, and CE Academy at ceacademyinc.com. Each is registered with the AIA Continuing Education Service (AIA CES), reports credits automatically to AIA on your behalf, and provides access to courses at no charge to the architect. They approach delivery differently, which is exactly why many professionals use more than one.
What “Free AIA Continuing Education” Actually Means
Before getting into the platforms, it’s worth clarifying what free AIA CE is and how it works — because the model confuses a lot of people.
AIA members must complete 18 Learning Units (LUs) per year to maintain membership in good standing, with at least 12 of those being LU|HSW credits covering Health, Safety, and Welfare topics. These are tracked through AIA’s Continuing Education Service, and providers who deliver credit-bearing courses must be registered with AIA CES and meet its published standards for content quality, learning objectives, and assessment design.
Free continuing education courses in the AIA ecosystem are almost always sponsored. Building product manufacturers, trade associations, and non-profit organizations fund the development and delivery of courses in exchange for the opportunity to educate architects about their products and systems. That’s the trade: the sponsor covers the cost; the architect gets the education at no charge.
This sometimes raises a skepticism flag — if a manufacturer is paying for the course, how objective can it be? The short answer is that AIA CES registration requires courses to meet educational standards regardless of sponsorship. Sponsored courses must present factual, technically accurate content and meet defined learning objectives. They aren’t infomercials; they’re product education, which is genuinely useful when you’re specifying roofing assemblies, fire-rated wall systems, or glazing products and need to understand how something works.
The practical upside for architects is significant: between the three platforms covered here, it’s possible to complete an entire year’s worth of AIA CE — including HSW, LEED, and accessibility credits — without paying anything.
Ron Blank & Associates (ronblank.com)
Ron Blank & Associates has been in the AIA continuing education space for more than 40 years. The platform has received AIA Awards for Excellence in Education, and its course development team includes architects, graphic designers, and A/E curriculum specialists. For architects who want a single platform with multiple ways to earn credit, RBA is one of the most format-complete options available.
Online Courses, Anytime
The core of RBA’s offering is a library of self-paced online courses available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These courses are organized by CSI MasterFormat division, which is genuinely useful for architects who want to find content relevant to the building systems they’re actually working with — rather than hunting through a flat list. Credit types include AIA LU|HSW, RCEP Professional Development Hours (for licensed engineers in multi-disciplinary firms), and IDCEC hours for interior designers.
Webinars and Live Sessions
RBA maintains a calendar of live, instructor-led webinars accessible from any device. Past webinars are archived and available on demand, so missing a scheduled session doesn’t mean missing the credit. The live format supports real-time Q&A with presenters, who are typically building product specialists or licensed architects with subject-matter expertise.
Lunch & Learn
One of RBA’s more practical offerings for firm principals and office managers is its lunch-and-learn library. Firms can browse available presentations by topic or CSI division and request a sponsored in-office session at no cost. Multiple team members earn credit simultaneously, making it an efficient way to fulfill CE obligations across a project team without sending everyone to separate training sessions.
Podcasts
RBA also publishes an educational podcast series organized by sponsor and CSI division. This is a less common format in the AIA CE space and offers a useful option for professionals who prefer audio-based learning or want to earn credit during commutes or travel.
Credit Reporting
Completed credits are reported by RBA directly to AIA, RCEP, and IDCEC on the professional’s behalf. Certificates of completion are issued at the end of each course.
Connection to CE Academy
It’s worth noting that Ron Blank & Associates also operates the CE Academy live events program, available at ceacademyinc.com. Both platforms are led by Ron Blank, CSI, CDT. They serve different delivery modes — RBA handles remote and on-demand; CE Academy handles in-person events — but they share the same organizational foundation.
GreenCE (greence.com)
GreenCE occupies a specific and well-defined niche in the free AIA CE landscape: sustainable design. It is both a registered AIA Education Provider and a USGBC Education Partner, which means it can award both AIA learning units and GBCI credits — including the LEED-specific hours that LEED AP and LEED Green Associate credential holders need to maintain their credentials.
For architects working primarily on green building projects, or anyone maintaining a LEED credential alongside their AIA membership, GreenCE is one of the most resource-rich free platforms available.
Courses and Webinars
GreenCE’s course library covers LEED certification, FSC-certified wood products, sustainable material selection, off-grid design, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Health Product Declarations (HPDs), and LEED v4 and v4.1 documentation requirements. Courses can be filtered by credit type — AIA LU|HSW, GBCI General Hours, LEED-Specific Hours, or IDCEC hours — and by CSI division and sponsor.
Live manufacturer webinars are a significant part of GreenCE’s platform. The company reports that its webinars are typically attended by 200 to 300 architects per session, and recordings remain available on demand after the live date.
LEED Credential Maintenance
This is where GreenCE distinguishes itself most clearly from other free platforms. LEED credential maintenance requirements are separate from AIA membership requirements and often trip up credential holders who don’t track them separately. LEED Green Associates must earn 15 continuing education hours per two-year cycle, including 3 LEED-specific hours. LEED APs must earn 30 hours, including 6 LEED-specific hours. GreenCE’s library of free LEED-specific hour courses addresses this directly.
GreenCE also offers free LEED exam preparation for the LEED Green Associate, LEED BD+C, and LEED O+M exams — including video modules, study guides, practice questions, and audio content. Free LEED exam prep is not a common offering in the CE space, paid or otherwise.
ADA and Barrier-Free Courses
GreenCE offers ADA accessibility courses designed specifically for California licensure requirements under SB 1608 (California Business and Professions Code Section 5600.05) and Texas barrier-free design requirements. Architects licensed in California or Texas who need to satisfy state-specific accessibility CE hours will find these courses directly applicable.
Credit Reporting
GreenCE reports all completed credits to AIA, GBCI, and IDCEC on the professional’s behalf.
CE Academy (ceacademyinc.com)
CE Academy takes a fundamentally different approach from RBA and GreenCE. Rather than building a library of online courses for self-paced completion, CE Academy focuses on live, in-person continuing education events held at venues across the United States throughout the year. For architects who find online self-study less engaging or who want to earn a large block of credit in a single day, this format has real practical advantages.
CE Academy was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Its President and CEO is Ron Blank, CSI, CDT — the same Ron Blank behind ronblank.com, reflecting the complementary relationship between the two organizations.
Full-Day Live Events
CE Academy events typically deliver 4 to 8 hours of AIA and/or GBCI registered education credit in a single day. That’s a substantial portion of the annual AIA requirement — or, depending on the event, potentially the entire yearly obligation — accomplished in one structured attendance. Events are held at locations across the country, with the schedule and upcoming events listed on the CE Academy website.
For professionals who dislike the fragmented, piecemeal approach of completing one-hour online modules across many sessions, CE Academy’s concentrated format can be a better fit for their learning style and schedule.
Web Series Events
CE Academy also offers a Web Series Events track for professionals who cannot travel to in-person events. This hybrid option provides some of the structure of a live event — scheduled sessions, defined credit blocks — without requiring physical attendance.
Credit Reporting and Certificates
CE Academy manages credit reporting to AIA and GBCI directly. Participants receive a certificate of completion by email following each event.
State CE Requirements Resource
One practical feature of the CE Academy website that the other two platforms don’t offer is a dedicated State CE Requirements section. This is a reference tool for architects navigating multi-state licensure, where CE hour requirements, credit categories, and reporting periods vary significantly from state to state. For architects licensed in several jurisdictions, this kind of consolidated reference saves meaningful research time.
Course Providers
CE Academy works with a range of building product manufacturers and trade associations as course providers and event sponsors. Partners listed on the platform include Stryker, DuPont Performance Building Solutions, Andersen Windows, Nystrom, Clark Dietrich Building Systems, and the Structural Insulated Panel Association (SIPA), among others.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Ron Blank & Associates | GreenCE | CE Academy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary delivery format | Online anytime, webinars, lunch & learn, podcasts | Online anytime, webinars, LEED exam prep | Live in-person events, web series |
| AIA LU|HSW credits | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GBCI / LEED hours | Limited | Yes — core offering | Yes |
| LEED-specific hours | Limited | Yes | Limited |
| IDCEC credits | Yes | Yes | Not specified |
| RCEP / PDH credits | Yes | Not specified | Not specified |
| ADA / barrier-free courses | Yes | Yes (CA and TX specific) | Not specified |
| Free to attending architects | Yes | Yes | Events free; travel may apply |
| Sustainability course focus | Moderate | Strong | Moderate |
| 24/7 on-demand access | Yes | Yes | Web series available |
| Automatic AIA credit reporting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Certificate of completion | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| State CE requirements guide | No | No | Yes |
| Free LEED exam prep | No | Yes | No |
| CSI division organization | Yes | Yes | By provider / event |
| Podcast format | Yes | No | No |
| Lunch & learn format | Yes | No | No |
Which Platform Is Right for You?
The honest answer for most architects is that these platforms aren’t competing for your loyalty — they’re designed to be used together, each filling a different gap in how and when you want to learn.
Ron Blank & Associates makes the most sense as a primary platform if you want maximum format flexibility. The combination of 24/7 online courses, live webinars, in-office lunch-and-learns, and podcasts means there’s a delivery mode for almost every schedule and learning preference. Its CSI division organization makes it practical for architects who want to align CE with current project work. It’s also the right choice for multi-disciplinary firms where some staff hold RCEP or IDCEC credentials alongside their AIA membership.
GreenCE is the clearest choice for architects who hold or are pursuing LEED credentials, work primarily on sustainable or LEED-certified projects, or want to deepen their sustainable design literacy beyond what general CE platforms provide. Its free LEED exam prep alone sets it apart, and its ADA/barrier-free course offerings for California and Texas make it especially relevant for architects in those states.
CE Academy fits professionals who prefer structured, in-person learning — or who want to knock out a large block of annual CE hours in a single day rather than accumulating them through weeks of online modules. Its state CE requirements reference is a useful tool for anyone managing multi-state licensure, and its web series option extends access to professionals who can’t travel to live events.
Used individually or in combination, all three platforms offer a practical, no-cost path to annual AIA CE compliance.
AIA CE Requirements: The Basics
For readers less familiar with AIA’s continuing education framework, a brief overview:
AIA Architect and International Associate members are required to earn 18 Learning Units per year, of which at least 12 must be LU|HSW credits covering Health, Safety, and Welfare topics. Associate members are strongly encouraged to pursue CE but are not subject to a minimum hourly requirement. Credits are tracked through AIA’s Continuing Education Service, and providers must hold current AIA CES registration for their courses to count toward AIA membership compliance.
State licensing boards impose their own CE requirements separately from AIA membership requirements. These vary significantly by state in total hours, required credit categories, and reporting periods. The CE Academy website’s State CE Requirements section is a useful starting point for architects managing this across multiple jurisdictions.
For LEED credential holders, GBCI maintains its own CE requirements: 15 hours per two-year cycle (including 3 LEED-specific hours) for LEED Green Associates, and 30 hours per cycle (including 6 LEED-specific hours) for LEED APs. These are tracked separately from AIA LUs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do these platforms report my credits to AIA automatically, or do I have to self-report?
All three platforms report completed credits to AIA on behalf of the professional. You do not need to manually enter credits into AIA’s system after completing a course on any of these platforms. Certificates of completion are also issued for your own records.
Are sponsored AIA courses objective and technically accurate?
AIA CES registration requires all courses — sponsored or otherwise — to meet published standards for content quality, accuracy, and learning objective structure. Sponsored courses are not permitted to function as advertisements; they must present technically accurate information and meet defined educational standards. That said, sponsored courses naturally focus on the product categories of their sponsors, so the range of topics available depends on which manufacturers and associations are actively sponsoring content on each platform.
Can I use these platforms to earn LEED credential maintenance hours?
GreenCE is the platform best suited for LEED credential maintenance. It awards LEED-specific hours and GBCI general hours, both of which count toward LEED AP and LEED Green Associate maintenance requirements, and reports them to GBCI automatically. CE Academy also offers GBCI-registered courses at its live events. Ron Blank & Associates offers some GBCI-eligible content but is primarily structured around AIA credit types.
Is there a cost to create an account?
No. Account creation is free on all three platforms. An account is required to track completed courses and receive credit reporting, but there is no subscription or access fee.
What is the relationship between Ron Blank & Associates and CE Academy?
Both platforms are operated under the leadership of Ron Blank, CSI, CDT. Ron Blank & Associates (ronblank.com) is the online and in-firm delivery platform; CE Academy (ceacademyinc.com) is the live events platform. They are designed as complementary delivery channels rather than separate companies competing for the same audience.
How many credits can I earn through CE Academy’s live events?
CE Academy live events typically provide 4 to 8 hours of AIA and/or GBCI registered education credit per event. Depending on the specific event, a single full-day attendance can satisfy a substantial portion — or in some cases the full year — of an architect’s AIA CE requirement.
What accessibility CE courses does GreenCE offer for California and Texas architects?
GreenCE offers ADA-focused courses designed to satisfy California’s accessibility CE requirement under SB 1608 (California Business and Professions Code Section 5600.05) and Texas’s barrier-free design CE requirements. Architects licensed in those states should verify that a specific course satisfies their current state board requirements before relying on it for compliance.
Glossary
AIA CES (AIA Continuing Education Service) — The AIA’s continuing education registration and tracking program. Providers registered with AIA CES have agreed to meet AIA’s standards for course content, learning objectives, assessment design, and record-keeping. All three platforms discussed in this article are registered AIA CES providers.
AIA LU (Learning Unit) — The standard unit of continuing education credit issued by AIA-registered courses. One LU corresponds to one contact hour of structured learning activity.
AIA LU|HSW — An AIA Learning Unit awarded by a course addressing Health, Safety, and Welfare topics directly relevant to the protection of building occupants and the public. AIA requires a minimum of 12 LU|HSW credits per year toward the 18-LU annual requirement.
Barrier-Free Design — Design practice ensuring built environments comply with the ADA and applicable state accessibility statutes. California and Texas require architects to complete specific barrier-free CE courses as a condition of license renewal.
CSI MasterFormat — The Construction Specifications Institute’s standardized system for organizing construction documents by division (e.g., Division 07 Thermal and Moisture Protection, Division 08 Openings). Ron Blank & Associates and GreenCE organize their course libraries by CSI division.
EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) — A third-party verified document quantifying a building product’s environmental impact across its lifecycle. EPDs are referenced under LEED v4 credit requirements and are increasingly specified on institutional and sustainable building projects.
GBCI (Green Business Certification Inc.) — The organization that administers LEED credentials and governs LEED credential maintenance CE requirements. GreenCE is a USGBC Education Partner authorized to award GBCI-recognized CE credits.
HPD (Health Product Declaration) — A standardized disclosure format for the chemical ingredients and associated health hazards of building products. GreenCE assists manufacturers with HPD development, and HPD-related content appears in many GreenCE courses.
HSW (Health, Safety, and Welfare) — The designation applied to AIA CE content addressing topics that directly protect building occupants and the general public, including fire and life safety, structural systems, accessibility, indoor environmental quality, and code compliance.
IDCEC (Interior Design Continuing Education Council) — The credentialing and CE tracking body for interior designers. Ron Blank & Associates and GreenCE both award IDCEC credits on qualifying courses.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) — The most widely used green building rating system globally, developed by USGBC and administered by GBCI. LEED credentials require ongoing CE to maintain.
LEED-Specific Hours — A category of GBCI-recognized CE credit required for LEED credential maintenance. LEED Green Associates need 3 LEED-specific hours per two-year cycle; LEED APs need 6. GreenCE is a primary free source for these credits.
NCARB (National Council of Architectural Registration Boards) — The organization that establishes national standards for architectural education, experience, and examination, and facilitates architectural license reciprocity across U.S. states and territories through its Certificate program.
RCEP (Registered Continuing Education Program) — A continuing education program for licensed professional engineers and other AEC professionals. Ron Blank & Associates awards RCEP Professional Development Hours (PDH) on qualifying courses, making it a relevant platform for multi-disciplinary firms where staff hold engineering licenses.
Sponsored Course — A CE course funded by a building product manufacturer, trade association, or non-profit organization and offered free to design professionals. AIA CES-registered sponsored courses must meet AIA’s educational standards for content accuracy and instructional design regardless of funding source.
Standards and Credentialing Organizations Referenced
- AIA — American Institute of Architects; sets membership CE requirements and operates AIA CES
- NCARB — National Council of Architectural Registration Boards; national standards for architectural licensure
- USGBC — U.S. Green Building Council; develops LEED and authorizes USGBC Education Partners including GreenCE
- GBCI — Green Business Certification Inc.; administers LEED credentials and CE maintenance requirements
- ICC — International Code Council; publishes the IBC, IECC, and related model codes informing HSW CE content
- IDCEC — Interior Design Continuing Education Council; governs CE requirements for interior design professionals
- RCEP — Registered Continuing Education Program; coordinates CE for licensed professional engineers
- ADA / U.S. Department of Justice — Enforces the Americans with Disabilities Act; informs accessibility CE requirements in multiple states
- OSHA — Occupational Safety and Health Administration; workplace safety standards relevant to HSW content
- EPA — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; environmental standards relevant to sustainable building CE content
This article is based on publicly available information about ronblank.com, greence.com, and ceacademyinc.com. Design professionals should verify current course offerings, credit types, and state board requirements directly with each platform and their applicable licensing authorities.