This effort began when Turner Fleischer set out to bridge the gap between what people learn in school and what they need to succeed in practice. The result was TF Academy: a comprehensive learning program designed to keep all Turner Fleischer Studio members at the forefront of industry knowledge. Today, the Academy offers a structured continuing education curriculum delivered via two semesters annually, with approximately 40 courses per semester.
Shared Values
RDH’s involvement with TF Academy began through a conference connection that sparked conversations about shared approaches to teaching, data, and building performance. It became clear the two teams shared a similar philosophy, and a partnership followed. RDH building science specialists began to deliver Academy sessions that covered foundational concepts such as enclosure behaviour, control layers, and climate-responsive design.
Since that beginning, RDH has played an ongoing role in shaping the Academy’s building science curriculum. Our building science specialists continue to help Turner Fleischer’s Studio members build a strong foundation in areas like window and glazing performance, mass timber moisture management, embodied carbon and life cycle analysis, and energy modelling. These sessions have become directly applicable to project work, empowering Turner Fleischer’s Studio members to question assumptions, improve details, and make performance-driven design decisions.
Continuous Learning
Since 2018, RDH and Turner Fleischer have collaborated twice per year to design a flexible, evolving curriculum that combines technical depth with practical application. Our two teams work closely to shape course content, adjust courses based on feedback, and plan a curriculum that is relevant to Turner Fleischer and their project portfolio. Increasingly, our combined efforts are designing hands-on learning experiences. This collaborative planning ensures that courses align with project realities, sustainability goals, and ongoing professional development requirements.
TF Academy reflects a deep cultural commitment to curiosity, professional growth, and shared expertise. That model has created an internal culture of continuous education: TF Academy has a Studio-wide participation rate of over 80%.
Impact on the Industry
The RDH and Turner Fleischer collaboration has produced measurable effects: Turner Fleischer staff bring building science conversations into early design-phase decision-making. They assess trade details, reinforce decisions with a solid understanding of building performance principles, and validate ideas directly with RDH. This approach to informed collaboration helps to strengthen project outcomes and build confidence across the entire team.
Feedback from Academy participants has reinforced this impact. Attendees value the clarity, practicality, and real project applicability of RDH’s sessions. Many request more hands-on workshops, live detail markups, and examples tied directly to the Toronto market, providing evidence of their deep engagement with the material.
