Elevate Pool Pros & Master Pools Guild Presents
Materials intelligence
The Outdoor Living Expert's Complete Guide to Exterior Finish Materials
Limited to 40 Seats. MPG Members Save 10% with Promo Code at Checkout
Live, In-Person Class
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Oct. 7-8, 2026
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Loew's Miami Beach Hotel
Why you should attend
The Pain point
You’ve been there…
Standing in a showroom with a client, surrounded by hundreds of material options. The sales rep knows the price and the color name. But what about freeze-thaw ratings? Slip resistance? Thermal expansion? What happens when it meets pool chemistry? You select by feel, by what worked last time, or what your sub recommends.
Sometimes it works. Other times, your phone rings eight months later.
The Solution
The gap ends here.
Materials Intelligence is a first-of-its-kind course built specifically for pool and outdoor living professionals. Not a product showcase. Not a vendor pitch. A real education on how materials actually behave in exterior environments — and how to specify them with confidence.
Over two full days of live, in-person instruction, you'll go deep into all eight major material types. By the end, the excess noise fades away and you're left with a clear framework: Good / Better / Best selections at different price points, every time.
How deep we’ll go
Covering all the bases
For every material
Every module hits the same six areas so you walk out with the same depth of understanding across all eight materials.
Intro:
Where it comes from, how it's made, and how it behaves in the real-world exterior environment.
Materials History + Science:
Color, texture, contrast, emphasis, and how to integrate multiple materials for a cohesive, intentional outdoor space.
Design Application:
How to show color, texture, and theme combinations across every category — the visual intelligence that elevates client presentations.
Mood Board Pairings:
ASTM, ANSI, IBC, TCNA, NEC, ISPSC — which standards apply to which material and how to translate them into specification language that protects you.
Code + Best Practices:
The installation procedures you should be holding your contractors to — and the corners they're most likely to cut before you find out.
Know More Than Your Subs:
Rough national cost ranges for materials, installation, margin, and consumer pricing. Built for real business conversations.
Dollars & Sense:
Learning Outcomes
What You will
Walk away with.
Walk into any material showroom and speak the language of performance, not just aesthetics
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A Material Selection Matrix for every specification: Function → Environment → Aesthetics → Budget, in the right order, every time
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Visual Mood Board templates showing how mixed materials come together for your client presentations
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Code and best practices literacy, with the ability to translate standards into specification language that protects you
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Custom 3D details to explain code-compliant installation processes to clients, subs, and inspectors with authority
The confidence to specify, sell, and supervise every material on a project
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A competitive advantage that professionals who weren't in the room simply won't have
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Live class schedule
Curriculum
What you’ll Learn
Every module goes deep into what actually matters for exterior application — materials history and science, design application, mood board pairings, code and best practices, installation details your subs are most likely to cut corners on, and real cost ranges for budgeting and selling.
Day 1
Wednesday, October 7, 8am - 5pm
Getting Stoned
Natural Stone for Pool Decks, Patio Slabs, Wall Veneers, Countertops & Cladding Systems
Another Brick in the Wall
Brick Pavers, Patios, Thin Veneer, Full-Bed Masonry & Bond Pattern Design
The Knock on Wood
Natural Hardwood Decking, Thermally Modified, Composite & Deco Beam Structures
Concrete: The Beautiful Basics
Broom, Exposed Aggregate, Integrally Colored, plus GFRC & Concrete Wall Systems
Day 2
Thursday, October 8, 8am - 5pm
Setting the Tile Standard
Porcelain, Glass Tile, Large Format, Submerged Application & Exterior Install
Precious Metals
Stainless Steel, Copper Accents & Ornamental Iron for Outdoor Environments
Skin in the Game
Exterior Stucco, Plaster Walls & Pool Interior Finishes
The Soft Spot
Decorative Aggregates, Synthetic Turf & Softscape Planting Design Integration
Who should attend
Built for every professional
Who touches a pool
No prior design background required. This course starts at the very beginning and builds progressively — every lesson is designed to be clear, practical, and immediately applicable.
Experienced Pros Filling the Gaps
Engineers new to pool systems
Pool Builders & Contractors
Industry Newcomers
Pool Designers & Architects
Field Technicians
Sales Reps
Service Pros
What your peers are saying:
“I am a 4th generation pool builder, and we have been doing things the same way for decades. Until now. The skills I have learned through Elevate have given me the confidence to build different.”
“Call me the Elevate student #1. Working with and learning from Jason and Chad has transformed my projects... and taken our projects to a completely new level.”
“I cannot learn enough! I am new to the industry and starting my own company has been terrifying. The personal coaching that and Jason have given me....”
“Taking design classes with Jason has been both enlightening and entertaining. He teaches fundamental design principles in a fun and engaging way that inspires....”
Your Instructors
ASLA — American Society of Landscape Architects
IWI — International Watershape Institute
CBDP Master — Certified Building Design Professional
Licensed Landscape Architect
Patented Design Process
Jason
Brownlee
Jason Brownlee isn't teaching from a textbook. He's teaching from hundreds of completed projects — pools, outdoor living spaces, and landscape environments designed for clients across the country and around the world.
A licensed Landscape Architect holding the ASLA, IWI, and CBDP Master designations, Jason has accumulated dozens of International Design Awards across a career defined by the belief that outdoor space should be more than functional — it should be transformational.
Creator of the Elevate Pool Hydraulics curriculum and one of the most recognized hydraulic design educators in the watershape industry. Decades of real-world design practice distilled into this course.
Come for the expertise. Stay for the humor. Jason brings a disarming, light-hearted style to material that could easily feel academic — making these courses as fun and engaging as they are genuinely useful. Nobody does serious design education quite this way.
Landscape Architect & Industry Design Leader
📐 Patented Design Process
🎓 Professional Design School Background
🏆 Dozens of International Design Awards
🌎 Clients Across the Globe
Chad
Christenson
IWI, CBDP (Master)
Senior watershape designer and hydraulics specialist with deep expertise in complex multi-vessel system design, equipment pad layout, and advanced schematic documentation practice.
Paulo
Benedetti
IWI, Expert Witness
Founder of Aquatic Technology Pool & Spa, court-recognized expert witness, published author, WU Leadership team member.
+ Guest Material
Product Experts
Additional guest product experts will be joining live and online for each major material category.
Investment & Enrollment
Stop Guessing.
Start designing.
First-of-its-kind for the pool and outdoor living industry. Two days, eight materials, three+ world-class instructors. Space is limited and it fills fast.
$1,650
16 PHTA CEU Credit Hours
Presented at the MPG Fall Meeting
Oct. 7-8, Loew’s Miami Beach Hotel
This is your ticket for the Materials Intelligence Class by Elevate Pool Pros hosted at the MPG Fall 2026 meeting in Miami, Oct. 7-8.
Limited enrollment - Seats fill fast