The Top Bar
The top bar runs across the top of every page in Material Hub and gives you access to global tools regardless of where you are in the app.
Material Hub logo (top left) — Click at any time to return to the Home page
Collapse/expand icon — Click the arrow next to the logo to collapse the sidebar and give yourself more workspace
Ask me anything (search bar, center) — Search for products, manufacturers, or resources across the entire platform. You can also type here to open Ask Ace directly
Notifications (bell icon) — View alerts and updates from across your projects and library
Messages (chat icon) — Quick access to your conversations without leaving your current view
Profile (top right) — Click your initials to access account settings, preferences, and sign out options
The workspace is the main content area to the right of the sidebar. It updates based on what you select in the navigation — your schedule, comparison view, manufacturer directory, or any other section of the platform.
Collapsing the sidebar using the arrow next to the logo gives you a wider workspace — useful when working in a schedule with many columns.
The Navigation Sidebar
The sidebar is always visible on the left side of Material Hub. It gives you quick access to every section of the platform, and expands in context as you move through your library and projects.
The top-level items are:
Home — Your dashboard and starting point
Ask Ace — AI-powered assistant for searching and getting help
Library — Your firm's curated product library and schedule views
Projects — All projects in your workspace
Conversations — Messages and threads across your workspace
Manufacturers — Browse and connect with manufacturers
Resources — Reference materials, courses, and guides
Construction Details — Browse CAD details by cladding type, wall type, and more
Using Ask Ace
Clicking Ask Ace in the sidebar opens the Ace Copilot panel. Ace is Material Hub's AI-powered assistant — you can ask it questions, search for products, get guidance on features, or look up information across your library and projects.
The panel opens as an overlay on the left side of the screen without taking you away from what you're working on. Type your question or request into the Reply to Ace Copilot field and press Enter to get a response.
Use the controls at the top of the panel to:
Expand the panel for more space
Close the panel to return to your full view
Navigating Your Library
Clicking Library in the sidebar expands the navigation to show everything inside your firm library.
You'll see:
All Products — The full list of products in your library. Click the + icon next to All Products to create a new saved view.
Saved Views — Any custom views your team has created appear below All Products (for example, views filtered by category or assigned rep).
Comparison — Side-by-side product comparison tool
SpecPlanner — Your specification planning workspace
Spec Library — Your firm's curated specification library
Library Info — Details and settings for your library
The global nav items (Conversations, Manufacturers, Resources, Construction Details) remain accessible below the Library section at all times.
Navigating Your Projects
Clicking Projects in the sidebar opens your list of projects. Select any project to open it. Once inside a project, the sidebar expands to show that project's contents:
All Products — The full product schedule for this project. Custom views for this project appear nested below.
Comparison — Compare products within this project
SpecPlanner — Spec planning for this project
Spec Library — Specifications scoped to this project
Project Info — Details and settings for this project
Conversations — Messages and threads within this project
To switch to a different project, click Projects in the sidebar to return to your project list.
Conversations
Conversations are stored within the project they were started in.
Open the project by clicking Projects in the sidebar and selecting the project
Click Conversations in the project's sub-navigation to view conversations associated with that project
All conversations
To see conversations across all your projects, click Conversations in the main sidebar, below the project items.
Navigating Manufacturers
Clicking Manufacturers opens the full manufacturer directory. The page is split into two panels:
Divisions (left panel) — Browse manufacturers by CSI MasterFormat division, from Division 00 Procurement and Contracting Requirements through the full spec hierarchy. Click any division to filter the directory.
All Manufacturers (right panel) — The complete list of manufacturers available in Material Hub, shown alphabetically with profile photos. Click any manufacturer to view their brand page, products, and rep contact information.
Navigating Resources
Clicking Resources opens the learning and reference hub. Use the tabs across the top to switch between:
Education — Browse and complete courses organized by topic. Use the left panel to filter by category (Getting Started, Projects, Schedules, SpecPlanner, Library, Product Research, Integrations, Material Science, Building Science CEU, and more). Within each course, use the All / Assigned / In Progress / Completed tabs to track where you are.
News — Product updates and announcements from Acelab
Help Articles — Searchable library of how-to documentation
Navigating Construction Details
Clicking Construction Details takes you to the Construction Details Finder, where you can browse CAD details by cladding type, wall type, R-value, and window type. Use the filters on the left to narrow results, and click any detail card to view or request the file.
