CMU Embodied Carbon: Understanding Impacts Through LCA
Quantifying cradle-to-gate carbon benefits of concrete masonry through assemblies and a prototype building LCA
Sponsored by Concrete Masonry Checkoff | Presented by Heidi Jandris
Live Webinar Airing on August 14, 2025 at 02:00 PM ET
Participants will examine mini-LCA wall comparisons that demonstrate CMU's carbon benefits, then explore a prototype mixed-use building case study that scales these advantages to the structural level. The course emphasizes how efficient design strategies—including modular coordination, optimized structure and strategic grout and reinforcement placement—serve as major drivers for both carbon reduction and cost savings. By exploring the intersection of design efficiency with sustainability goals, participants will learn how thoughtful CMU design decisions simultaneously lower embodied carbon, reduce material usage, and improve project economics.
Photo courtesy of Jandris Block
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Heidi Jandris grew up immersed in her family’s New England concrete block business, Jandris Block, established by her grandfather in 1920. She received a Master of Science degree in Sustainable Building Systems from Northeastern University’s College of Engineering, a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Pratt Institute, and earned a Whole Building LCA (WbLCA-P) micro-credential from the British Columbia Institute of Technology. She provides technical services to the design community with a focus on embodied carbon while researching and implementing ways to improve the efficiency of and lower the environmental impacts of Jandris’ manufactured concrete products. She is chair of the CMHA masonry committee and serves on the CMHA executive committee. She also chairs the Concrete Masonry Checkoff (CMC) national programs committee. |
Today's architects have the tall task of designing structures that check all the boxes: safe, stylish, sustainable, and all within budget. Concrete masonry shines in that it takes compromise entirely out of the equation. With CMU, there's no need to choose between looks and longevity, or sacrifice strength for stewardship. Block can enhance any vision as it’s safe, stunning, and a model of efficiency. Block doubles as both a structural system and a finish material, sparing you the headache of managing multiple trades and timelines. And while you may not always see block at work, its benefits can be felt everyday while still standing the test of time, year over year, decade after decade. That's the Beauty of Block.
Through the Beauty of Block program, architects gain free access to valuable resources including training, design tools, and ongoing support & making it easier than ever to design more efficient, cost-effective concrete masonry structures.
Originally published in Architectural Record
Originally published in July 2025
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Discover the 3 reasons dry-cast concrete masonry units (CMU) are a low embodied carbon concrete, and explore how concrete masonry offers interconnected sustainability strategies.
- Compare the cradle-to-gate embodied carbon of several different wall assemblies with simple wall sections.
- Investigate the cradle-to-gate embodied carbon of 3 different structural systems, by exploring a prototype mix-used building LCA case study.
- Introduce and explore efficient design strategies and discover how these strategies can lower both the embodied carbon and also the cost of a project.
