Architectural Concrete Masonry: Single-Wythe Walls
This course introduces the design and performance fundamentals of architectural single-wythe concrete masonry. Participants will explore how concrete masonry’s inherent durability, resilience, thermal mass, and low-embodied-carbon contribute to high-performing building envelopes. The program explains key strategies for moisture management—including surface protection, integral water repellents, flashing, weeps, and crack-control detailing to keep single-wythe CMU walls dry and long-lasting. Learners will examine energy-code compliance pathways for mass walls, insulation options, and how density, thermal mass, and assembly configuration influence energy performance. The course concludes with practical guidance on air and vapor barriers, utilities, sample panels, and cleaning procedures to ensure high-quality outcomes in architectural CMU projects.
Architectural Concrete Masonry: Veneers & Cavity Walls
Architectural concrete masonry anchored veneers combine beauty, durability, and low maintenance while offering architects significant design flexibility. This course examines the finishes, sizes, profiles, and colors that distinguish architectural CMU, and explores the high performance these systems achieve when coupled with concrete masonry cavity walls. Participants will review essential detailing recommendations for veneers, including how to accommodate openings, flashing, anchoring, and crack control strategies. The session also covers energy performance benefits, thermal mass advantages, and cavity wall insulation strategies, while emphasizing quality assurance through sample panels. The course finishes with discussing cleaning recommendations for architectural masonry.
General Design of Concrete Masonry Structures
This course explores the required concrete masonry design considerations to ensure a fully designed wall system that adheres to structural, fire, acoustic and energy design. The structural consideration will include the basis of design parameters, applications, design considerations, elemental design and limit states. While structural design is important, the course will discuss our ensuring fire, acoustical and energy compliance must also fit into the requirements of the wall system.
Concrete Masonry: Navigating Energy Codes to Maximize Thermal Mass Performance
This course examines how concrete masonry’s thermal mass contributes to energy efficiency across a range of climate zones and building types. It describes the role of heat capacity and mass wall behavior in overall thermal performance and outlines how these attributes are addressed within current energy codes. The session reviews prescriptive, trade-off, and whole-building performance pathways in ASHRAE 90.1 and the IECC, highlighting how CMU assemblies are evaluated in each method. The course also presents commonly used compliance tools, and shows how they support energy-code documentation for mass-wall designs.
Core Performance: The 5 Ss of Concrete Masonry
Concrete masonry is commonly used for structural and architectural walls in buildings. Knowing the full extent of its applications and capabilities is important for designers to make resilient, sustainable, and cost-effective buildings.
The intent of this course is to provide a general overview of the properties and performance characteristics of concrete masonry walls. Attendees will learn about how to take advantage of and maximize the features and capabilities of concrete masonry units.
Heat Capacity (HC) Values for Concrete Masonry Walls
Heat capacity is a material property used to assess a wall’s thermal mass, and it is often used as a criteria in energy codes and standards. Thermal mass is defined as: the absorption and storage of significant amounts of heat in a building or in walls of a building (ref. 1). Wall thermal mass, such as that present in concrete masonry construction, tends to decrease both heating and cooling loads in a given building, thus saving energy. The amount of savings realized by incorporating thermal mass into a building’s design is a function of several variables. These include local climate, wall heat capacity, fenestration (window) area, fenestration orientation, fenestration solar gain, building occupancy load and other internal gains such as lights and office equipment. The most manageable approach to account for energy savings due to thermal mass is to relate the savings to the wall heat capacity and local climate.
Thermal Bridges in Wall Construction
Thermal bridging occurs when a relatively small area of a wall, floor or roof loses much more heat than the surrounding area. Thermal bridging can occur in any type of building construction. The effects of thermal bridging may include increased heat loss, occupant discomfort, unanticipated expansion/contraction, condensation, freeze-thaw damage, and related moisture and/or mold problems for materials susceptible to moisture. The severity of the thermal bridge is determined by the extent of these effects.
Concrete Masonry in the 2012 Edition of the IECC
Although masonry is an ancient material, today’s concrete masonry can be a significant benefit to modern sustainable buildings. In addition to its energy efficiency, concrete masonry is a locally produced natural material that is durable and long lived, minimizing the need for repair or replacement. Concrete masonry can incorporate recycled materials, and can itself be reused or recycled at the end of its life. Various architectural finishes are available that can eliminate the need for paint or other coatings which can impair indoor air quality or impede moisture control.
Insulating Concrete Masonry Walls
and limitations with regard to each of these insulation strategies. The choice of insulation will depend on the desired thermal properties, climate conditions, ease of construction, cost, and other design criteria. Note that insulation position within the wall can impact dew point location, and hence affect the condensation potential. See TEK 06-17B, Condensation Control in Concrete Masonry Walls (ref. 1) for more detailed information. Similarly, some insulations can act as an air barrier when installed continuously and with sealed joints. See TEK 06-14B, Control of Infiltration in Concrete Masonry Walls, (ref. 2) for further information.
Concrete Masonry Radiant Heating/Cooling Systems
Radiant heat has long been popular due to its comfort, quiet operation and cleanliness. The radiant element is directly coupled to the adjacent room, with no drafts or convection currents common with forced air systems. Duct noise and dust distribution is also reduced.