Architects’ Guide to Design Innovation, Safety, Performance, Sustainability & Resilience with CMU

Concrete Masonry Units (CMU) drive design innovation by offering human-scaled building blocks in diverse colors and shapes, allowing for extensive structural and sculptural exploration alongside optimal constructability and superior performance in areas like acoustics and thermal mass. CMU construction provides exceptional life safety, security, and resilience due to its robust resistance to a broad range of threats, including fire, high winds, seismic events, impact, and blast. Furthermore, the dry-cast concrete materiality of CMU achieves a superior environmental profile and lowers global warming potential through efficient carbon sequestration and reduced transportation emissions from ubiquitous local manufacturing.

Upon completion of this course, the Learner should be able to:

• Attendees will learn how CMU as human-scaled building blocks, derived from natural materials, have become widespread in contemporary designs for their multiple colors, shapes and sizes and their potential for structural and sculptural explorations.
• Attendees will learn how CMU construction offers superior safety, security, and resilience due to its exceptional resistance to many threats, including natural disasters (fire, wind, flood, moisture, seismic events) and man-made threats (impact, blast, ballistics).
• Participants will learn the environmental and economic benefits of CMU, including its low embodied energy, lifecycle efficiency, and capacity for carbon sequestration, as well as how CMU achieves optimal constructability with modularity, detailing & workmanship, component design, and innovative technologies and how CMU achieves superior performance in acoustics, insulation, thermal mass & more.
• Attendees will learn how CMU's dry-cast concrete materiality achieves a superior environmental impact and lower global warming potential (GWP) due to its low cement & porous structure enabling greatly improved carbon sequestration of atmospheric CO2; also, how its ubiquitous availability and local manufacturing dramatically reduce costs & emissions.

Approximately 1 hour. Delivered via webinar or face-to-face presentation. Available sessions shown below.

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This course is registered with: 2 Industry Association(s)