Integration Success

A visit with 2024 Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association Chair Sam Hoehner

 

Two years out from the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute and National Concrete Masonry Association unification, the successor organization’s board chair sees a groundswell of indicators favoring members, allied interests and architectural, engineering and construction parties, concluding, “I can’t think of a better time to be a part of this industry.”

A regional vice president with Kentucky-based Lee Building Products Inc., Sam Hoehner was elected as the second Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association chair earlier this year. His enthusiasm for concrete building, retaining wall block, paver and manufactured stone veneer is well founded: Lee Building Products is entrenched in concrete or clay building enclosure and hardscape unit production and distribution; through 26 plants, showrooms, design centers and yards, it enjoys a multi-state presence along a major Interstate (65) corridor like few peers. His CMHA Board leadership dovetails a new era for members and staff, especially in their work with traditional allies, the International Masonry Institute, Mason Contractors Association of America and The Masonry Society, as well as new partners in code and carbon messaging.

Hoehner, inaugural CMHA Chair Matt Lynch (Oldcastle APG), along with CEO Robert Thomas and fellow executive committee members, have overseen two years of ICPI and NCMA integration and harmonization efforts aimed at aligning the organization around Masonry and Hardscapes Committees plus their CMU, Manufactured Stone Veneer, Segmental Pavement and Segmental Retaining Wall Marketing, Technical and/or Construction subcommittees.

“CMHA is so much stronger with this collection of talent and industry knowledge under the same roof at the former NCMA headquarters in Herndon, Virginia,” says Hoehner. “Eliminating staff overlap and combining shared services such as accounting, investment management, and annual auditing have enabled us to redirect resources. But the greatest efficiencies are for members. CMHA is now better aligned with the industry, making us more valuable to producers, associates and contractors, and better positioned to promote concrete masonry, hardscape units and stone veneer.” While two legacy entities, the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute and National Concrete Masonry Association Foundations, continue operating separately in support of their respective markets, he adds, “we are also in the process of harmonization efforts to better manage their endowments and grants.”

CHECKOFF REALIZATION
CMHA is hitting its stride as the Concrete Masonry Checkoff—a technical, market and workforce development support mechanism unprecedented in cement-based products—enters prime time. The CMC Board (CMCB) has observed annualized collections upward of $10 million, consistent with estimates attending the April 2023 start of 1 cent per building block assessments on all U.S. concrete masonry producers. At present collection levels and Department of Commerce escrow requirements, the CMCB is able to commit about $7 million annually to national or regional programs abiding a “Research, Education and Promotion” charter defined in federal law underpinning the Checkoff. The Board is awaiting Commerce approval on inaugural national and regional programs whose contracts total more than $5 million.

“As the Checkoff gears up, we have taken the time to work with the CMCB to clarify our respective lanes of responsibility to ensure effective collaboration. CMHA will focus on areas like codes and standards, research, technical support, and educating members and their employees,” Hoehner explains. “CMCB will lead in areas such as marketing, sales and market metrics, and working through other national or regional partners on educating design professionals and contractors. We are committed to supporting each other and breaking down old ‘fragmented industry’ barriers. The CMHA Masonry Committee and CMU Technical and Marketing Subcommittees will support programs CMCB identifies as priorities. The first of those will be to expand past efforts to ensure that building codes recognize the value concrete masonry provides.”

CMHA plans to appoint a codes director to manage a seven-figure, multi-year program with equal or near-equal Association and CMCB funding. The program entails traditional advocacy work ensuring proper recognition of concrete masonry walls on structural, fire safety and energy code matters, plus measures advancing block materials and methods as the codes and standards arena expands to embodied carbon. A CMHA codes director can deliver compelling data and messages to carbon-wise audiences or groups. For AEC community members increasingly focused on carbon factors in project specifications, concrete block interests have a unique value proposition: Products of high load-bearing potential and low cement content, coupled with structural or architectural wall assemblies prone to sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide.

CARBONATION GAUGE
Ahead of CMHA, NCMA was at the forefront of quantifying gray or architectural concrete masonry units’ CO2 sequestration potential or carbonation tendencies. The CMU Technical Subcommittee continues to support research proving how concrete block specifications go hand in hand with AEC interests tracking or budgeting carbon metrics. Masonry Committee Chair Blair Harter (Basalite Concrete Products) and CMCB Board Member and Programs Committee Chair Heidi Jandris (Jandris Block) have prioritized concrete block CO2 sequestration performance measurement plus wall system analyses comparing dry cast CMUs’ carbonation, resiliency and sustainability properties against wood, steel, and wet-cast concrete alternatives.

“While CMHA has been leading the effort to document our carbon footprint and sustainability contributions, Concrete Masonry Checkoff programs will transition that information into effective and impactful messaging,” Hoehner observes. “This type of collaboration is a great example of how we can partner to drive our industry forward. Further collaboration with our industry allies, including the Concrete Sustainability Hub at MIT, will enable us to push beyond a block production ‘cradle to gate’ analysis to demonstrate the relative value of concrete masonry construction after you consider other factors like a building’s operating carbon (electricity consumption, heating and cooling) along with biogenic carbon (gas released during wood product decomposition). High marks in the use of localized materials, minimal site impacts, energy efficiency, low maintenance, adaptable reuse, fully recyclable end of use products, flexible design opportunities, and efficient construction all contribute to the benefits of designing and building with concrete masonry. We need to finish up preparing this information, then leverage the Checkoff program to convey these facts and resources to decision makers.”

“CMHA has always prided itself at being beyond reproach on engineering and technical matters. Carbon metric measurement and reporting are no different,” he adds. “With carbon accounting a relatively new field of study and a lot of public pressure to reduce carbon footprints, there is a strong, positive push to innovation. While we recognized early on that the void structure in our block products resulted in an improved ability to absorb and permanently sequester carbon from the atmosphere, it was critical that we establish baselines and standard processes for evaluation.”

Vice President of Engineering-Masonry Nick Lang and Director of Material Science Craig Walloch have led CMHA work on quantifying CMU carbonation rates. Data collection and validation will augment a deliverable they have set for this summer: an Industry Average Environmental Product Declaration for Concrete Masonry Units. The document will factor CO2 emissions or global warming potential figures from producer surveys and concrete mix material sources. The Industry Average EPD for CMU will be published by California-based Climate Earth, the first mover in manufactured and ready mixed concrete declarations.

“We are focused on collaboration and coordination in this area, becoming more active in forums such as Building Transparency, which developed the Embodied Carbon Calculator from the construction industry’s EPD library, to ensure that we are supporting responsible environmental decisions, both by designers and our producer members,” notes Hoehner. “We have partnered with others in the industry, including the Concrete Advancement Foundation, to submit a proposal to secure Environmental Protection Agency funding that would be used to incentivize our producer members to publish EPDs for their own products. A grant would accelerate our efforts and we expect to hear about the proposal status shortly. We have a great story to tell public and private construction parties through a widely recognized vehicle like an Industry Average EPD.”