Block Collective musters A/E talent for CMU Design Assistance Network 

Sources: Concrete Masonry Checkoff Board, Denver; CP staff A Concrete Masonry Checkoff (CMC) request for proposals, posted here, seeks qualified design professionals and firms for the Block Design Collective (BDC), a destination where architects and engineers can access free CMU project support. CMC aims to equip the BDC to handle a broad spectrum of concrete masonry related inquiries in every state.…

Read More

Concrete Masonry Checkoff Block Learning Hub goes live

Sources: Concrete Masonry Checkoff Board, Denver; CP staff The Concrete Masonry Checkoff has launched a free-to-access, dynamic educational platform dedicated to equipping design professionals with the resources needed to deliver resilient, sustainable, high-performance buildings. The Block Learning Hub is accessible at www.beautyofblock.com/learn and premiers with Core Performance, Embodied Carbon Resiliency Series offerings. They span a variety of architecture and engineering…

Read More

Concrete Masonry Checkoff builds Block Design Collective staff

Sources: Concrete Masonry Checkoff Board, Denver; CP staff The Concrete Masonry Checkoff has appointed technical directors for two of five U.S. regions in the virtual Block Design Collective, a visionary design assistance portal where architects and engineers can access complementary building project services. Charles “Chuck” Rotondo and Tino Kalayil, P.E. will respectively lead the assembly and activation of their localized…

Read More

Concrete Masonry Checkoff sets 2025 commitments, officer slate

Sources: Concrete Masonry Checkoff, Denver; CP staff The Concrete Masonry Checkoff (CMC) Board has conditionally approved a robust $5.7 million in funding across 27 programs for 2025 and beyond. Upon final Department of Commerce (DOC) review, more than $3 million will be allocated across six national programs, which include education on building codes, expanded marketing efforts and the soon-to-launch Block…

Read More

CM Checkoff makes good on timely Beauty of Block campaign launch

The Concrete Masonry Checkoff shows a capacity to move quickly on priority matters with The Beauty of Block. The national campaign premiered in mid-August as the www.beautyofblock.com site went live, conveying a message of product aesthetic and performance characteristics for architectural, engineering and construction professionals. The site states the case for concrete block in Style, Savings, Safety, Sustainability and Strength…

Read More

Organizations – August 2024

The Concrete Masonry Checkoff has named Riley Dvorak as national design technical director. He is tasked with spearheading CMC’s visionary Design Assistance program, a virtual destination where architects and engineers can access complimentary concrete masonry design services. His first order of business will be helping to appoint program directors across five U.S. regions; together, they will collaborate to sculpt a…

Read More

Rinker Materials veteran leads CM Checkoff Design Assistance program

Sources: Concrete Masonry Checkoff Board, Denver; CP staff The Concrete Masonry Checkoff has named Riley Dvorak as national design technical director. He is tasked with spearheading CMC’s visionary Design Assistance program, a virtual destination where architects and engineers can access complimentary concrete masonry design services. Dvorak’s first order of business will be helping to appoint regional directors across five U.S.…

Read More

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…

Read More

Agency commits $20M to Ash Grove, Buzzi, CalPortland, Sublime carbon work

The U.S. Department of Energy is contributing to five projects in Decarbonizing Cement and Concrete, one of eight topic areas in the agency’s Industrial Heat Shot program, where present funding and grants total $171 million. Industrial Heat Shot is part of the broader Industrial Emissions Reduction Development Program under the DOE Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office. The Cement and Concrete…

Read More

Concrete Masonry Checkoff leaders eager to drive investor returns

Design, promotional and technical support for architectural and gray block in U.S. building markets will reach a new peak this year with the launch of 23 inaugural Concrete Masonry Checkoff (CMC) projects, funded with nearly $5 million from initial 2023 assessments. The projects contour the six programs that CMC directors defined in their November 2022 charter meeting—Codes & Standards, Design…

Read More