PRESENTER:

Heidi Jandris, Jandris Block

As part of the 3rd generation, Heidi grew up immersed in her family’s New England concrete block business. She received a Master of Science in Sustainable Building Systems degree from Northeastern University’s College of Engineering, a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Pratt Institute, and a WbLCA-P micro-credential from British Columbia Institute of Technology. She provides technical services to the design community while researching and implementing ways to improve efficiency and lower the environmental impacts of their concrete products.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

We will identify some of the most influential market drivers for low carbon building products such as the Carbon Leadership Forum, Athena, upcoming LEED V5 and current legislative efforts. We will look at some of the major embodied carbon evaluation tools currently in use by the design community and how the carbon intensity of CMU assemblies is considered.

WHERE WE STAND.
The CMU industry has an extremely positive story to tell when it comes to embodied carbon, we just need to know how to tell it. Carbon Conversation 201 will provide a technical background to make it easier to speak about embodied carbon with decision makers. We will set the stage for discussing why concrete sequesters carbon dioxide by looking at the larger geologic carbon cycle, then focus on the cement carbon cycle. We will explain the relevant differences between dry-cast, zero-slump concrete masonry units and wet-cast (ready-mix/pre-precast) concrete and why CMU assemblies have drastically lower embodied carbon and increased carbon sequestration rates. Mini embodied carbon cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) studies which include several types of wall assemblies will be compared. Lastly, we will look at additional strategies to lower embodied carbon including raw material selection, efficient design, utilizing thermal mass, durability, resilience and End Of Life (EOL) carbon sequestration.

PRESENTER:

Dr. Bennett Banting, The Canadian Masonry Design Centre

Bennett is the Director of Technical Services at the Canada Masonry Design Centre, bringing 17 years of experience in the masonry industry, along with his PhD from McMaster on concrete block masonry shear walls under earthquake loading.
His research significantly influenced the development of new seismic provisions in the 2014 edition of CSA S304, “Design of Masonry Structures,” and earned him the TMS Ph.D. Thesis Award in 2015.

Currently, Bennett serves as the Vice-Chair for the 2024 edition of CSA S304 and is an active member of numerous codes and standards committees.

He has authored over 50 journal, conference, and technical publications, is the lead lecturer for the industry-run Engineered Masonry Design Course and is the lead author of the 2nd Canadian Edition of the textbook “Masonry Structures: Behaviour and Design.”

Bennett has overseen more than 40 industry-sponsored research programs at 15 universities across Canada and has served as the Technical Committee Chair for the 13th, 14th, and upcoming 15th Canadian Masonry Symposium.

This portion of the presentation focuses on design efficiencies that can help reduce the embodied carbon of masonry wall assemblies. It covers topics such as project specifications, masonry construction best practices, and optimization techniques for wall design.  Dr. Banting walks us through the carbon conversation from the CSA standards and design point of view in an engaging and forward-looking way that helps all attendees get starting insights into the critical element that “Design & Construction” will play as we collectively drive forward on lower carbon concrete masonry buildings.