Advantages of Concrete Masonry

Although often associated with high-end homes, recent economic data indicates that concrete masonry is an economical choice in many markets, because the benefits of a concrete masonry home extend well beyond aesthetics and prestige. Concrete masonry is environmentally friendly, and has excellent durability and energy efficiency.

Environmental friendliness is determined by many factors, among which are: the processes and materials used during manufacture; the product’s durability; the disposal methods at the end of the product life; as well as the resulting home’s energy use. The ingredients used to make concrete masonry units –water, aggregate and cement- are readily available, and the manufacturing process is not overly demanding in terms of energy use. In addition, concrete products can be used as a medium for recycling waste products, such as blast furnace slag, helping utilize materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill.

In place, concrete masonry is a long-lived, durable and inert needing replacement less often than less durable materials and allowing for easy disposal at the end of its life. In fact, used concrete can be crushed and reused as aggregate for new concrete.

Because of its structural strength and inherent fire resistance, well-designed and constructed concrete masonry homes are less likely to be damaged or destroyed during storms, earthquakes and fires than are less durable homes.

Durability describes a wall system’s ability to withstand the weather and insects, as well as occasional impacts from items. Concrete masonry walls has demonstrated good durability, impact resistance and low maintenance in a variety of exposures.

The energy efficiency of concrete masonry homes can be quantified in terms of the associated annual cost to the homeowner. According to some studies, the data indicate that even though construction costs tend to be higher for concrete walls, the consistently lower heating and cooling costs make the concrete homes economically about the same as those with wood frame walls.

Anyway, it is not easy to quantified the very real benefits of concrete masonry’s lower maintenance needs, longer life, resistance to insects and moisture, noncombustibility and environmental impact.

To sum up, concrete masonry is one of the most popular construction choices for today’s buildings. Aesthetics, economics, ease of construction, durability, fire resistance, security and low maintenance are inherent qualities of concrete masonry constructions.