Masonry has been around since our beginnings as builders and users of tools. From its earliest forms, low walls constructed of mud and dried puddles to stones sealed together with mud, stone masonry is one of the oldest traditional occupations.
Early Masonry was the Ultimate Green Design
Since its inception thousands of years ago, masonry has in many ways not changed. It is still practiced today in exactly the same form that it began so long ago. Even at its most basic state, masonry is still a very effective means of providing shelter and security for people all over the world.
Consider undeveloped regions such as Malawi, a small country in South East Africa. Roofs in this village are primarily constructed by lashing sticks together into a crude frame and then covering the frame with bundles of grass to provide minimal shelter from sun and rain. The homes are primarily constructed with mud brick made from the native soil on site and then baked in a wood-fired oven to remove some of the moisture. They dig a small hole on the site and periodically wet the hole to dig “mortar” for laying the brick. No cement or other additive is used.
These dwellings illustrate the simple beauty of masonry and the ancient roots of the trade. These structures are surprisingly sound. They have high thermal mass, are termite proof, require no transportation of materials, are 100 percent recyclable and are locally mined and manufactured. They surpass even our best efforts at being “green” and sustainable. One man can mine, manufacture, deliver, and install all the necessary components to build these structures—a remarkable feat. Type S or Type N? f’n? These are nowhere to be found.
Masonry Today: An Industry in Evolution
At the other end of the spectrum is masonry in the U.S. In addition to cost, aesthetics, and durability, our projects must meet standards for energy performance and sustainability, and they must be technology friendly.
Like our early ancestors, we’re stitching together the best materials available to build our homes and cities. Today, however, much of our time involved with masonry is spent in an air conditioned office with high-end computer hardware, the latest in software developments, intricate algorithms and analytical methods.
The push is on to develop something that has never occurred to those builders of mud huts but could prove invaluable in today’s world demanding complex projects: 3D models of masonry buildings to advance the art of BIM for masonry.
Post-bid commercial software modeling programs do exist to assist in the ordering and installation of architectural masonry products. The models help the project team understand the products, order them accurately, resolve design issues related to CMU, layout bond patterns, stage complex orders, and increase productivity in the field. The software also enables practitioners to troubleshoot unusual design conditions such as an atypical bond pattern, bullnoses, score patterns, multiple textures, cove bases, arches, and radius walls.
The most successful technologies build models one unit at a time, as is done in the field—an approach that allows effective handling of the complexity of glazed CMU, ground face CMU, stone veneer, or other types of pre-finished masonry units.
Coded models facilitate an understanding of how precisely to build difficult conditions, with 3D layout drawings showing all conditions in the model to increase productivity in the field. “The take off detail is invaluable of course,” says Rick Riley of Hoffman Cortes Masonry, about this type of model. “The shop drawings save time and material in the field. They are like having a set of instructions on the wall. The foreman can give a copy to the b’layers on the wall and not worry about what is being set.”
It is important to point out, however, that the complexity of this type of quality modeling is primarily a post-bid activity. Design time masonry modeling is still in development.
The Future of Masonry: BIM-M
Up to today, masonry has not been included in BIM software due to the sheer complexity of the material. It is a problem of managing the large number of units possible in a commercial masonry project. A block job may have several hundred thousand units and a large brick job can have more than a million units.
BIM-M, or BIM for Masonry, is in the works, with several funding organizations blazing the trail. Already they have completed a roadmap and are now working on realizing their vision, all with the help of industry individuals including masonry contractors, material suppliers, structural engineers, architects, and general contractors. Their rationale: If masonry is not included in BIM software as steel and precast concrete are, masonry may appear to be difficult to work with, and find itself in a bad position competitively.
They are already well on their way to compiling a digital library of masonry units and accessories so that in the near future software vendors will be able to integrate more masonry capabilities in their products and, ultimately, implement new software for the masonry industry.
A first-generation BIM(-M) software for masonry is anticipated sometime soon, with industry watchers maintaining it will revolutionize the way masonry buildings are designed, constructed, and maintained. To fully understand the implications of this leap forward and what it means for the future of masonry and construction in general, download our extensive guide to BIM in Masonry.
