School craze: masonry gets high marks for quality, but the industry's promotional efforts need improvement

Masonry Construction, Jan, 2005 by Dianna Granitto

Scrambling to accommodate record-breaking enrollment, school districts across the country are spending an estimated $30 billion a year to build new facilities. At the same time, states' fiscal crises are putting the squeeze on funding for these very important projects.

As districts try to juggle cost-cutting and fast-track construction of new schools, they have moved from using masonry, which is perceived as expensive and slow to put in place, to other materials. Consequently, masonry is losing ground in what should be a prime market.

"Most schools still utilize masonry in the veneer, but that's about it," said Christopher M. Huckabee, CEO of Huckabee Inc., an architectural firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. "Today, 85% of our schools are built with steel stud backup wall systems and sheathing, and 95% use steel studs and drywall for the interior walls." Masonry has seen a steady decline in use since the mid-1980s, noted Huckabee, whose firm is devoted exclusively to school projects (see "An A Niche" sidebar). However, opportunities abound for the masonry industry to recapture this vigorous market.

According to a report in Education Week, $29 billion was spent on school construction in 2003. American School & University magazine sees the market continuing at that pace for the next couple of years. In the long term, while enrollment in K-12 schools is expected to subside from the double-digit annual growth of the past decade, the Department of Education projects a 77% increase over the course of this century. School construction still has a lot of catching up to do.

Tout the upfront advantages

"The challenge for the industry is to help designers and owners understand that masonry construction is not slow or expensive, the two most common misconceptions surrounding the material," explained Huckabee. Masonry's life-cycle advantages--durability and low maintenance--are widely acknowledged, but even the initial cost is more competitive than generally understood by those outside the industry.

A few years back, when a competitor claimed that he could save a client 20% by switching from masonry cavity walls to a pre-engineered metal system, Huckabee performed an analysis of the exterior wall assembly, structure, roofing, doors, and windows. He found that the cost of the envelope came to about 19% of the total price of building a school.

"How could someone save 20% by discontinuing the use of masonry if the entire cost of the envelope was only 19%?" he questioned. "A total masonry wall system is just not a major factor in the overall cost of the building. It's hard to understand why owners would allow inferior systems to go into schools that the taxpaying public expects to last 50 years." Additionally, the building envelope is the predominant source of liability claims for the design professions, Huckabee noted.

The masonry industry needs to take the lead in educating the design community in the proper application of masonry, advised Huckabee. "Contractors and vendors should grab the initiative in providing specs and details," he said. "'Most architects won't ask, but they need contractors" input on what details are labor intensive and what features don't make sense. Common-sense detailing saves money."

The Texas Masonry Council has an active promotion program that reaches out to design students before they launch their careers. "The Council holds 'Masonry Days' at local universities where we demonstrate the product, let the students lay block and brick, and answer questions," said Mike Blackburn, vice president of DMG Masonry, Arlington, Texas., which does about 70% of its business in the school market. The association also distributes its monthly magazine to superintendents in every state school district, Blackburn pointed out.

Time is money

In addition to initial cost concerns, another misconception about masonry is that it takes longer to install than other structural systems. "We believe that masonry can go up just as fast as any other product," said Blackburn. This fact is an important message for school districts under pressure to bring new facilities online quickly.

"It's how you put it all together," Blackburn continued. For example, he explained that there are more product options today to help speed up the building process. Larger brick sizes permit the use of fewer units per square foot. Enhancements in block color and texture make it possible to use single-wall construction without a veneer. These alternatives save labor and material costs and speed up the construction timetable.

Masonry can even hold its own against tilt-up concrete, which is perceived to be a faster technique. "All people see is that they bring the product out to the site and it's up," Blackburn commented about tilt-up panels. "'But they have to form them, pour them, and bring them to the jobsite. I can he competitive if I start building at the same time they start forming the tilt wall."

Huckabee has confirmed that fact by preparing two "side-by-side" bids for the same building--one designed with load bearing masonry and the other with tilt-up panels--for school districts that requested comparative prices. "All 15 contractors bidding the project used the same amount of time regardless of the system selected," said Huckabee. Given the choice between the two bids, in each case the client found the masonry building to be more affordable.