Side Story: Calculate Your Footprint

Words: Dan KamysOctober 2008

Green Building

A free online calculator helps manufacturers quickly assess their products' carbon output, allowing them to take steps to greener goods. The LCA Calculator service provides a complete product life cycle assessment. It evaluates issues such as types and amounts of material used in production, location of manufacture, materials processing, energy consumption of the product, where and how it is transported, and its final disposition. The service was developed by Industrial Design Consultancy following the results of a survey of designers and engineers working in product development. The survey revealed that half of companies interviewed admitted that the environmental impact of a product was not currently a major design consideration, but 82 percent believed it would be in the future. Although 61 percent indicated awareness of life cycle assessment as a process to calculate a product's carbon footprint, only 29 percent believed their company had every carried one out during design. The calculator provides a detailed report with recommendations for improvement. It is available at http://www.lcacalculator.com. Return to Table of Contents
Masonry Restoration: Why Walls Fail and How We Fix Them
February 2026

Masonry doesn’t crack. Old brick never has issues. Every masonry wall lasts 100 years or more… right? If only that were true. Masonry is one of the most durable building materials ever used, but like all construction, it responds to time, movement, mo

MAP Partner
Read More
MCAA President Jeff Buczkiewicz Testifies To Congress On AI In Masonry
February 2026

On February 11, 2026, Jeff Buczkiewicz, President and CEO of the Mason Contractors Association of America (MCAA), testified before the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. He spoke during a hearing titled “Building an AI-Ready America: Safer Workp

Legislative
Read More
Safe Driving, Safe Job: A Masonry Crew's Guide to Vehicle Safety
February 2026

Every day, we load up our trucks and head out to the next job. Our vehicles are more than just a ride; they're our mobile workshops, carrying the tools and materials we need to build our proj

Mason Hill
Safety Library
Read More
MCAA President and CEO Jeff Buczkiewicz To Testify To Congress On AI
February 2026

On February 11, 2026, Jeff Buczkiewicz, President and CEO of the Mason Contractors Association of America (MCAA), will testify before the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. Representing a $41 billion industry, Buczkiewicz plans to showcase GEORG

Legislative
Read More