Complete Story
01/29/2026
OMA Annual Meeting Speaker Spotlight
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Steve Blye, AIA, LEED AP, TMS, is the Design and Technical Architect and Industry Development lead for the Masonry Advisory Council of Chicagoland. A seasoned architect with decades of experience, Steve has led design teams on over $2 billion in constructed projects, including healthcare, institutional, municipal, and commercial developments. His background spans master planning, architectural and interior design, and a current specialization in high-performance masonry. With a master's degree from the University of Illinois, Steve’s perspective is shaped by architectural studies in France and living/ working in Saudi Arabia. His career is distinguished by numerous accolades, including the 2018 National Individual Award for Excellence in Healthcare Design and several awards for architectural, interior, healthcare and masonry design. Steve is a member of AIA and The Masonry Society. Outside the office, he is an accomplished watercolor artist and children’s book illustrator who enjoys cycling, restoring his brick vintage house, and spending time with friends and family. |
Join Steve Blye, our Keynote Speaker, during the OMA Annual Meeting on March 5th presenting his topic:
What Architects NEED TO KNOW about CMU: Design Innovation, Safety, Performance, Sustainability & Resilience
Concrete Masonry Units (CMU) drive design innovation by offering human-scaled building blocks in diverse colors and shapes, allowing for extensive structural and sculptural exploration alongside optimal constructability and superior performance in areas like acoustics and thermal mass. CMU construction provides exceptional life safety, security, and resilience due to its robust resistance to a broad range of threats, including fire, high winds, seismic events, impact, and blast. Furthermore, the dry-cast concrete materiality of CMU achieves a superior environmental profile and lowers global warming potential through efficient carbon sequestration and reduced transportation emissions from ubiquitous local manufacturing.
This session is accredited through AIA - Category: Health, Safety & Welfare
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1
CMU DESIGN INNOVATION
How CMU as human-scaled building blocks, derived from natural materials, have become widespread in contemporary designs for their multiple colors, shapes and sizes and their potential for structural and sculptural explorations.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 2
LIFE SAFETY WITH CMU
How CMU construction offers superior safety, security, and resilience due to its exceptional resistance to many threats, including natural disasters (fire, wind, flood, moisture, seismic events) and man-made threats (impact, blast, ballistics).
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 3
CMU DESIGN INNOVATION
How CMU achieves optimal constructability with modularity, detailing & workmanship, component design, and innovative technologies and how CMU achieves superior performance in acoustics, insulation, thermal mass & more.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE 4
CMU RESILIENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
How CMU's dry-cast concrete materiality achieves a superior environmental impact and lower global warming potential (GWP) due to its low cement & porous structure enabling greatly improved carbon sequestration of atmospheric CO2; also, how its ubiquitous availability and local manufacturing dramatically reduce costs & emissions.
