Cherokee Brick: products and EPD coverage
Cherokee Brick is a heritage clay‑brick maker with deep Southeastern roots and a broad color library. The portfolio is attractive and familiar to specifiers. What’s less clear to the market today is how fully those bricks are backed by Environmental Product Declarations, which more projects now prefer under LEED v5 and owner policies.
Who they are
Founded in 1877, Cherokee Brick manufactures clay face brick from plants in Macon, Georgia and Jackson, Mississippi. The company also operates a block facility in East Dublin, Georgia. Production capacity is significant, with an in‑house claim of up to 350 million bricks annually (Cherokee Brick, 2025).
What they sell
Cherokee is a pure play in masonry. The core is clay face brick across Classic, Handcrafted, Heritage and architectural collections. A dedicated block plant supplies concrete masonry units to regional customers. The brick catalog spans more than 100 color and texture varieties, with popular lines like Old Savannah, Magnolia, Providence and Chicago Used appearing in residential and light commercial work (Cherokee Brick, 2025).
Translation for product managers. Expect product counts in the hundreds when you break colors by size and finish. The day‑to‑day spec experience feels like a focused brand with broad aesthetic range rather than a sprawling multi‑material conglomerate.
EPDs: what we could verify today
As of December 19, 2025, we did not find any publicly listed product‑specific EPDs for Cherokee Brick in major operator registries. That does not mean they cannot be produced quickly. It does mean project teams may default to conservative assumptions when comparing Cherokee against bricks that do show an EPD.
The industry baseline to beat
The Brick Industry Association released a new Industry Average EPD in 2025 covering clay masonry products cradle‑to‑grave. It cites a 150‑year reference service life and data coverage of 39.3% of 2023 production from 29 facilities, which helps teams document credit pathways under LEED v5 materials requirements (BIA, 2025) (BIA, 2025). Industry averages count, yet they rarely carry the same weight with carbon‑targeted projects as product‑specific Type III, externally verified EPDs.
What LEED v5 signals to buyers
USGBC members ratified LEED v5 on March 28, 2025. Materials credits continue to reward verified transparency documents, and owners are using those cues in procurement playbooks even when certification isn’t pursued (USGBC, 2025) (USGBC, 2025). In practice, a brick with a product‑specific EPD keeps you in the running more often, because teams avoid default penalties from conservative embodied‑carbon assumptions.
A likely bestseller without an EPD today
Old Savannah appears frequently across Cherokee’s marketing and dealer galleries as a go‑to tumbled look. If a project explicitly asks for product‑specific EPDs, a similar aesthetic from a competitor that carries one could win the slot. In clay brick, the current market leans on the BIA industry average rather than product‑specific documents, so the opportunity is wide open for any maker to publish SKU‑level EPDs and own that conversation.
Adjacent signal from CMU
Masonry peers have moved faster on block. The Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association published a 2024 industry‑average EPD for CMU based on data from 35 producers, verified by ASTM. That gives block buyers an easy transparency path today (CMHA, 2024) (CMHA, 2024). Branded, plant‑specific EPDs then become the differentiator. The same playbook is available for clay brick.
Competitive set on most bids
Expect to see Glen‑Gery, General Shale, Acme Brick, Pine Hall, Triangle Brick and The Belden Brick Company in the same spec conversations. These brands offer overlapping colorways, thin options, and structural sizes for education, healthcare, office and mixed‑use work. Several promote industry‑average EPDs today, and a minority have issued product‑specific documents by plant or blend. Coverage is uneven, which is exactly why early movers stand out.
What to do next if you run this portfolio
Start with a quick pass that covers the highest‑velocity blends by plant. One year of utility, fuel and throughput data is usually enough to model a high‑quality, third‑party verified EPD for each selected SKU family. Sequence the long tail later. Keep the PCR choice aligned with what specifiers see most often in competing submittals, so reviewers don’t have to guess.
Why this matters commercially
When projects track embodied carbon, products without an EPD face a handicap. Teams fall back to industry averages or generic factors and tack on conservative buffers. That makes it harder to win on aesthetics alone. An EPD doesn’t just check a box. It preserves pricing power and keeps you from being swapped late in design because a competing brick came with the paperwork.
Sustainability notes worth sharing
Cherokee highlights methane capture from a local landfill to fuel kilns and claims minimal raw‑material waste in production, which many owners now expect to see in submittals. If you communicate those process wins alongside published EPDs, the story lands stronger. See their overview here: Building a Brighter Future.
Bottom line for specability
Cherokee Brick sells the looks architects want at scale. To match that with spec power, publish a small set of product‑specific, third‑party verified EPDs for top sellers like Old Savannah, Magnolia and Providence, then widen coverage. It’s faster than many teams expect and pays back quickly in won bids. Dont wait for tommorow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Cherokee Brick offer many distinct brick options or just a few core lines?
They market more than 100 color and texture varieties across Classic, Handcrafted, Heritage and architectural collections, which translates to dozens or hundreds of SKUs once sizes are included (Cherokee Brick, 2025).
Is there a current industry‑wide EPD for clay brick that helps on LEED projects?
Yes. The Brick Industry Association’s 2025 Industry Average EPD covers clay masonry cradle‑to‑grave and reports 39.3% production coverage from 29 facilities in 2023 data, including thin brick and pavers (BIA, 2025) (BIA, 2025).
What changed with LEED v5 that affects brick submittals?
LEED v5 was ratified on March 28, 2025 and continues to reward verified transparency documents like EPDs. Owners increasingly reference these requirements in specifications, even outside certification pursuits (USGBC, 2025) (USGBC, 2025).
Is there a CMU precedent Cherokee’s block operation can follow?
Yes. The Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association issued a 2024 industry‑average EPD for CMU, verified by ASTM, based on data from 35 producers. It is a practical starting point for transparency while plant‑specific EPDs are developed (CMHA, 2024) (CMHA, 2024).
About the Author
Walker Ryan is a climate-tech entrepreneur focused on driving industrial decarbonization through better data. As the founder and CEO of Parq, he helps manufacturers generate high-quality, third-party–verified carbon disclosures at scale—accelerating a traditionally slow and expensive process. Before starting Parq, Walker led over $200 million in sustainability-focused investments as VP of Strategy & Growth at ReStream Solutions, following earlier experience in investment banking at Deutsche Bank. He brings a rare mix of capital markets expertise and hands-on sustainability knowledge to tackling the infrastructure of industrial emissions.
