Sustainability is a topic of great interest to designers and others. With today's increased focus on countering the effects of climate change, building products are subject to closer scrutiny and interest in lower-impact materials has grown. A number of masonry producers and researchers have developed innovative masonry units in response to these interests. Innovative units may include those that incorporate or are made from nontraditional masonry materials as well as units with innovative shapes that provide more efficient designs. Examples include “living” masonry units such as bricks made from the interactions between bacteria and calcium-containing materials, block units that do not require mortar, and units that incorporate solar elements. This paper reviews many of these innovative units as well as the notable advances in the raw materials used in unit production. The unique attributes of each are noted and characterized with regard to the sustainable design issue they address. This paper includes the most current information that is available at the time of writing.