Introduction. When designing a concrete composition depending on the type of structure, cement content is determined taking into account regulatory requirements for the minimum cement content depending on the operating environment. The maximum cement content is limited by economic indicators and technical conditions depending on the methods and conditions of work; the limitation on the amount of heat dissipation is not considered. Research objective: to develop a methodology for accounting for the heat dissipation of cement when assigning its consumption in concrete compositions for massive structures depending on their parameters and construction conditions. Methods. Experimental studies and analysis of regulatory documents and literary data on heat dissipation of cements and concretes. Modeling the parameters of temperature fields and stress fields depending on the class of concrete and its specific heat dissipation using the example of a foundation slab with specified dimensions and parameters of heat exchange with the environment. Results: An approach is proposed to standardizing the value of the maximum heat dissipation of concrete when designing a concrete composition for massive reinforced concrete structures. The article substantiates the position that the value of the level of tensile temperature stresses is less significantly affected by the concrete class than by its specific heat dissipation, since it is the heat dissipation of concrete that forms the temperature field and the temperature difference "center – top". Prevention of the risk of early cracking is associated not with slowing down heat dissipation, but with the value of specific heat dissipation, which determines the parameters of temperature fields, temperature gradients and stresses. The example shows that for a massive flat foundation slab with an accepted permissible level of tensile stresses of 0.67, the value of specific heat dissipation of concrete should not exceed 140 mJ / m3. A principle is proposed for determining the maximum class of concrete for compressive strength depending on the properties of cement. A dependence between the level of tensile temperature-shrinkage stresses and the criterion of thermal crack resistance of Zaporozhets I.D., independent of the concrete class, is revealed.