Tools & Resources
- What is Embodied Carbon?
- Inflation Reduction Act
- Grant Program
- Tools & Resources Label Program for Low Embodied Carbon Construction Materials
A growing number of federal, state and local governments as well as other large institutional purchasers are adopting policies and practices to reduce embodied carbon linked to construction materials. Likewise, there is an increasing number of resources to support these efforts.
Over the coming months and years, EPA will develop and fund through grants a variety of tools and resources to support the disclosure and reduction of carbon emissions linked to construction materials.
Current informational resources and financial and technical assistance opportunities offered by the federal government related to embodied carbon of construction materials, include (but are not limited to):
General Information about EPA’s Initiatives on Embodied Carbon
- Announcement of EPA Inflation Reduction Act Programs to Fight Climate Change by Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Construction Materials and Products
- Public Webinars
- March 2, 2023 – “Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Construction Materials Prioritization and Environmental Data Improvement” (webinar recording, presentation slides (pdf))
- March 22, 2023 – “Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Grants and Technical Assistance for Environmental Product Declarations” (webinar recording, presentation slides (pdf))
- April 19, 2023 – “Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Carbon Labeling” (webinar recording, presentation slides (pdf))
- Nov. 2 and Nov. 14, 2023 – “Inflation Reduction Act Section 60112 Grant Program, Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Construction Materials and Products” (webinar recording, presentation slides (pdf))
- EPA Interim Determination (pdf) to provide General Services Administration and Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration with guidance on what construction materials and methodologies qualify to be considered for substantially lower embodied carbon Inflation Reduction Act funds.
Federal Leadership on Addressing Embodied Carbon of Construction Materials
- White House Council on Environmental Quality Federal Buy Clean Initiative
- GSA Inflation Reduction Act and Embodied Carbon
- DOT-FHWA Sustainable Pavement Program
- And many others
Financial & Technical Assistance Programs that Address Embodied Carbon of Construction Materials
- EPA ENERGY STAR Industrial Management: Assists manufacturers of all sizes to improve energy efficiency and save money in their operations, including supporting Buy Clean priority materials – asphalt pavement production, cement manufacturing, iron and steel manufacturing, and glass manufacturing.
- EPA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR): Issues an annual solicitation for proposals from U.S. small businesses to develop and commercialize innovative technologies that address the Agency's mission program (including lower embodied carbon construction materials and products).
- DOD Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP): Promote partnerships and collaboration among academia, industry, the Military Services and other Federal Agencies from basic and applied research to field demonstration and validation.
- DOD Army Corps of Engineers Engineering Research & Development Center (ERDC) Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL): Works with stakeholders to assess and develop technologies – including lower-carbon construction materials – for installations and bases.
- DOD Sustainable Technology Evaluation and Demonstration (STED) Program: An informational repository for results, success stories, technical data, and lessons learned from sustainable technology and product demonstrations conducted at DOD installations.
- DOE Better Plants: Works with leading U.S. manufacturers to set energy, water, waste and carbon reduction goals.
- DOE Industrial Demonstrations Program: Funds projects that focus on the highest emitting and hardest to abate industries where decarbonization technologies can have the greatest impact (including many construction materials).
- DOE Industrial Heat Shot™: Aims to reduce the cost, energy use and carbon emissions associated with the heat used for industrial processes.
- DOE Industrial Assessment Center (IAC): IAC programs at select universities assist small- and medium-sized manufacturers in reducing their carbon emissions and lowering energy costs, while training the next generation of energy-efficiency workers. Additional funding has enabled the expansion of this program to include commercial building assessments.
- DOE Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains: Manages programs that develop clean domestic manufacturing and workforce capabilities, with an emphasis on opportunities for small and medium enterprises and communities in energy transition.
- GSA Green Proving Ground: Provides lessons learned from the evaluation of innovative building technologies in GSA’s real estate portfolio, and the cost savings opportunities for improvements in operational energy efficiency.
- DOT Federal Highways Administration Low-Carbon Transportation Materials Grants: Reimburses or provide incentives for the use of construction materials and products that have substantially lower embodied carbon.
- USDA Forest Service-supported Woodworks: An industry/government partnership that provides guidance for commercial and multi-family wood building design, engineering, and construction, including free one-on-one project assistance, continuing education, design tools, and on-demand resources.
- USDA Wood Innovations Grant: Supports climate-smart mass timber construction and expands wood markets.
Federal Financial & Technical Assistance Programs that Support Measurement of Embodied Carbon and Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Development
- DOT Federal Highways Administration FHWA Climate Challenge - Quantifying Emissions of Sustainable Pavements: Provides funding and technical assistance to quantify GHG emissions from materials and practices for the design, construction, and maintenance of pavements.
- DOT Federal Highways Administration Sustainable Pavement Program: Hosts working groups, webinars, tools and technical resources and funding support for assessing sustainable pavements, conducting life cycle analysis calculations, and disclosing EPDs.
- DOT Federal Highways Administration Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for Sustainable Project Delivery: Reporting tool to help States support procurement decisions and quantify embodied carbon reductions using life cycle assessments (LCA) for sustainable pavements.
- Federal LCA Commons: A central point of access to a collection of data repositories for use in Life Cycle Assessment, the Federal LCA Commons aims to, “Advance Federal LCA data, research, and information systems by leveraging multi-agency resources and expertise; improve consistency in LCA methods developed by each agency to develop LCA results for decision-making and public disclosure; enhance public and agency access to Federal LCA data in a standardized searchable format from a common repository.
- GSA SF Tool Sustainability Facilities Tool: Provides tools to conduct life cycle assessment of buildings with an increasing focus on embodied carbon.
- U.S. Inventory of U.S. GHG Emissions and Sinks - Annual EPA report that tracks U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks by source, economic sector and greenhouse gas going back to 1990.
Financial & Technical Assistance Programs that Support Federal Procurement of Lower Embodied Carbon Construction Materials and Products
- ENERGY STAR Buy Clean Procurement on Low Carbon Construction Materials: Guidance on how to incorporate ENERGY STAR Industrial scores into procurement practices.
- EPA Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines for Construction Products: Recycled-content recommendations for various construction materials and products.
- EPA Best Practices for Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling Construction and Demolition Materials: Guidance on the use of salvage and reused construction materials.
- GSA SF Tool Green Procurement Compilation: Green purchasing resource designed for federal contracting personnel and program managers, including construction materials.