Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $160 Million in Grants to Support Clean U.S. Manufacturing of Steel and Other Construction Materials
WASHINGTON – Today, July 16, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the selection of 38 grant recipients across the country, totaling nearly $160 million, to support efforts to report and reduce climate pollution from the manufacturing of construction materials and products. EPA estimates that the construction materials used in buildings and other built infrastructure account for more than 15% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.
Billions of tons of concrete, asphalt, steel, glass and other construction materials and products are required to build, maintain and operate our country’s buildings and infrastructure. The U.S. leads the world in the production of clean construction materials, and these transformative awards from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act—the largest climate investment in history—will reduce climate pollution by helping businesses measure the carbon emissions associated with extracting, transporting and manufacturing their products.
The grants will support the Biden-Harris Administration’s Federal Buy Clean Initiative, which leverages the U.S. government’s sway as the largest purchaser on Earth to catalyze demand for clean construction materials used in federal buildings, highways, and infrastructure projects. The grants will be awarded to businesses, universities and nonprofit organizations serving all 50 states and will help disclose the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing concrete, asphalt, glass, steel, wood and other materials.
“As America continues to build more and upgrade our nation’s infrastructure under President Biden’s leadership, cleaner construction materials like concrete and steel are increasingly essential for the nation’s prosperity,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “These historic investments will expand market access for a new generation of more climate-friendly construction materials, and further grow American jobs that are paving the way to the clean energy economy.”
“President Biden and Vice President Harris are leading the most ambitious climate and clean energy agenda in U.S. history and building a sustainable future using safer materials for the environment and for communities,” said White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory. “By leveraging the U.S. Government’s purchasing power, President Biden is ensuring that American manufacturing is positioned to compete and lead globally, while catalyzing markets and accelerating innovation across the country.”
Deputy EPA Administrator Janet McCabe announced the grant selections today at Superior Paving, an asphalt facility in Chantilly, Virginia, alongside Richard Willis, PhD, Vice President for Engineering, Research, & Technology at the National Asphalt Pavement Association, and additional federal and industry leaders.
Ranging from $250,000 to $10 million, the grants will help businesses develop robust, high-quality environmental product declarations (EPDs), which show environmental impacts across the life of a product and can catalyze more sustainable purchasing decisions by allowing buyers to compare products. Investments in data and tools will make high-quality EPDs available for 14 material categories, which include both new and salvaged or reused materials. These efforts will help standardize and expand the market for construction products with lower greenhouse gas emissions. They will make it easier for federal, state and local governments and other institutional buyers to ensure the construction projects they fund use more climate-friendly products and materials.
The grant selections include a diverse range of projects to help measure and ultimately reduce greenhouse gases. For example:
A company in Georgia will receive funding to report the emissions savings gained by switching from higher-carbon components in cement and concrete to recycled and innovative materials.
A project in Maine will help a company that manufactures insulation made from wood fiber track the quantity of energy and raw materials used in each of their processes.
A project in Illinois will help a nonprofit organization that sells reused architectural materials measure how much the salvaged materials reduce carbon emissions.
A large insulation manufacturer based in Indiana will use grant funding to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions for their full product portfolio.
A major university will use grant funds to research and document carbon emissions savings from reusing structural steel.
Several projects will support workforce development to grow the number of sustainable construction professionals available to support these important efforts.
EPA is also announcing expanded technical assistance opportunities to businesses, the federal government and other organizations across America. EPA will initially offer EPD development support and direct businesses to resources to help them measure and reduce the embodied carbon associated with their materials, such as those provided by the ENERGY STAR Industrial program. Federal agencies and their suppliers will be able to compare the climate impact of various materials to drive near-term greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Robust EPD data will be further strengthened by a new label program under development that will identify low carbon construction materials for the growing Buy Clean marketplace.
Together, the grants and technical assistance programs will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support American jobs. These programs are made possible by the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which creates significant investments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extraction, transport and manufacturing of construction materials and products. In support of the Federal Buy Clean Initiative, the Inflation Reduction Act also provides more than $2 billion to the General Services Administration to use low embodied carbon materials in the construction and renovation of federal buildings and $2 billion to the Federal Highway Administration to incentivize or reimburse the use of low embodied carbon construction materials in certain transportation projects.
Selections are contingent upon completion of legal and administrative requirements and grantees are tentatively expected to receive their funding in late summer.
Read summaries of proposed grantee projects.
Organizations selected for funding:
Aluminum Extruders Council
American Center for Life Cycle Assessment
American Wood Council
Atlas Roofing Corporation
Belter Tech, Inc.
Building Materials Re-Use Association
Collaborative Composite Solutions Corporation
Cornell University
EIFS Industry Members Association
Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse
Global Bamboo Technologies, Inc.
GO Lab, Inc.
Heidelberg Materials US, Inc.
Hemp Building Institute
Holcim U.S., Inc.
International Code Council
International Living Future Institute
Knauf Insulation, Inc.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
National Asphalt Pavement Association
National Glass Association
National Ready-Mixed Concrete Association
National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association
Oklahoma State University
Oldcastle Infrastructure, Inc.
Pioneer Millworks
Portland Cement Association
Prestressed Concrete Institute
Rochester Institute of Technology
Scrap Tire Research and Education Foundation
The Research Foundation for the State University of New York
The University of Texas at Austin
Tile Council of North America
University of Kentucky Research Foundation
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Mississippi
University of Washington
West Virginia University Research Corporation
Learn more about EPA’s Grant Program for Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gases in Construction Materials and Products.
Billions of tons of concrete, asphalt, steel, glass and other construction materials and products are required to build, maintain and operate our country’s buildings and infrastructure. The U.S. leads the world in the production of clean construction materials, and these transformative awards from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act—the largest climate investment in history—will reduce climate pollution by helping businesses measure the carbon emissions associated with extracting, transporting and manufacturing their products.
The grants will support the Biden-Harris Administration’s Federal Buy Clean Initiative, which leverages the U.S. government’s sway as the largest purchaser on Earth to catalyze demand for clean construction materials used in federal buildings, highways, and infrastructure projects. The grants will be awarded to businesses, universities and nonprofit organizations serving all 50 states and will help disclose the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing concrete, asphalt, glass, steel, wood and other materials.
“As America continues to build more and upgrade our nation’s infrastructure under President Biden’s leadership, cleaner construction materials like concrete and steel are increasingly essential for the nation’s prosperity,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “These historic investments will expand market access for a new generation of more climate-friendly construction materials, and further grow American jobs that are paving the way to the clean energy economy.”
“President Biden and Vice President Harris are leading the most ambitious climate and clean energy agenda in U.S. history and building a sustainable future using safer materials for the environment and for communities,” said White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory. “By leveraging the U.S. Government’s purchasing power, President Biden is ensuring that American manufacturing is positioned to compete and lead globally, while catalyzing markets and accelerating innovation across the country.”
Deputy EPA Administrator Janet McCabe announced the grant selections today at Superior Paving, an asphalt facility in Chantilly, Virginia, alongside Richard Willis, PhD, Vice President for Engineering, Research, & Technology at the National Asphalt Pavement Association, and additional federal and industry leaders.
Ranging from $250,000 to $10 million, the grants will help businesses develop robust, high-quality environmental product declarations (EPDs), which show environmental impacts across the life of a product and can catalyze more sustainable purchasing decisions by allowing buyers to compare products. Investments in data and tools will make high-quality EPDs available for 14 material categories, which include both new and salvaged or reused materials. These efforts will help standardize and expand the market for construction products with lower greenhouse gas emissions. They will make it easier for federal, state and local governments and other institutional buyers to ensure the construction projects they fund use more climate-friendly products and materials.
The grant selections include a diverse range of projects to help measure and ultimately reduce greenhouse gases. For example:
A company in Georgia will receive funding to report the emissions savings gained by switching from higher-carbon components in cement and concrete to recycled and innovative materials.
A project in Maine will help a company that manufactures insulation made from wood fiber track the quantity of energy and raw materials used in each of their processes.
A project in Illinois will help a nonprofit organization that sells reused architectural materials measure how much the salvaged materials reduce carbon emissions.
A large insulation manufacturer based in Indiana will use grant funding to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions for their full product portfolio.
A major university will use grant funds to research and document carbon emissions savings from reusing structural steel.
Several projects will support workforce development to grow the number of sustainable construction professionals available to support these important efforts.
EPA is also announcing expanded technical assistance opportunities to businesses, the federal government and other organizations across America. EPA will initially offer EPD development support and direct businesses to resources to help them measure and reduce the embodied carbon associated with their materials, such as those provided by the ENERGY STAR Industrial program. Federal agencies and their suppliers will be able to compare the climate impact of various materials to drive near-term greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Robust EPD data will be further strengthened by a new label program under development that will identify low carbon construction materials for the growing Buy Clean marketplace.
Together, the grants and technical assistance programs will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support American jobs. These programs are made possible by the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which creates significant investments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extraction, transport and manufacturing of construction materials and products. In support of the Federal Buy Clean Initiative, the Inflation Reduction Act also provides more than $2 billion to the General Services Administration to use low embodied carbon materials in the construction and renovation of federal buildings and $2 billion to the Federal Highway Administration to incentivize or reimburse the use of low embodied carbon construction materials in certain transportation projects.
Selections are contingent upon completion of legal and administrative requirements and grantees are tentatively expected to receive their funding in late summer.
Read summaries of proposed grantee projects.
Organizations selected for funding:
Aluminum Extruders Council
American Center for Life Cycle Assessment
American Wood Council
Atlas Roofing Corporation
Belter Tech, Inc.
Building Materials Re-Use Association
Collaborative Composite Solutions Corporation
Cornell University
EIFS Industry Members Association
Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse
Global Bamboo Technologies, Inc.
GO Lab, Inc.
Heidelberg Materials US, Inc.
Hemp Building Institute
Holcim U.S., Inc.
International Code Council
International Living Future Institute
Knauf Insulation, Inc.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
National Asphalt Pavement Association
National Glass Association
National Ready-Mixed Concrete Association
National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association
Oklahoma State University
Oldcastle Infrastructure, Inc.
Pioneer Millworks
Portland Cement Association
Prestressed Concrete Institute
Rochester Institute of Technology
Scrap Tire Research and Education Foundation
The Research Foundation for the State University of New York
The University of Texas at Austin
Tile Council of North America
University of Kentucky Research Foundation
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Mississippi
University of Washington
West Virginia University Research Corporation
Learn more about EPA’s Grant Program for Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gases in Construction Materials and Products.
EPA Announces Texas Student Wins President’s Environmental Youth Award
DALLAS, TEXAS (July 16, 2024) – The Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 is pleased to announce the 2024 winner of the President’s Environmental Youth Award, Daniel Thomas of Colleyville, Texas. In 2019, Daniel founded an organization called LitterScout with the goal of addressing local environmental challenges with a specific goal of addressing pollution in waterways.
“We are happy to see the next generation take such an interest in preserving our environment,” said Regional Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance. “Daniel has taken great strides in preserving our waterways from pollution and has created initiatives that shows a strong skill for leadership and environmental innovation. We congratulate Daniel on his accomplishments and look forward to seeing his future projects.”
Through LitterScout, Daniel managed to accomplish significant milestones such as organizing monthly cleanups in three Texas cities: Euless, Colleyville & Grapevine. Daniel created 36 Youtube videos on environment awareness and issues, produced 36 podcasts, wrote 36 blog posts, and published a book called Sustainable Living: Environmental Tips for Kids. Additionally, Daniel created an app which functions as a way to report littering along trails and waterways. Since the development of Litterscout, the organization has prevented 16,703 lbs. of trash from waterways and 4903 lbs. of recyclables from landfills. In recognition for Daniel’s efforts the City of Euless awarded him the Youth Volunteer of the Award in 2022 and Governor Abbott awarded him the Texas Environmental Excellence Award in 2023, the state’s highest environmental award.
Daniel is one of several students across the country who have received this prestigious award. The applicants who were chosen as the winners demonstrated the ability to safeguard natural resources and to engage their communities in environmental awareness and protection. The EPA encourages young people across the nation to apply for this award to showcase the efforts they’ve taken in their communities. For additional information on PEYA and how to apply please visit our webpage.
Background
Since the establishment of the original Environmental Education Act of 1970, The President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) Program has recognized outstanding community-level environmental projects by K-12 youth for almost 50 years. PEYA continues to promote awareness of natural resources and encourages positive community involvement. Each year, PEYA honors a wide-variety of local-level projects developed by students, school classes, summer camp attendees and youth organizations to promote engagement in environmental stewardship and protection. Students in all 50 states and U.S. territories are invited to participate in the program.
Connect with the Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), or visit our homepage.
“We are happy to see the next generation take such an interest in preserving our environment,” said Regional Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance. “Daniel has taken great strides in preserving our waterways from pollution and has created initiatives that shows a strong skill for leadership and environmental innovation. We congratulate Daniel on his accomplishments and look forward to seeing his future projects.”
Through LitterScout, Daniel managed to accomplish significant milestones such as organizing monthly cleanups in three Texas cities: Euless, Colleyville & Grapevine. Daniel created 36 Youtube videos on environment awareness and issues, produced 36 podcasts, wrote 36 blog posts, and published a book called Sustainable Living: Environmental Tips for Kids. Additionally, Daniel created an app which functions as a way to report littering along trails and waterways. Since the development of Litterscout, the organization has prevented 16,703 lbs. of trash from waterways and 4903 lbs. of recyclables from landfills. In recognition for Daniel’s efforts the City of Euless awarded him the Youth Volunteer of the Award in 2022 and Governor Abbott awarded him the Texas Environmental Excellence Award in 2023, the state’s highest environmental award.
Daniel is one of several students across the country who have received this prestigious award. The applicants who were chosen as the winners demonstrated the ability to safeguard natural resources and to engage their communities in environmental awareness and protection. The EPA encourages young people across the nation to apply for this award to showcase the efforts they’ve taken in their communities. For additional information on PEYA and how to apply please visit our webpage.
Background
Since the establishment of the original Environmental Education Act of 1970, The President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) Program has recognized outstanding community-level environmental projects by K-12 youth for almost 50 years. PEYA continues to promote awareness of natural resources and encourages positive community involvement. Each year, PEYA honors a wide-variety of local-level projects developed by students, school classes, summer camp attendees and youth organizations to promote engagement in environmental stewardship and protection. Students in all 50 states and U.S. territories are invited to participate in the program.
Connect with the Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), or visit our homepage.
EPA Region 6 Announces Oklahoma Teacher as Winner of the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators
DALLAS, TEXAS (July 16, 2024) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 is pleased to announce the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) winner is Shannon Chatwin from Owasso High School located in Owasso, Oklahoma. Mrs. Chatwin has been an Advanced Placement environmental science teacher for over a decade and stimulates students’ interests in environment education with her various projects and field trips.
“With a decade of experience, Mrs. Chatwin finds creative ways to engage and inspire the next generation of environmental advocates,” said Regional Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance. “I’d like to thank Mrs. Chatwin for making her classroom a place where students learn the importance of protecting and nurturing our environment.”
Mrs. Chatwin integrates a very hands-on approach when it comes to her students. For example, to understand remediation efforts she takes her students to see the Tar Creek Superfund site, one of the largest Superfund sites in the nation. She has also taken her students to tall-grass prairies, wind farms, and alabaster caverns, and she has even hosted trips to Costa Rica and China. Mrs. Chatwin also ensures her projects during the school year are very hands-on and involve complex environmental science lessons. During one of Mrs. Chatwin’s projects, students were asked to identify 20 different leaves and insects native to Oklahoma. In a separate project, students were asked to create ecology towers to understand the impact of contaminant introduction. Additionally, Mrs. Chatwin sponsors multiple afterschool clubs with one of them being a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) club. and works with an organization called Local Environmental Action Demanded that teaches students about water quality and biodiversity.
The PIAEE recognizes outstanding kindergarten through grade 12 teachers who employ innovative approaches to environmental education and use the environment as a context for learning for their students. Since the passage of the 1990 National Environmental Education Act, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), administers this award to nationally honor, support, and encourage educators who incorporate environmental education in their classrooms and teaching methods.
Connect with the Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), or visit our homepage.
“With a decade of experience, Mrs. Chatwin finds creative ways to engage and inspire the next generation of environmental advocates,” said Regional Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance. “I’d like to thank Mrs. Chatwin for making her classroom a place where students learn the importance of protecting and nurturing our environment.”
Mrs. Chatwin integrates a very hands-on approach when it comes to her students. For example, to understand remediation efforts she takes her students to see the Tar Creek Superfund site, one of the largest Superfund sites in the nation. She has also taken her students to tall-grass prairies, wind farms, and alabaster caverns, and she has even hosted trips to Costa Rica and China. Mrs. Chatwin also ensures her projects during the school year are very hands-on and involve complex environmental science lessons. During one of Mrs. Chatwin’s projects, students were asked to identify 20 different leaves and insects native to Oklahoma. In a separate project, students were asked to create ecology towers to understand the impact of contaminant introduction. Additionally, Mrs. Chatwin sponsors multiple afterschool clubs with one of them being a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) club. and works with an organization called Local Environmental Action Demanded that teaches students about water quality and biodiversity.
The PIAEE recognizes outstanding kindergarten through grade 12 teachers who employ innovative approaches to environmental education and use the environment as a context for learning for their students. Since the passage of the 1990 National Environmental Education Act, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), administers this award to nationally honor, support, and encourage educators who incorporate environmental education in their classrooms and teaching methods.
Connect with the Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), or visit our homepage.
EPA Announces Over $1.3M to Support Clean U.S. Manufacturing of Construction Materials Across Missouri
LENEXA, KAN. (JULY 16, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the selection of Holcim U.S. Inc. in Missouri to receive $1,371,814 in grants to support efforts to report and reduce climate pollution from the manufacturing of construction materials. EPA estimates that the construction materials used in buildings and other built infrastructure account for over 15% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.
Billions of tons of concrete, asphalt, steel, glass, and other construction materials and products are required to build, maintain, and operate our country’s buildings and infrastructure. The U.S. leads the world in the production of clean construction materials, and these transformative awards from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act – the largest climate investment in history – will reduce climate pollution by helping businesses measure the carbon emissions associated with extracting, transporting, and manufacturing their products.
The grants will support the Biden-Harris administration’s Federal Buy Clean Initiative, which leverages the U.S. government’s sway as the largest purchaser on Earth to catalyze demand for clean construction materials used in federal buildings, highways, and infrastructure projects. The grants will be awarded to businesses, universities, and nonprofit organizations serving all 50 states, and will help disclose the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing concrete, asphalt, glass, steel, wood, and other materials.
In the U.S., Holcim is the largest cement manufacturer and top five producer of aggregates and ready-mix concrete, with approximately 7,000 employees. Holcim’s Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Accelerator Project will increase the transparency of data on environmental emissions associated with the production of construction materials; generate robust EPDs with a diversity of manufacturers from across the U.S.; and drive market demand for lower carbon construction materials. These projects represent the three construction materials in Holcim’s portfolio: cement, asphalt, and ultra-high-performance concrete.
“As America continues to build more and upgrade our nation’s infrastructure under President Biden’s leadership, cleaner construction materials like concrete and steel are increasingly essential for the nation’s prosperity,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “These historic investments will expand market access for a new generation of more climate-friendly construction materials, and further grow American jobs that are paving the way to the clean energy economy.”
“We commend Holcim for their work in advancing sustainable practices to reduce carbon emissions here in the Heartland and across our nation,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister. “Their innovative approach, supported by this grant, advances climate-friendly practices and sustainability in one of our nation’s most important industries.”
The grants will help businesses develop robust, high-quality EPDs, which show environmental impacts across the life of a product and can catalyze more sustainable purchasing decisions by allowing buyers to compare. Investments in data and tools will make high-quality EPDs available for 14 material categories, which include both new and salvaged or reused materials. These efforts will help standardize and expand the market for construction products with lower greenhouse gas emissions. They will make it easier for federal, state, and local governments and other institutional buyers to ensure that the construction projects they fund use more climate-friendly products and materials.
EPA is also announcing expanded technical assistance opportunities to businesses, the federal government, and other organizations across America. EPA will initially offer EPD development support and direct businesses to resources to help them measure and reduce the embodied carbon associated with their materials, such as those provided by the ENERGY STAR Industrial program. Federal agencies and their suppliers will be able to compare the climate impact of various materials to drive near-term greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Robust EPD data will be further strengthened by a new labeling program under development that will identify low-carbon construction materials for the growing Buy Clean marketplace.
Together, the grants and technical assistance programs will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support American jobs. These programs are made possible by the Biden-Harris administration’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which creates significant investments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extraction, transport, and manufacturing of construction materials and products. The Inflation Reduction Act also provides over $2 billion to the General Services Administration to use low embodied carbon materials in the construction and renovation of federal buildings, and $2 billion to the Federal Highway Administration to incentivize or reimburse the use of low embodied carbon construction materials in certain transportation projects.
Selections are contingent upon completion of legal and administrative requirements and grantees are tentatively expected to receive their funding in late summer.
Learn more about EPA’s Grant Program for Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gases in Construction Materials and Products.
# # #
Learn more about EPA Region 7
View all Region 7 news releases
Connect with EPA Region 7 on Facebook and Instagram
Follow us on X: @EPARegion7
Billions of tons of concrete, asphalt, steel, glass, and other construction materials and products are required to build, maintain, and operate our country’s buildings and infrastructure. The U.S. leads the world in the production of clean construction materials, and these transformative awards from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act – the largest climate investment in history – will reduce climate pollution by helping businesses measure the carbon emissions associated with extracting, transporting, and manufacturing their products.
The grants will support the Biden-Harris administration’s Federal Buy Clean Initiative, which leverages the U.S. government’s sway as the largest purchaser on Earth to catalyze demand for clean construction materials used in federal buildings, highways, and infrastructure projects. The grants will be awarded to businesses, universities, and nonprofit organizations serving all 50 states, and will help disclose the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing concrete, asphalt, glass, steel, wood, and other materials.
In the U.S., Holcim is the largest cement manufacturer and top five producer of aggregates and ready-mix concrete, with approximately 7,000 employees. Holcim’s Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Accelerator Project will increase the transparency of data on environmental emissions associated with the production of construction materials; generate robust EPDs with a diversity of manufacturers from across the U.S.; and drive market demand for lower carbon construction materials. These projects represent the three construction materials in Holcim’s portfolio: cement, asphalt, and ultra-high-performance concrete.
“As America continues to build more and upgrade our nation’s infrastructure under President Biden’s leadership, cleaner construction materials like concrete and steel are increasingly essential for the nation’s prosperity,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “These historic investments will expand market access for a new generation of more climate-friendly construction materials, and further grow American jobs that are paving the way to the clean energy economy.”
“We commend Holcim for their work in advancing sustainable practices to reduce carbon emissions here in the Heartland and across our nation,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister. “Their innovative approach, supported by this grant, advances climate-friendly practices and sustainability in one of our nation’s most important industries.”
The grants will help businesses develop robust, high-quality EPDs, which show environmental impacts across the life of a product and can catalyze more sustainable purchasing decisions by allowing buyers to compare. Investments in data and tools will make high-quality EPDs available for 14 material categories, which include both new and salvaged or reused materials. These efforts will help standardize and expand the market for construction products with lower greenhouse gas emissions. They will make it easier for federal, state, and local governments and other institutional buyers to ensure that the construction projects they fund use more climate-friendly products and materials.
EPA is also announcing expanded technical assistance opportunities to businesses, the federal government, and other organizations across America. EPA will initially offer EPD development support and direct businesses to resources to help them measure and reduce the embodied carbon associated with their materials, such as those provided by the ENERGY STAR Industrial program. Federal agencies and their suppliers will be able to compare the climate impact of various materials to drive near-term greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Robust EPD data will be further strengthened by a new labeling program under development that will identify low-carbon construction materials for the growing Buy Clean marketplace.
Together, the grants and technical assistance programs will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support American jobs. These programs are made possible by the Biden-Harris administration’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which creates significant investments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extraction, transport, and manufacturing of construction materials and products. The Inflation Reduction Act also provides over $2 billion to the General Services Administration to use low embodied carbon materials in the construction and renovation of federal buildings, and $2 billion to the Federal Highway Administration to incentivize or reimburse the use of low embodied carbon construction materials in certain transportation projects.
Selections are contingent upon completion of legal and administrative requirements and grantees are tentatively expected to receive their funding in late summer.
Learn more about EPA’s Grant Program for Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gases in Construction Materials and Products.
# # #
Learn more about EPA Region 7
View all Region 7 news releases
Connect with EPA Region 7 on Facebook and Instagram
Follow us on X: @EPARegion7
Biden-Harris Administration announces over $18 million to support clean U.S. manufacturing of construction materials across New England
BOSTON (JULY 16, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the selection of four recipients working in New England that will receive more than $18 million in grants to support efforts in reporting and reducing climate pollution from the manufacturing of construction materials. This is part of the nearly $160 million in grants announced nationally today. EPA estimates that the construction materials used in buildings and other built infrastructure account for more than 15 percent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.
Billions of tons of concrete, asphalt, steel, glass and other construction materials and products are required to build, maintain, and operate our country's buildings and infrastructure. The United States leads the world in the production of clean construction materials, and these transformative awards from President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act—the largest climate investment in history—will reduce climate pollution by helping businesses measure the carbon emissions associated with extracting, transporting, and manufacturing their products.
The grants will support the Biden-Harris Administration's Federal Buy Clean Initiative, which leverages the U.S. Government's sway as the largest purchaser on Earth, to catalyze demand for clean construction materials used in federal buildings, highways, and infrastructure projects. The grants will be awarded to businesses, universities, and nonprofit organizations serving all 50 states and will help disclose the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing concrete, asphalt, glass, steel, wood, and other materials.
"As America continues to build more and upgrade our nation's infrastructure under President Biden's leadership, cleaner construction materials like concrete and steel are increasingly essential for the nation's prosperity," said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. "These historic investments will expand market access for a new generation of more climate-friendly construction materials, and further grow American jobs that are paving the way to the clean energy economy."
"Jobs, workforce development, a healthier environment—by supporting the development and use of cleaner construction materials, we are improving the quality of life in our communities, and at the same time combatting climate change," said Regional Administrator David W. Cash. "The innovative work being done by GO Lab in Maine means that families can insulate their homes with sustainable, non-toxic materials that also help fight climate change. And the efforts of the University of Massachusetts Amherst will ensure that the steel used in our buildings is produced with less environmental impact. These projects are paving the way for a more sustainable future, ensuring that our children and grandchildren can thrive in a cleaner and healthier New England."
The following organizations with project activities in New England have been selected:
GO Lab, Inc. (dba TimberHP), based in Maine, has been selected to receive $418,420.
The carbon footprint of insulation products is second only to concrete due to the materials used in its manufacture and the energy required for its production. GO Lab, Inc. (dba TimberHP), a construction insulation manufacturer, is the first in North America to produce insulation board, batt, and loose fill insulation from wood fiber. Cost-competitive, renewable, recyclable, nontoxic and carbon sequestering, insulating wood fiber composites have been manufactured at scale in Europe for over two decades but were not widely available in the United States until TimberHP's facility in Madison, Maine commenced production in 2023.
GO Lab/TimberHP's project focuses on developing accurate and transparent environmental products declarations (EPDs) of scalable, carbon-negative insulation products. TimberHP will install equipment and software that will enable it to comprehensively capture energy and raw material usage data and properly allocate that usage to each production line. The data will be used to support the development and publication of EPDs for each of the company's three product lines over its first five years of production.
University of Massachusetts Amherst has been selected to receive $6,371,426, for project activities in Amherst, Mass.; Chicago, Illinois; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
This project will reduce the environmental impacts of domestic construction activity, steel production, and product manufacturing through increasing the quality, transparency, and geographic coverage of life cycle inventories and resultant EPDs representing steel products. The project will include the development of life cycle inventory and EPD generator tools that can automate production of steel product EPDs, create an EPD repository, and update the steel PCR. The University of Massachusetts Amherst will also provide educational resources to students and design, construction and steel industry professionals. This project seeks to identify deconstruction processes for existing structures, required tests for recovered materials, and required modifications and fabrication data to increase the use of salvaged steel products.
Project partners, including the American Iron and Steel Institute and the American Institute of Steel Construction, will help to transform the EPD landscape of the domestic steel industry. It will improve access to EPD generation for a broader range of manufacturers and fabricators, particularly small businesses, and create a public-facing EPD repository for stakeholders to access high-quality data. Through extensive educational outreach, the initiative will help build a skilled workforce, promoting sustainable practices and setting a new standard for steel product EPDs.
Holcim US, Inc. has been selected to receive $1,371,814, for project activities in Massachusetts, as well as in Nevada, Colorado, Maryland, Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Illinois, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Alabama, South Caroline, Missouri, New York, and New Jersey.
In the U.S., Holcim is the largest cement manufacturer and top five producer in aggregates and ready-mix concrete, with approximately 7,000 employees. Holcim's EPD Accelerator Project will increase the transparency of data on environmental emissions associated with the production of construction materials, generate robust EPDs with a diversity of manufacturers from across the U.S., and drive market demand for lower carbon construction materials. These projects represent the three construction materials in Holcim's portfolio: cement, asphalt and ultra-high-performance concrete.
These projects will support the development, enhanced standardization and transparency, and reporting criteria for EPDs that include measurements of the embodied greenhouse gas emissions of the material or product associated with all relevant stages of production, use and disposal, and conform with international standards for construction materials and products.
Oklahoma State University has been selected to receive $9,990,311, for project activities in New Hampshire, as well as in North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Alabama, Illinois, Oklahoma, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
Oklahoma State University is leading the creation of the National Center for Sustainable Construction Materials to promote low carbon construction materials (LCCMs) and generate robust EPDs for materials such as asphalt, concrete, steel and their additives. In collaboration with 11 universities across the U.S., including the University of Illinois and University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the project will provide extensive training, create educational programs, and design tools and incentives for adopting LCCMs. It also focuses on benchmarking methods, identifying high-impact parameters beyond global warming potential, and integrating EPDs into construction specifications. The Center's efforts include K–12 outreach and workforce development to nurture future professionals in sustainable construction.
Oklahoma State University's project will focus on (1) establishing a national center and EPD centers of excellence at other universities; (2) facilitating training for stakeholders such as engineers, owners, material suppliers and contractors; (3) facilitating the generation of EPDs; (4) establishing a benchmarking approach; (5) identifying high-impact parameters beyond GWP; (6) working with departments of transportation and Tribes to incorporate EPDs into specifications; and (7) performing K–12 outreach and workforce development programs.
Read the summaries of proposed grantee projects (pdf) (231 KB), including those of organizations working nationally.
Ranging from $250,000 to $10 million, the grants will help businesses develop robust, high-quality environmental product declarations (EPDs), which show environmental impacts across the life of a product and can catalyze more sustainable purchasing decisions by allowing buyers to compare products. Investments in data and tools will make high-quality EPDs available for 14 material categories, which include both new and salvaged or reused materials. These efforts will help standardize and expand the market for construction products with lower greenhouse gas emissions. They will make it easier for federal, state and local governments and other institutional buyers to ensure the construction projects they fund use more climate-friendly products and materials.
EPA is also announcing expanded technical assistance opportunities to businesses, the federal government, and other organizations across America. EPA will initially offer EPD development support and direct businesses to resources to help them measure and reduce the embodied carbon associated with their materials, such as those provided by the ENERGY STAR Industrial program. Federal agencies and their suppliers will be able to compare the climate impact of various materials to drive near-term greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Robust EPD data will be further strengthened by a new label program under development that will identify low carbon construction materials for the growing Buy Clean marketplace.
Together, the grants and technical assistance programs will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support American jobs. These programs are made possible by the Biden Administration's Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which creates significant investments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extraction, transport, and manufacturing of construction materials and products. The Inflation Reduction Act also provides more than $2 billion to the General Services Administration to use low embodied carbon materials in the construction and renovation of federal buildings and $2 billion to the Federal Highway Administration to incentivize or reimburse the use of low embodied carbon construction materials in certain transportation projects.
Selections are contingent upon completion of legal and administrative requirements and grantees are tentatively expected to receive their funding in late summer.
Learn more about EPA's Grant Program for Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gases in Construction Materials and Products.
Billions of tons of concrete, asphalt, steel, glass and other construction materials and products are required to build, maintain, and operate our country's buildings and infrastructure. The United States leads the world in the production of clean construction materials, and these transformative awards from President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act—the largest climate investment in history—will reduce climate pollution by helping businesses measure the carbon emissions associated with extracting, transporting, and manufacturing their products.
The grants will support the Biden-Harris Administration's Federal Buy Clean Initiative, which leverages the U.S. Government's sway as the largest purchaser on Earth, to catalyze demand for clean construction materials used in federal buildings, highways, and infrastructure projects. The grants will be awarded to businesses, universities, and nonprofit organizations serving all 50 states and will help disclose the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing concrete, asphalt, glass, steel, wood, and other materials.
"As America continues to build more and upgrade our nation's infrastructure under President Biden's leadership, cleaner construction materials like concrete and steel are increasingly essential for the nation's prosperity," said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. "These historic investments will expand market access for a new generation of more climate-friendly construction materials, and further grow American jobs that are paving the way to the clean energy economy."
"Jobs, workforce development, a healthier environment—by supporting the development and use of cleaner construction materials, we are improving the quality of life in our communities, and at the same time combatting climate change," said Regional Administrator David W. Cash. "The innovative work being done by GO Lab in Maine means that families can insulate their homes with sustainable, non-toxic materials that also help fight climate change. And the efforts of the University of Massachusetts Amherst will ensure that the steel used in our buildings is produced with less environmental impact. These projects are paving the way for a more sustainable future, ensuring that our children and grandchildren can thrive in a cleaner and healthier New England."
The following organizations with project activities in New England have been selected:
GO Lab, Inc. (dba TimberHP), based in Maine, has been selected to receive $418,420.
The carbon footprint of insulation products is second only to concrete due to the materials used in its manufacture and the energy required for its production. GO Lab, Inc. (dba TimberHP), a construction insulation manufacturer, is the first in North America to produce insulation board, batt, and loose fill insulation from wood fiber. Cost-competitive, renewable, recyclable, nontoxic and carbon sequestering, insulating wood fiber composites have been manufactured at scale in Europe for over two decades but were not widely available in the United States until TimberHP's facility in Madison, Maine commenced production in 2023.
GO Lab/TimberHP's project focuses on developing accurate and transparent environmental products declarations (EPDs) of scalable, carbon-negative insulation products. TimberHP will install equipment and software that will enable it to comprehensively capture energy and raw material usage data and properly allocate that usage to each production line. The data will be used to support the development and publication of EPDs for each of the company's three product lines over its first five years of production.
University of Massachusetts Amherst has been selected to receive $6,371,426, for project activities in Amherst, Mass.; Chicago, Illinois; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
This project will reduce the environmental impacts of domestic construction activity, steel production, and product manufacturing through increasing the quality, transparency, and geographic coverage of life cycle inventories and resultant EPDs representing steel products. The project will include the development of life cycle inventory and EPD generator tools that can automate production of steel product EPDs, create an EPD repository, and update the steel PCR. The University of Massachusetts Amherst will also provide educational resources to students and design, construction and steel industry professionals. This project seeks to identify deconstruction processes for existing structures, required tests for recovered materials, and required modifications and fabrication data to increase the use of salvaged steel products.
Project partners, including the American Iron and Steel Institute and the American Institute of Steel Construction, will help to transform the EPD landscape of the domestic steel industry. It will improve access to EPD generation for a broader range of manufacturers and fabricators, particularly small businesses, and create a public-facing EPD repository for stakeholders to access high-quality data. Through extensive educational outreach, the initiative will help build a skilled workforce, promoting sustainable practices and setting a new standard for steel product EPDs.
Holcim US, Inc. has been selected to receive $1,371,814, for project activities in Massachusetts, as well as in Nevada, Colorado, Maryland, Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Illinois, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Alabama, South Caroline, Missouri, New York, and New Jersey.
In the U.S., Holcim is the largest cement manufacturer and top five producer in aggregates and ready-mix concrete, with approximately 7,000 employees. Holcim's EPD Accelerator Project will increase the transparency of data on environmental emissions associated with the production of construction materials, generate robust EPDs with a diversity of manufacturers from across the U.S., and drive market demand for lower carbon construction materials. These projects represent the three construction materials in Holcim's portfolio: cement, asphalt and ultra-high-performance concrete.
These projects will support the development, enhanced standardization and transparency, and reporting criteria for EPDs that include measurements of the embodied greenhouse gas emissions of the material or product associated with all relevant stages of production, use and disposal, and conform with international standards for construction materials and products.
Oklahoma State University has been selected to receive $9,990,311, for project activities in New Hampshire, as well as in North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Alabama, Illinois, Oklahoma, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
Oklahoma State University is leading the creation of the National Center for Sustainable Construction Materials to promote low carbon construction materials (LCCMs) and generate robust EPDs for materials such as asphalt, concrete, steel and their additives. In collaboration with 11 universities across the U.S., including the University of Illinois and University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the project will provide extensive training, create educational programs, and design tools and incentives for adopting LCCMs. It also focuses on benchmarking methods, identifying high-impact parameters beyond global warming potential, and integrating EPDs into construction specifications. The Center's efforts include K–12 outreach and workforce development to nurture future professionals in sustainable construction.
Oklahoma State University's project will focus on (1) establishing a national center and EPD centers of excellence at other universities; (2) facilitating training for stakeholders such as engineers, owners, material suppliers and contractors; (3) facilitating the generation of EPDs; (4) establishing a benchmarking approach; (5) identifying high-impact parameters beyond GWP; (6) working with departments of transportation and Tribes to incorporate EPDs into specifications; and (7) performing K–12 outreach and workforce development programs.
Read the summaries of proposed grantee projects (pdf) (231 KB), including those of organizations working nationally.
Ranging from $250,000 to $10 million, the grants will help businesses develop robust, high-quality environmental product declarations (EPDs), which show environmental impacts across the life of a product and can catalyze more sustainable purchasing decisions by allowing buyers to compare products. Investments in data and tools will make high-quality EPDs available for 14 material categories, which include both new and salvaged or reused materials. These efforts will help standardize and expand the market for construction products with lower greenhouse gas emissions. They will make it easier for federal, state and local governments and other institutional buyers to ensure the construction projects they fund use more climate-friendly products and materials.
EPA is also announcing expanded technical assistance opportunities to businesses, the federal government, and other organizations across America. EPA will initially offer EPD development support and direct businesses to resources to help them measure and reduce the embodied carbon associated with their materials, such as those provided by the ENERGY STAR Industrial program. Federal agencies and their suppliers will be able to compare the climate impact of various materials to drive near-term greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Robust EPD data will be further strengthened by a new label program under development that will identify low carbon construction materials for the growing Buy Clean marketplace.
Together, the grants and technical assistance programs will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support American jobs. These programs are made possible by the Biden Administration's Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which creates significant investments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extraction, transport, and manufacturing of construction materials and products. The Inflation Reduction Act also provides more than $2 billion to the General Services Administration to use low embodied carbon materials in the construction and renovation of federal buildings and $2 billion to the Federal Highway Administration to incentivize or reimburse the use of low embodied carbon construction materials in certain transportation projects.
Selections are contingent upon completion of legal and administrative requirements and grantees are tentatively expected to receive their funding in late summer.
Learn more about EPA's Grant Program for Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gases in Construction Materials and Products.
EPA settlement with Hi-Noon Petroleum resolves gasoline spill to creek in Yellowstone NP
WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a settlement with Hi-Noon Petroleum Inc. (Hi-Noon) resolving alleged Clean Water Act (CWA) violations involving a gasoline discharge into Grayling Creek in Yellowstone National Park (YNP), Wyoming.
EPA alleges that Hi-Noon violated the CWA with a discharge of 4,800 gallons of gasoline into Grayling Creek on August 19, 2022. The company has agreed to pay $20,000 and complete a $45,000 supplemental environmental project (SEP) to resolve the alleged violations. The SEP requires Hi-Noon to donate $45,000 worth of spill emergency response equipment and training to the Hebgen Basin Fire District in West Yellowstone, Montana, which responded to the spill.
"EPA’s settlement with Hi-Noon underscores our commitment to holding polluters accountable, especially within our national parks,” said EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker. “This response will help ensure that visitors continue to safely enjoy Yellowstone long into the future.”
The discharge resulted from an accident involving a Hi-Noon gasoline tanker truck on U.S. Highway 191 within the boundaries of the national park. Gasoline flowed off the road and into adjacent wetlands and followed the wetland channel to Grayling Creek, a tributary to the Madison River.
The spill was reported to the YNP dispatch, the National Response Center, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Hi-Noon’s contractor worked with an EPA on-scene coordinator on soil removal and product recovery activities.
Federal oil spill prevention, control and countermeasure rules specify requirements for facilities that store oil to prevent discharges that can affect nearby water resources. Learn more about the CWA’s prohibition against discharges of oil into waters of the U.S. and associated regulations on the CWA compliance website.
EPA alleges that Hi-Noon violated the CWA with a discharge of 4,800 gallons of gasoline into Grayling Creek on August 19, 2022. The company has agreed to pay $20,000 and complete a $45,000 supplemental environmental project (SEP) to resolve the alleged violations. The SEP requires Hi-Noon to donate $45,000 worth of spill emergency response equipment and training to the Hebgen Basin Fire District in West Yellowstone, Montana, which responded to the spill.
"EPA’s settlement with Hi-Noon underscores our commitment to holding polluters accountable, especially within our national parks,” said EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker. “This response will help ensure that visitors continue to safely enjoy Yellowstone long into the future.”
The discharge resulted from an accident involving a Hi-Noon gasoline tanker truck on U.S. Highway 191 within the boundaries of the national park. Gasoline flowed off the road and into adjacent wetlands and followed the wetland channel to Grayling Creek, a tributary to the Madison River.
The spill was reported to the YNP dispatch, the National Response Center, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Hi-Noon’s contractor worked with an EPA on-scene coordinator on soil removal and product recovery activities.
Federal oil spill prevention, control and countermeasure rules specify requirements for facilities that store oil to prevent discharges that can affect nearby water resources. Learn more about the CWA’s prohibition against discharges of oil into waters of the U.S. and associated regulations on the CWA compliance website.
EPA Announces $3.9M to Support Clean Manufacturing of Construction Materials Across Chicago Area
CHICAGO (July 16, 2024) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the selection of Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse, a Chicago-area nonprofit organization, to receive $3,887,329 in funding to support efforts to report and reduce climate pollution from the manufacturing of construction materials. EPA estimates that the construction materials used in buildings and other built infrastructure account for more than 15% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.
“As America continues to build more and upgrade our nation’s infrastructure under President Biden’s leadership, cleaner construction materials like concrete and steel are increasingly essential for the nation’s prosperity,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “These historic investments will expand market access for a new generation of more climate-friendly construction materials, and further grow American jobs that are paving the way to the clean energy economy.”
“President Biden and Vice President Harris are leading the most ambitious climate and clean energy agenda in U.S. history and building a sustainable future using safer materials for the environment and for communities,” said White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory. “By leveraging the U.S. Government’s purchasing power, President Biden is ensuring that American manufacturing is positioned to compete and lead globally, while catalyzing markets and accelerating innovation across the country.”Billions of tons of concrete, asphalt, steel, glass and other construction materials and products are required to build, maintain and operate our country’s buildings and infrastructure. The United States leads the world in the production of clean construction materials, and these transformative awards from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act—the largest climate investment in history--will reduce climate pollution by helping businesses measure the carbon emissions associated with extracting, transporting and manufacturing their products.
Nationally, 38 organizations were selected to receive a total of $160 million in Clean Construction Materials grants. Other organizations selected to fund projects in EPA Region 5:
· Knauf Insulation, Inc. – Indiana and Michigan
· HOLCIM US, Inc. – Illinois and Michigan
· Heidelberg Materials US, Inc. – Indiana
· University of Massachusetts Amherst – Illinois
· Oklahoma State University – Illinois
The grants will support the Biden-Harris Administration’s Federal Buy Clean Initiative, which leverages the U.S. government’s sway as the largest purchaser on Earth to catalyze demand for clean construction materials used in federal buildings, highways, and infrastructure projects. The grants will be awarded to businesses, universities and nonprofit organizations serving all 50 states and will help disclose the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing concrete, asphalt, glass, steel, wood and other materials.
The Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse (doing business as the Rebuilding Exchange) is a Chicago-area nonprofit organization with a mission to reuse building materials, reduce construction waste, and train, support, and connect people seeking careers in the building trades. Rebuilding Exchange diverts building materials from landfills through two reuse retail stores in Evanston and Chicago and offers deconstruction services to homeowners who want to save their building materials from landfills.
Rebuilding Exchange will use data collected at its two reuse stores and through its deconstruction services to demonstrate the reduced embodied greenhouse gas in salvaged construction materials. Through this project, they will develop 25 environmental product declarations (EPDs), train 150 participants through a workforce training program, and share data online.
The goal of the project is to enhance the quality of greenhouse gas data associated with salvaged materials, provide tools for other practitioners, create new/updated EPDs that demonstrate the significant embodied carbon reduction and other environmental impacts of salvaged materials, and spur market demand.
The Clean Construction Materials grants will help businesses develop robust, high-quality EPDs, which show environmental impacts across the life of a product and can catalyze more sustainable purchasing decisions by allowing buyers to compare. Investments in data and tools will make high-quality EPDs available for 14 material categories, which include both new and salvaged or reused materials. These efforts will help standardize and expand the market for construction products with lower greenhouse gas emissions. They will make it easier for federal, state and local governments and other institutional buyers to ensure the construction projects they fund use more climate-friendly products and materials.
EPA is also announcing expanded technical assistance opportunities to businesses, the federal government and other organizations across America. EPA will initially offer EPD development support and direct businesses to resources to help them measure and reduce the embodied carbon associated with their materials, such as those provided by the ENERGY STAR Industrial program. Federal agencies and their suppliers will be able to compare the climate impact of various materials to drive near-term greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Robust EPD data will be further strengthened by a new label program under development that will identify low carbon construction materials for the growing Buy Clean marketplace.
Together, the grants and technical assistance programs will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support American jobs. These programs are made possible by the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which creates significant investments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extraction, transport and manufacturing of construction materials and products. The Inflation Reduction Act also provides more than $2 billion to the General Services Administration to use low embodied carbon materials in the construction and renovation of federal buildings and $2 billion to the Federal Highway Administration to incentivize or reimburse the use of low embodied carbon construction materials in certain transportation projects.
Selections are contingent upon completion of legal and administrative requirements and grantees are tentatively expected to receive their funding in late summer.
Read summaries of proposed grantee projects.
Learn more about EPA’s Grant Program for Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gases in Construction Materials and Products.
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“As America continues to build more and upgrade our nation’s infrastructure under President Biden’s leadership, cleaner construction materials like concrete and steel are increasingly essential for the nation’s prosperity,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “These historic investments will expand market access for a new generation of more climate-friendly construction materials, and further grow American jobs that are paving the way to the clean energy economy.”
“President Biden and Vice President Harris are leading the most ambitious climate and clean energy agenda in U.S. history and building a sustainable future using safer materials for the environment and for communities,” said White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory. “By leveraging the U.S. Government’s purchasing power, President Biden is ensuring that American manufacturing is positioned to compete and lead globally, while catalyzing markets and accelerating innovation across the country.”Billions of tons of concrete, asphalt, steel, glass and other construction materials and products are required to build, maintain and operate our country’s buildings and infrastructure. The United States leads the world in the production of clean construction materials, and these transformative awards from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act—the largest climate investment in history--will reduce climate pollution by helping businesses measure the carbon emissions associated with extracting, transporting and manufacturing their products.
Nationally, 38 organizations were selected to receive a total of $160 million in Clean Construction Materials grants. Other organizations selected to fund projects in EPA Region 5:
· Knauf Insulation, Inc. – Indiana and Michigan
· HOLCIM US, Inc. – Illinois and Michigan
· Heidelberg Materials US, Inc. – Indiana
· University of Massachusetts Amherst – Illinois
· Oklahoma State University – Illinois
The grants will support the Biden-Harris Administration’s Federal Buy Clean Initiative, which leverages the U.S. government’s sway as the largest purchaser on Earth to catalyze demand for clean construction materials used in federal buildings, highways, and infrastructure projects. The grants will be awarded to businesses, universities and nonprofit organizations serving all 50 states and will help disclose the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing concrete, asphalt, glass, steel, wood and other materials.
The Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse (doing business as the Rebuilding Exchange) is a Chicago-area nonprofit organization with a mission to reuse building materials, reduce construction waste, and train, support, and connect people seeking careers in the building trades. Rebuilding Exchange diverts building materials from landfills through two reuse retail stores in Evanston and Chicago and offers deconstruction services to homeowners who want to save their building materials from landfills.
Rebuilding Exchange will use data collected at its two reuse stores and through its deconstruction services to demonstrate the reduced embodied greenhouse gas in salvaged construction materials. Through this project, they will develop 25 environmental product declarations (EPDs), train 150 participants through a workforce training program, and share data online.
The goal of the project is to enhance the quality of greenhouse gas data associated with salvaged materials, provide tools for other practitioners, create new/updated EPDs that demonstrate the significant embodied carbon reduction and other environmental impacts of salvaged materials, and spur market demand.
The Clean Construction Materials grants will help businesses develop robust, high-quality EPDs, which show environmental impacts across the life of a product and can catalyze more sustainable purchasing decisions by allowing buyers to compare. Investments in data and tools will make high-quality EPDs available for 14 material categories, which include both new and salvaged or reused materials. These efforts will help standardize and expand the market for construction products with lower greenhouse gas emissions. They will make it easier for federal, state and local governments and other institutional buyers to ensure the construction projects they fund use more climate-friendly products and materials.
EPA is also announcing expanded technical assistance opportunities to businesses, the federal government and other organizations across America. EPA will initially offer EPD development support and direct businesses to resources to help them measure and reduce the embodied carbon associated with their materials, such as those provided by the ENERGY STAR Industrial program. Federal agencies and their suppliers will be able to compare the climate impact of various materials to drive near-term greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Robust EPD data will be further strengthened by a new label program under development that will identify low carbon construction materials for the growing Buy Clean marketplace.
Together, the grants and technical assistance programs will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support American jobs. These programs are made possible by the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which creates significant investments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extraction, transport and manufacturing of construction materials and products. The Inflation Reduction Act also provides more than $2 billion to the General Services Administration to use low embodied carbon materials in the construction and renovation of federal buildings and $2 billion to the Federal Highway Administration to incentivize or reimburse the use of low embodied carbon construction materials in certain transportation projects.
Selections are contingent upon completion of legal and administrative requirements and grantees are tentatively expected to receive their funding in late summer.
Read summaries of proposed grantee projects.
Learn more about EPA’s Grant Program for Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gases in Construction Materials and Products.
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Rates from India to US, Europe explode amid heightened capacity pressures
Spot booking prices from West India to the US East and West coasts have seen four- to five-fold gains in the last week or so, according to local freight forwarders.