The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the distribution of nearly $160 million in grants to 38 recipients in the U.S. to measure and decrease climate pollution from the manufacturing of construction materials and products, following President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
The announcement, made in July, is part of efforts to measure and reduce climate pollution from the manufacturing of construction materials and products. The construction sector significantly contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions, with the EPA estimating that over 15% of annual emissions come from construction materials used in buildings and infrastructure.
The funds are an offshoot of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in history. The grants will support the Federal Buy Clean Initiative, which aims to leverage the government’s purchasing power to promote cleaner construction materials for federal projects. This initiative includes buildings, highways, and various infrastructure projects. The financial support will go to businesses, universities, and nonprofit organizations across all 50 states.
Key areas of focus for the grants include creating standardized environmental product declarations (EPDs) to measure the carbon footprint of materials like concrete, asphalt, steel, glass, and wood over their lifetimes. Among the recipients, the nonprofit Hemp Building Institute received nearly $6.2 million for environmental assessments of hemp-based materials such as “hempcrete,” while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was awarded almost $1 million to create an academic hub for steel reuse.
Senator Tom Carper emphasized that the funding aims to create markets for cleaner materials and help companies better understand and communicate their environmental impacts.
“Investing in low-carbon construction materials is an essential part of our work to address climate change,” said Tom Carper. “This funding will create markets for American manufacturers making cleaner materials and help companies better understand and communicate the environmental impacts of their products. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, EPA is making American industry more competitive on the global stage while reducing climate pollution and supporting good-paying jobs.”
“I fought to include funding for urgently-needed clean construction and manufacturing initiatives in the historic Inflation Reduction Act because it is a win-win that will increase jobs and reduce deadly carbon pollution that is driving climate change,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “With industrial sector emissions a top culprit of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions this decade, we must do everything we can to support innovators and job-creators in clean construction materials and manufacturing – that is why today’s announcement from EPA is so exciting and important to us, our children, and future generations.”
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.
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
Summaries of proposed grantee projects.
