Tools, Resources and Funding Opportunities
- What is Embodied Carbon?
- Inflation Reduction Act
- Grant Program
- Tools, Resources & Funding Opportunities Label Program for Low Embodied Carbon Construction Materials
This page includes informational resources and technical assistance opportunities offered by the federal government and others related to embodied carbon of construction materials.
Over the coming months and years, EPA and grantees (announced July 2024) of the Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Construction Materials and Products grant program will develop a variety of tools and resources to support the disclosure and reduction of embodied carbon emissions linked to construction materials. Some grantees will also provide direct technical assistance and funding to businesses that produce, manufacture, remanufacture and refurbish construction materials and products for the development of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).
Contact EPA with questions or for direct technical assistance related to EPDs.
Mention of trade names, products, or services does not convey, and should not be interpreted as conveying, official EPA approval, endorsement, or recommendation.
Previous EPA Webinars on Embodied Carbon Efforts
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March 21, 2024 – “EPA’s Efforts to Improve Product Category Rules for Environmental Product Declarations” (webinar recording, presentation slides (pdf))
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February 27, 2024 – “Developing a Label Program for Low Embodied Carbon Construction Materials” (webinar recording, presentation slides (pdf))
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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))
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April 19, 2023 – “Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Carbon Labeling” (webinar recording, presentation slides (pdf))
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March 22, 2023 – “Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Grants and Technical Assistance for Environmental Product Declarations” (webinar recording, presentation slides (pdf))
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March 2, 2023 – “Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Construction Materials Prioritization and Environmental Data Improvement” (webinar recording, presentation slides (pdf))
Current and Upcoming Training Opportunities for Manufacturers of Construction Materials
- Industrial Assistance Network – EPA’s ENERGY STAR program offers specialized energy management training and support at no charge to help manufacturers of construction materials reduce the carbon footprint of their operations and the embodied carbon of their products. Support from the Industrial Assistance Network includes coaching from professional industrial energy managers and training on strategies to control energy consumption.
Federal Funding Opportunities
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Funding Opportunities for Industry
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DOE Industrial Demonstrations Program: Department of Energy’s $6 billion grant program supports research and development of clean energy technologies for industrial decarbonization.
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USDA Wood Innovations Grant: A Department of Agriculture program that supports climate-smart mass timber construction and expands wood markets.
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Funding Opportunities for Public Agencies
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FHWA Low-Carbon Transportation Materials Grants Program: The Federal Highway Administration’s $2 billion grant program supports reducing carbon emissions of transportation materials including concrete (and cement), glass, asphalt mix, and steel, currently available to state DOTs and eventually available to non-state applicants.
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FEMA Assistance Funding for Low-Carbon Materials: The Federal Emergency Management Agency provides funding for rebuilding from disasters when using low-carbon concrete, asphalt, glass, and steel.
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Tools and Resources
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Federal Procurement of Lower Embodied Carbon Construction Materials and Product
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EPA Label Program for Low Embodied Carbon Construction Materials: EPA’s program to identify construction materials and products with substantially lower levels of embodied carbon.
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EPA Interim Determination: EPA's guide to the General Services Administration and Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration on what construction materials and methodologies qualify as having substantially lower embodied carbon for consideration for Inflation Reduction Act funds.
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White House Council on Environmental Quality Federal Buy Clean Initiative: A website with a Q&A, news updates and other information on the Federal Buy Clean Initiative.
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GSA Inflation Reduction Act Low Embodied Carbon Program: A website with an overview of the IRA-funded low embodied carbon program, including material requirements, results of a 2023 pilot program, and a map of eligible projects.
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GSA Facilities Standard P100: An overview of the General Services Administration‘s standard establishing mandatory design and construction standards and performance criteria for GSA-owned buildings.
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FHA Fact Sheet: What is the EPA Interim Determination? (pdf) A guide to EPA’s Interim Determination and how it affects FHWA procurement decisions.
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Embodied Carbon of Construction Materials
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Disclosing the ENERGY STAR Score in Low Embodied Carbon Programs: EPA’s Interim Determination requires that the ENERGY STAR Energy Performance Score be disclosed for the relevant manufacturing plants in a material’s supply chain. This factsheet explains what this score is and why it is needed.
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FHWA Fact Sheet: Low Embodied Carbon Materials: (pdf) An overview of embodied carbon of construction materials, why it matters, and strategies for lowering emissions.
GSA SF Tool Embodied Carbon: This Sustainable Facilities Tool provides direction on measuring embodied carbon in buildings, including actionable strategies for reduction and procurement approaches.
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ENERGY STAR Buy Clean Procurement on Low Carbon Construction Materials: A webpage with guidance on how to incorporate ENERGY STAR Industrial scores into procurement practices.
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EPA Best Practices for Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling Construction and Demolition Materials: A webpage with guidance on the use of salvaged and reused construction materials.
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Tools for Measuring Embodied Carbon: From the Carbon Leadership Forum, a webpage with an overview of available tools for architects, engineers, and consultants to evaluate the environmental impacts of buildings and building materials using life cycle assessment.
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DOT-FHWA LCA Pave: A tool developed by DOT’s FHWA that can be used to assess environmental impacts of pavement material and design decisions.
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Map of Manufacturers with EPDs: An interactive map with locations of manufacturing plants that provide EPDs, color-coded by product category, and links to the EC3 tool to view EPDs and plug them into a whole-building embodied carbon model.
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DOT-FHWA Sustainable Pavement Program: A webpage about the Department of Transportation’s program that provides resources to advance the knowledge and practice of sustainable pavement systems – which includes the Sustainable Pavements Technical Working Group, recorded webinars, technical documents and presentations, a pavement LCA tool, and other related resources.
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DOT-FHWA Climate Challenge Program – Quantifying Emissions of Sustainable Pavements: The website for a program that provides funding and technical assistance to state DOTs and other agencies to quantify greenhouse gas emissions from materials and practices for the design, construction, and maintenance of pavements.
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DOT-FHWA Every Day Counts Initiative – EPDs for Sustainable Project Delivery: Deployment initiative to help state DOTs leverage EPDs to support procurement decisions and quantify embodied carbon reductions.
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Development of EPDs and Quantifying Embodied Carbon of Construction Materials
- FHWA Tech Brief: Environmental Product Declarations: A publication that provides an introduction to EPDs and an outline of their purpose, development process, and uses for various stakeholders.
- How to get an EPD: Overview and FAQ on how to create an EPD for the building material industry.
- EPA Draft PCR Criteria: Draft criteria released in March 2024 to improve PCRs by establishing consistent requirements for data quality and transparency. The results will determine a product’s eligibility for EPA’s Label Program for Low Embodied Carbon Construction Materials.
- ACLCA PCR repository: An online index of PCRs, searchable by keyword, geography, standard conformance, and status, with option to view PDF of individual PCRs.
- Federal LCA Commons: A collection of data repositories for use in life cycle assessment to advance Federal LCA data, research, and information systems; improve consistency in LCA methods; and enhance public and agency access to Federal LCA data in a standardized searchable format.
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