Inflation Reduction Act Programs to Fight Climate Change by Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Construction Materials and Products

The Inflation Reduction Act invests $350 million for grants, technical assistance and tools, including carbon labeling, to help manufacturers, institutional buyers, real estate developers, builders and others measure, report and substantially lower the levels of embodied carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions associated with all relevant stages of production, use and disposal of construction materials and products including steel, concrete, asphalt and glass.

Embodied greenhouse gas emissions refer to the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the extraction, production, transport and manufacturing of materials. Traditionally, steel, concrete, asphalt and flat glass contain a high quantity of embodied emissions due to the energy-intensive processes used to extract raw materials like limestone, taconite ore and silica and then converting those raw materials into products. Low embodied carbon materials have less climate impact associated with mining, manufacturing and transportation. Additionally, reusing construction materials and products reduces upstream production and disposal-related greenhouse gas emissions.

EPA's Pollution Prevention program will implement these programs to: 

• Spur market demand for construction materials and products that have substantially lower embodied greenhouse gas emissions; 

• Increase the transparency of greenhouse gas emissions data associated with the production, use, and disposal of construction materials and products; and 

• Assist businesses in disclosing and verifying these data, as well as states, Indian tribes and non-profit organizations that assist these businesses. 

Learn more about EPA’s programs to fight climate change by reducing embodied greenhouse gas emissions of construction materials and products.

• Grant Program: Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Construction Materials and Products
• Request for Information
• Public Engagement Webinars
• Working with Other Federal Agencies

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Grant Program: Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Construction Materials and Products 

In support of Inflation Reduction Act Section 60112, the goal of this grant program is to support businesses that manufacture construction materials and products to develop and verify Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), and to states, Indian Tribes, and nonprofit organizations that will assist such businesses. This program seeks to improve transparency and disclosure of embodied greenhouse gas emissions data associated with construction materials and products. The goal is to facilitate the procurement of lower embodied carbon construction materials and products throughout the United States. Disclosure of embodied greenhouse gas emissions through the development of EPDs based on robust and comprehensive data will enable fair comparison of construction materials and products and facilitate procurement of these products with lower embodied carbon emissions.

Under this program, EPA has selected 38 businesses, universities and nonprofit organizations to receive approximately $160 million in grants to support efforts to report and reduce climate pollution linked to the production of construction materials and products. 

Learn about the selected projects. 

Request for Information

On Jan. 19, 2023, EPA issued a Request for Information to announce that it is seeking public comment on a series of questions about developing these new programs. This docket closed for comment on May 1, 2023.

Public Engagement Webinars

EPA’s Efforts to Improve Product Category Rules for Environmental Product Declarations

March 21, 2024

This webinar provided information on draft criteria for Product Category Rules (PCRs) to improve Environmental Product Declarations in support of the Label Program for Low Embodied Carbon Construction Materials.

• Watch the March 21, 2024, webinar. 
• Slides  for March 2024 webinar on draft Product Category Rule criteria (pdf) (3.6 MB) 

Developing a Label Program for Low Embodied Carbon Construction Materials 

Feb. 27, 2024

This webinar asked for feedback on the draft approach for developing a label program for construction materials and products with low embodied greenhouse gas emissions as authorized by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The webinar also posed key questions. 

• Watch the Feb. 27, 2024, webinar. 
• Slides for Feb. 2024 webinar on draft label program approach. (pdf) (1.1 MB) 

Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Construction Materials Prioritization and Environmental Data Improvement

March 2, 2023
This webinar asked for feedback on how to prioritize construction materials and products and how to improve data on embodied greenhouse gas emissions through measurement, standardization, transparency and reporting criteria.

• Watch the March 2, 2023, webinar
• Material Prioritization and Data Improvement EPA Office of Chemical Safety & Pollution Prevention Inflation Reduction Act Stakeholder Engagement (pdf) (2.76 MB)

Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Grants and Technical Assistance for Environmental Product Declarations

March 22, 2023
This webinar asked for feedback on new grant and technical assistance programs to help business calculate and report the greenhouse gas emissions data for construction materials and products though Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).

• Watch the March 22, 2023, webinar
• Getting to Substantially Lower Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emission Construction Materials Environmental Product Declaration Assistance EPA Office of Chemical Safety & Pollution Prevention Inflation Reduction Act Stakeholder Engagement (pdf) (1.33 MB)

Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Carbon Labeling

April 19, 2023
This webinar asked for feedback on how the EPA should develop a new carbon labeling program for construction materials and products with substantially lower embodied greenhouse gas emissions.

• Watch the April 19, 2023, webinar
• Getting to Substantially Lower Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emission Construction Materials (pdf) (2.25 MB)

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Construction Materials and Products

Nov. 2 and Nov. 14, 2023

These webinars provided information on a new grant program and provided opportunities for potential applicants to ask questions.

• Watch a recording of the webinars.

For questions about the new programs, contact embodiedcarbon@epa.gov.

Working with Other Federal Agencies

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provided the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the General Services Administration (GSA) with funding to select materials and products with substantially lower levels of embodied greenhouse gas emissions as determined by EPA.

On December 22, 2022, EPA sent an Interim Determination (pdf) (117.73 KB) and a cover memo (pdf) (190.25 KB) to help these agencies meet this directive. The interim determination provides GSA and FHWA with actionable determinations on selecting materials and products that meet the standards of Inflation Reduction Act Sections 60503 and 60506, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from federally funded building, infrastructure and construction projects, with a particular emphasis on reducing major industrial emissions from construction projects in the United States. The interim determination will assist those agencies in quickly beginning to use Inflation Reduction Act resources to meet federal goals and will assist EPA in learning lessons for the development of Inflation Reduction Act Sections 60112 and 60116 programs.

For purposes of the interim determination, based on best available information, EPA interprets “substantially lower” as meaning a global-warming potential, based on Environmental Product Declarations, that is in the best performing 20 percent (top 20 percent or lowest 20 percent in embodied greenhouse gas emissions) when compared to similar materials/products. Additionally, EPA has determined that minimally processed salvaged and reused materials and products qualify as having "substantially lower" embodied greenhouse gas emissions. The full interim determination includes considerations if a material/product is unavailable in a project’s location. Additionally, providers of qualifying materials/products are required to report the supplying plant's ENERGY STAR Energy Performance Score where an Energy Performance Indicator is available.  

EPA expects that its determination may evolve as the Agency gains a better understanding of the relevant industry averages and develops better methodologies for assessing what materials and products embody “substantially lower” greenhouse-gas emissions.