Digging into C-MORE, the EPA’s new regulation encouraging producers to lower carbon emissions
Authors’ note: I’ve decided to write this monthly column because the concrete industry has greater opportunities for carbon reduction than any other core construction material, and frankly, in my 15-year involvement with concrete, I’ve learned to love the industry and the material. Concrete will be the carbon winner. We will easily surpass steel, and the myths around wood will eventually be revealed as the concrete business continues to accelerate and innovate. I plan to highlight opportunities, summarize the good, the bad, and the ugly of policy, promote innovation, and discuss the challenges that we face to become the leading sustainable material in the world. We’ll start with a look at the Environmental Protection Agency’s new framework encouraging core material producers to lower carbon emissions.
It’s very surprising to me that the EPA C-MORE (Construction Material Opportunities to Reduce Emissions) program has not gotten a lot more industry attention. C-MORE is broad and aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with construction materials production. It specifically targets high-emission construction materials, including concrete, which with no surprise tops a non-alphabetized list of agency priorities:
Concrete
Glass
Asphalt
Steel
The concrete industry has a reputation as the bad guy, but for all the innovation and investment happening in our industry, it’s clear we will emerge as the ‘good guy’ and the leading low carbon material that also offers unmatched strength, flexibility, and amazing durability. The bottom line is C-MORE will accelerate this leadership. The objective of C-MORE, according to the agency’s initial announcement of the program, (C-MORE: Construction Material Opportunities to Reduce Emissions, posted at www.epa.gov) is to support construction product manufacturers in lowering operating costs, achieving efficiencies, and accessing new markets while promoting cleaner, climate-friendly construction materials. Let’s examine the good and the bad of this regulation:
The Good. Unlike many environmental regulations the U.S. government will reward producers with contracts if they meet certain carbon reduction standards as specified by the General Services Administration. This is a very positive shift in regulation. Rather than punishing producers for non-compliance, federal agencies are rewarding producers for compliance. No producer will be directly penalized If they choose not to produce low carbon concrete.
The Bad. The benchmark standards are conveniently based on compressive strength. This is easy as the concrete industry has also led other materials with the world’s most comprehensive Industry Wide Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), published by the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association and presenting metrics for common compressive strength classes up to 8,000 psi. However, the carbon content of a mix design is mostly predicated on the amount of portland cement in the mix, but such content is heavily influenced by performance factors or requirements other than compressive strength.
More Good. C-MORE includes a grant program to help producers develop and verify EPDs. NRMCA is offering grants related to this initiative. In June 2024, it was awarded a $9.63 million EPA grant to help concrete producers accelerate their drive to carbon neutrality. This grant will support increasing the quantity and robustness of ready mixed concrete EPDs, providing data quality management oversight, and enhancing low-carbon concrete tools and training. Additional details are provided at www.nrmca.org/epagrant.
Broadly, the good outweighs the bad. C-MORE offers positive incentives in the form of contracts, grant money to get EPDs to measure carbon emission reductions, and the program will propel the industry into a carbon leadership position over other materials, thus ensuring our future as the most widely used material in the world. That said, the window is open to give the EPA feedback on costs, timing or other concerns. I encourage producers to help shape the final outcome by reviewing technical documents and agency proposals posted or linked to at www.epa.gov/greenerproducts/cmore, and forward comments or perspective to agency officials through a portal, [email protected].
Smart concrete wins.
Chris Erickson is CEO and co-founder of Climate Earth, Point Richmond, Calif., www.climateearth.com, and welcomes comments on Carbon Smart, [email protected].