The Environmental Protection Agency Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention has outlined an implementation plan for a program and publicly accessible registry providing data on greenhouse gas emissions attending principal building and infrastructure project inputs. The EPA Label Program for Low Embodied Carbon Construction Materials will define parameters and thresholds informing the White House Federal Buy Clean Initiative, which…
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Energy Department powers promotion of low carbon construction materials
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) authors’ recognition of technology transfer hurdles and risk-averse specification tendencies in construction is evident in a slew of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office and National Laboratories initiatives supporting low carbon materials awareness and procurement. The DOE Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) is eyeing a National Laboratory-led Cement and Concrete Center of Excellence to accelerate…
Read MoreTech elite enlist WJE to prove low-carbon, data center slab mixes
Sources: Open Compute Project Foundation, Austin, Texas; CP staff The Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP) has tapped construction materials testing and engineering giant Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. (WJE) to measure a set of low embodied carbon concrete mixes for their potential in data center floors. The mixes use supplementary cementitious materials plus a portland cement alternative binder derived from…
Read MoreAdapting to Change
A visit with American Concrete Pipe Association Chair Tom Hartley Few are better suited than Tom Hartley to take the reins as 2024 American Concrete Pipe Association chair while members and staff execute a new strategic plan. With a tenure spanning 29 years at Rinker Materials, he has played a pivotal role across the enterprise, including tours in finance, mergers…
Read MoreConcrete, cement, aggregate interests prevail in EPA EPD grant program
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced nearly $50 million in funding opportunities for cement, aggregate and concrete interests as part of an overall $160 million package for the Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Construction Materials and Products Program. “As America continues to build more and upgrade our nation’s infrastructure, cleaner construction materials like concrete and steel are increasingly…
Read MoreEPA funding fuels NRMCA promotion of low carbon concrete
Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Alexandria, Va.; CP staff The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association has secured a $9.63 million Environmental Protection Agency Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Construction Materials and Products Program grant, enabling the group and its Build With Strength team to further educate the architectural and engineering communities on designing and specifying low carbon concrete.…
Read MorePCA, Ash, Slag and Pozzolan groups land EPA grant for EPDs
Sources: Portland Cement Association, Washington, D.C.; CP staff The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $2.4 million to advance a project boosting the number of facility-specific Environmental Product Declarations from Portland Cement Association, American Coal Ash Association, Natural Pozzolan Association and Slag Cement Association members. The project will entail PCA distributing up to $1.5 million in grants to eligible…
Read MoreEPA quantifies $600B+ in clean water infrastructure needs through 2045
Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; CP staff A new Environmental Protection Agency report to federal lawmakers projects future capital outlays to maintain or modernize publicly owned wastewater treatment works, stormwater infrastructure, nonpoint source control, and decentralized wastewater treatment systems like septic tanks. Such investments are deemed essential to supporting the Clean Water Act’s goal of fishable, swimmable waters from coast…
Read MoreGHG Inventory shows cement plant CO2 emissions’ positive trend
The latest Environmental Protection Agency Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks cites 2022 GHG loads of 5.489 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, a 1.3 percent increase from the prior year. The GHG Inventory factors emissions of CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride and nitrogen trifluoride—all pegged for their global warming potential when released to…
Read MoreEPA outlines 2029-2032 mixer, dump, day cab emissions standards
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claims avoidance of 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions and $13 billion in net society benefits attributable to GHG Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Phase 3. If upheld after near-certain legal challenges, new thresholds in the final rule, measured against Phase 2 targets, will equate to CO2 emissions reduction levels of a) 8-40…
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