The General Services Administration has released a list of more than 150 federal building construction or upgrade projects across 39 states and District of Columbia where low embodied carbon (LEC) material specifications will be supported by $2 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding. Contract language will favor LEC material use, net estimated deliveries totaling: The funding advances the Buy Clean…
Read MoreTag: Inflation Reduction Act
GSA stipulates low-carbon materials for Homeland Security contracts
The U.S. General Services Administration and Department of Homeland Security will steer nearly $288 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds to make the latter agency’s new headquarters campus buildings models for sustainability, starting with procurement prioritizing low-embodied carbon concrete, steel, and asphalt. The funding will enable GSA to complete the construction of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Headquarters, Immigration…
Read MoreEPA opens $100 million grant program for construction material EPDs
Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; CP staff The Environmental Protection Agency is accepting through January 8 applications for grants under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)-funded Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Construction Materials and Products program. Budgeted at $100 million, it will support a) businesses that process or manufacture, remanufacture or refurbish construction materials or products in development and verification…
Read MoreGreenbuild 2023 highlight: Circles of Sustainability Networking Activities
Sources: Informa Connect, New York; U.S. Green Building Council, Washington, D.C. This year at Greenbuild 2023 in Washington, DC, the Greenbuild team has made communicating with sustainability leaders easier and more valuable through new, customized Circles of Sustainability Networking Activities – providing exciting ways to meet with the right partners. As the U.S. recently passed the billion-dollar Inflation Reduction Act,…
Read MoreABC: Davis-Bacon updates add paperwork, skew prevailing wage math
Capping a 28-month rulemaking process in August, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule, Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations, which revises prevailing wage calculations and increases paperwork for contractors on federal and federally assisted construction projects. “This is yet another handout to organized labor on the backs of taxpayers, small businesses and the free market,”…
Read MoreTeamsters state case for legacy Davis-Bacon wage standard
Sources: International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Washington, D.C.; CP staff The International Brotherhood of Teamsters applauds the Department of Labor (DOL) for its early-August ruling on prevailing wage standards under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA). The agency returns the definition of “prevailing wage” to a standard used from 1935 to 1983, thereby requiring compensation on federally funded construction projects to…
Read MoreIndustrial Demonstrations Program: Deep pockets for decarbonization
Through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the White House is formally proceeding with a previously announced $6 billion funding program to accelerate decarbonization projects in energy-intensive industries and provide American manufacturers a competitive advantage in the emerging global clean energy economy. Funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, 2021) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA, 2022), the Industrial…
Read MoreEPA sets 2027 target for halving heavy duty truck NOx emissions
The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing a program to further reduce air pollution, including ozone and particulate matter (PM), from heavy-duty engines and vehicles. Compared to current standards, its new emissions thresholds are significantly more stringent and cover a wider range of heavy-duty engine operating conditions. The final rulemaking promulgates new numeric standards and changes key provisions of the existing…
Read MoreEPA accelerates low carbon material, product procurement timetable
The Environmental Protection Agency will host three webinars to gather public and private construction stakeholder perspectives on federal procurement policy tied to carbon dioxide emissions accounting and reporting methods for specified materials or products: Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Construction Materials Prioritization and Environmental Data Improvement, March 2, 2-3:30 p.m. EST Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Grants and Technical Assistance…
Read MoreCode Council tracks Inflation Reduction Act-spurred EPD demand
Sources: International Code Council, Washington, D.C.; CP staff The International Code Council salutes provisions in the just-signed Inflation Reduction Act that will help communities update building energy codes and promote low-carbon construction materials. Building on last year’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, ICC notes, the new law: • Serves up $1 billion to support codes and standards or local amendments…
Read More