{"id":900480,"date":"2022-10-18T15:09:24","date_gmt":"2022-10-18T21:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=900480"},"modified":"2022-10-18T15:09:34","modified_gmt":"2022-10-18T21:09:34","slug":"construction-materials-federal-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/construction-materials-federal-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Government Seeks Low Carb(on) Diet for Most Construction Materials"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Paul Freeman and Issac D. Schabes | Crowell & Moring<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 4, 2022, the General Services Administration (\u201cGSA\u201d)\u00a0published\u00a0a Request for Information (\u201cRFI\u201d), seeking information \u201cabout the availability of domestically manufactured, locally sourced low-carbon construction materials<\/a>\u201d for governmentwide construction procurement.\u00a0 Significantly, the results of the RFI are expected to help inform how the GSA will spend the $2.15 billion appropriated through Section 60503 of the Inflation Reduction Act (\u201cIRA\u201d) to \u201cacquire and install materials and products for use in the construction or alteration of buildings\u201d under the GSA\u2019s jurisdiction \u201cthat have substantially lower levels of embodied greenhouse gas emissions associated with all relevant stages of production, use, and disposal as compared to estimated industry averages of similar materials or products[.]\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building on GSA\u2019s previous efforts to implement new \u201clow embodied carbon\u201d concrete and \u201cenvironmentally preferable\u201d asphalt used in GSA construction and building projects (covered here<\/a>), the Administration is seeking to expand its Buy Clean Initiative<\/a> to most carbon-intensive materials \u2013 including, concrete, steel, glass, asphalt, aluminum, insulation, roofing materials, gypsum board, and structural engineered wood \u2013  used in the construction of buildings, roads, and bridges.  GSA has divided these materials into three tiers of descending order of priority, with Tier 1 materials (concrete, steel, glass, and asphalt) as the \u201cmost carbon intensive materials,\u201d followed by Tier 2 (aluminum, insulation, and roofing materials) and, finally, Tier 3 (structural engineered wood). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, GSA is requesting public comments on the following questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n