The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has pledged millions of dollars in grants for businesses, universities, and nonprofit organizations across the country as part of what it says are efforts to reduce climate pollution arising from the manufacturing of construction materials.
The EPA estimates construction materials used in buildings and other infrastructure account for more than 15 percent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.
The grants, which total nearly $160 million, will be awarded to 38 recipients across the country, the EPA said in a July 16 press release.
Funding is being allocated from President Joe Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which the EPA said is the “largest climate investment in history.”
The grants range from $250,000 to $10 million and will help businesses develop “robust, high-quality environmental product declarations (EPDs),” which the EPA said helps quantify environmental information about the life cycle of a product.
This will also aid buyers of construction materials in comparing products, helping them to make more sustainable purchasing decisions, the agency said.
Investments in data and tools will make “high-quality” EPDs available for 14 material categories, including new and salvaged or reused materials, according to the EPA.
“These efforts will help standardize and expand the market for construction products with lower greenhouse gas emissions,” the agency said.
The grants will also make it easier for federal, state, and local governments and other institutional buyers to make sure construction projects are funded with more “climate-friendly” products and materials, according to the EPA.
Some of the businesses and universities set to receive funding include the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment, Belter Tech, Inc., Cornell University, International Living Future Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, National Glass Association, Oklahoma State University, and The University of Texas at Austin.
Projects to be funded via the grants include one in Maine, where a company that manufactures insulation made from wood fiber will use the money to track the quantity of energy and raw materials used in each of their processes, according to the EPA.
Another company in Georgia will use the funding to report on emissions savings that come from switching from higher-carbon components in cement and concrete to “recycled and innovative materials”.
Cleaner Construction Materials Are ‘Essential’
The funding is the latest effort by President Biden to slash greenhouse gas emissions that his administration believes is helping fuel the “climate crisis.”“As America continues to build more and upgrade our nation’s infrastructure under President Biden’s leadership, cleaner construction materials like concrete and steel are increasingly essential for the nation’s prosperity,” EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe said in a statement.
Ms. McCabe added that the latest “historic” investments will “expand market access for a new generation of more climate-friendly construction materials, and further grow American jobs that are paving the way to the clean energy economy.”
The committee’s chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said at the time that the administration’s policies jeopardize domestic energy development and increase costs for American consumers and businesses.
The report cited an array of Biden administration policies, including EPA regulations on methane emissions, and attempts to end fossil fuel financing.
Those policies and dozens more like them were “shortsighted” and harmful to everyday Americans, the report said.
