The General Services Administration announced a six-month pilot of new requirements for the procurement of substantially lower embodied-carbon construction materials for 11 GSA projects funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. The GSA’s new requirements are based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Interim Determination, which sets global warming potential limits for asphalt, concrete, glass and steel. These materials are the most carbon-intensive materials prioritized by the federal interagency Buy Clean Task Force.

The pilot is intended to signal to manufacturers that GSA requires Environmental Product Declarations for materials procured using IRA funding. EPDs are a tool for gaining visibility into a product’s environmental impacts through its entire lifetime in a standard, third party-verified format, and GSA states that they are commonly used in Buy Clean programs.