The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provided $3.375 billion to our agency to invest in federal buildings. Section 60503 appropriated $2.15 billion for the procurement of low embodied carbon construction materials.
We have aligned this investment with Trump Administration priorities (including from EO 14154) through consultation with OMB, and may continue on projects in core assets where no cost premium is realized.
Our LEC investments support construction material manufacturers across the country, help us purchase essential materials that help right-size the portfolio, support domestic mining and processing of non-fuel minerals, strengthen U.S. supply chains, and promote economic growth and innovation within America’s manufacturing industry.
Our process for identifying qualifying projects
We selected projects to deliver work across the country that meets our most pressing repair and construction needs, and aligns with Administration priorities including by investing in land ports of entry along America’s borders with Canada and Mexico.
Buy American requirements and IRA LEC requirements
All materials and products procured for our projects must comply with all applicable federal laws. GSA IRA LEC materials requirements build on the continued application of existing laws such as the Buy American Act of 1933 (updated via the Build America, Buy American Act, which was enacted as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021), and the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 .
For our $2.15 billion appropriation for LEC materials (IRA section 60503-funded procurements), existing trade, procurement, and domestic content-related laws will be applied first, before applying our IRA LEC material requirements
Environmental product declarations
EPDs provide third-party verified, standardized documentation of a material’s global warming potential throughout all relevant stages of its manufacturing. Our approach is based on EPA’s Interim Determination [PDF], which explicitly requires that materials demonstrate compliance with GWP limits through a third-party verified EPD. To help promote robust EPDs, we have joined Product Category Rule committees, which write the rules for what goes into EPDs. We are also engaged with an interagency procurement center representative working group EPA leads. This work enables us to partner with industry to promote PCRs that result in more robust product- and facility-specific EPDs with higher-quality data, more open transparency, and greater reliability.
As we continue to implement our $2.15 billion IRA LEC program, more projects will seek qualifying LEC materials. This will underline to industry the importance of obtaining robust EPDs, and will strengthen our ability to drive market change. Our government-leading investments in low embodied carbon construction materials will be complemented by EPA’s “C-MORE: Construction Material Opportunities to Reduce Emissions” program.
U.S. General Services Administration