The Environmental Protection Agency has selected a cement manufacturer that has major operations in Missouri to receive more than $1.3 million to report and reduce carbon emissions from construction manufacturing.
Construction materials used in buildings and other infrastructure account for more than 15% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA.
Holcim U.S. is one of 38 organizations to receive funding, which in total amounts to nearly $160 million. Holcim U.S. is the largest cement manufacturer in the country, and its Ste. Genevieve cement plant is the biggest of its kind in the U.S.
Jill Benoit, Holcim’s senior manager of grants, ESG policy and public affairs, said it’s important for construction manufacturers to be aware of the effect they have on the environment.
“It’s all for reducing our carbon footprint,” Benoit said. “We’re such a big emitter, and we’re trying to do our part. This money really goes a long way in helping us further strengthen those commitments.”
According to the EPA, the cement sector is the third-largest industrial source of pollution. The process of making cement by heating limestone releases carbon, and the use of fuels to generate power for cement manufacturing also produces greenhouse gas emissions.
To limit the environmental effects of cement production, Benoit said Holcim uses Environmental Product Declarations. These detail the impact of a construction material, providing a sense of its carbon emissions. She said EPDs assess the environmental impact of the energy used to produce the material, the extraction of it and the fuels used to transport the material to the job site, as well as promote more sustainable purchasing decisions and products.
Benoit said the funding from the EPA will go toward updating existing EPDs, creating new manufacturing processes and increasing data transparency associated with the production of construction materials.
She said that EPDs are crucial for construction manufacturing companies to lower their carbon footprint and that more manufacturers should use EPDs.
“It’s critically important that people are aware of the emissions associated with construction materials,” she said. “We have to start making commitments and putting our projects forward to make these investments and reducing our carbon footprint.”
The funding is part of the Biden-Harris administration’s Federal Buy Clean Initiative, which promotes the use of low-carbon construction materials.
Jennie Romer, deputy assistant administrator for pollution prevention at the EPA, said this funding is significant to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“We’re in a decisive decade for the world to confront climate change and avoid the worst irreversible impacts of this crisis,” Romer said. “Cleaner, greener construction materials are the future, and these grants are really filling a critical need right now when it’s needed most.”
She said the improvements made to construction manufacturing will make it easier for everyone, including federal, state and local governments and institutional buyers, to ensure construction projects use low-carbon products.
“We no longer just think about here and now, but we’re addressing that full circle of the impact of our construction decisions that we make every day as we continue to grow and build our nation.”
The EPA said the organizations selected are tentatively expected to receive the funding later this summer after completing legal and administrative requirements.
