Biden-Harris Administration announces the University of Mississippi as the recipient of $749,476 to support Clean U.S. Manufacturing of Construction Materials

Biden-Harris Administration announces the University of Mississippi as the recipient of $749,476 to support Clean U.S. Manufacturing of Construction Materials

Grants from President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act will support the renewal of American manufacturing by helping businesses produce low-carbon materials

July 17, 2024

Billions of tons of concrete, asphalt, steel, glass and other construction materials and products are required to build, maintain and operate our country's buildings and infrastructure. The U.S. leads the world in the production of clean construction materials, and these transformative awards from President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act-the largest climate investment in history--will reduce climate pollution by helping businesses measure the carbon emissions associated with extracting, transporting and manufacturing their products.

The grants will support the Biden-Harris Administration's Federal Buy Clean Initiative, which leverages the U.S. government's sway as the largest purchaser on Earth to catalyze demand for clean construction materials used in federal buildings, highways, and infrastructure projects. The grants will be awarded to businesses, universities and nonprofit organizations serving all 50 states and will help disclose the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing concrete, asphalt, glass, steel, wood and other materials.

The University of Mississippi's project will focus on investigating the potential reduction of embodied greenhouse gas emissions by implementing warm mix asphalt (WMA) technologies that integrate reclaimed asphalt pavement. To achieve this goal, the University of Mississippi will assess the effects of WMA technologies on greenhouse gas emissions through life cycle assessment and life cycle impact assessment. Additionally, the research will entail an evaluation of the mechanical properties and durability characteristics of asphalt mixtures through a comprehensive experimental program. This approach will enable the development of balanced mix design criteria using three-dimensional performance interaction diagrams.

The research will incorporate a multi-objective optimization technique and machine learning techniques to optimize the design of asphalt mixtures while considering cost, carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption.

The University of Mississippi will collaborate with various stakeholders to advance this project, including state transportation agencies, technical assistance providers, private businesses, local communities, trade associations and nonprofit organizations. This collaborative effort will ensure that the project's findings and innovations can be widely adopted and implemented. By integrating environmental and mechanical evaluations with advanced optimization techniques, this research willl identify sustainable, durable and cost-effective asphalt mixtures to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"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,"said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. "These 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 grants will help businesses develop robust, high-quality environmental product declarations (EPDs), which show environmental impacts across the life of a product and can catalyze more sustainable purchasing decisions by allowing buyers to compare. Investments in data and tools will make high-quality EPDs available for 14 material categories, which include both new and salvaged or reused materials. These efforts will help standardize and expand the market for construction products with lower greenhouse gas emissions. They will make it easier for federal, state and local governments and other institutional buyers to ensure the construction projects they fund use more climate-friendly products and materials.

EPA is also announcing expanded technical assistance opportunities to businesses, the federal government and other organizations across America. EPA will initially offer EPD development support and direct businesses to resources to help them measure and reduce the embodied carbon associated with their materials, such as those provided by the ENERGY STAR Industrial program. Federal agencies and their suppliers will be able to compare the climate impact of various materials to drive near-term greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Robust EPD data will be further strengthened by a new label program under development that will identify low carbon construction materials for the growing Buy Clean marketplace.

Together, the grants and technical assistance programs will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support American jobs. These programs are made possible by the Biden Administration's Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which creates significant investments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissionsassociated with the extraction, transport and manufacturing of construction materials and products. The Inflation Reduction Act also provides more than $2 billion to theGeneral Services Administrationto use low embodied carbon materials in the construction and renovation of federal buildings and $2 billion to theFederal Highway Administrationto incentivize or reimburse the use of low embodied carbon construction materials in certain transportation projects.

Selections are contingent upon completion of legal and administrative requirements and grantees are tentatively expected to receive their funding in late summer.

Learn more about EPA's Grant Program for Reducing Embodied Greenhouse Gases in Construction Materials and Products.

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