The General Services Administration has issued federal requirements for the use of concrete and asphalt as materials for the agency’s construction, modernization and paving projects nationwide.
GSA said Wednesday it worked with other agencies and more than 130 construction industry members to develop standards for the two building products as part of an initiative to promote clean manufacturing, catalyze clean energy innovation and reduce climate change impact.
Under the new rules, contractors must use concrete that was produced while not exceeding the agency’s greenhouse gas emission limits and adopt at least two environmentally preferable techniques when manufacturing and installing asphalt.
Contractors are now also required to submit a summary of primary environmental impacts throughout their building materials’ extraction, transportation and manufacturing.
The agency asked for market insights to inform the standards development effort through a pair of requests for information on SAM.gov and will incorporate the requirements in project solicitations.
“The feedback we received from industry is proof positive that combating climate change is also an opportunity to boost American innovation,” said GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan.
“We were impressed by the industry’s overall ‘can-do’ response to our requests for information, and by the fact that over 44% of the manufacturers that responded were small businesses.”