Previously, G3 went into detail about LCA and EPD Sustainability, explaining what they are and when and how they will affect the construction industry. Let’s take a closer look at the laws that require these changes and the effects these laws will have. State and federal
laws are being changed to make sustainable engineering more visible.
What are the Laws, Bills, and Legislations being placed to Enforce LCA and EPD Sustainability?
Below are the following LCA and EPD Sustainability Laws, Bills, and Legislations that G3 is aware of:
President Biden’s Buy Clean Initiative – As directed by the president’s December 2021 executive order on federal sustainability, the task force will promote the use of construction materials with lower embodies emissions and pollutants across their lifecycle – including each stage of the manufacturing process. The task force is charged to identify materials, such as steel and concrete, for consideration in federal procurement and federally-funded projects.
AB2953 – Local Governments have specifications for recycling of construction materials, such as road base and subbase, hot mix asphalt, and concrete. This bill, which was supported by CalCima, exempts small cities with populations of 25,000 or less and counties with 100,000 or less.
Newsom Climate Legislation – Newsom has proposed a 5-point carbon reduction package to the legislature in the final weeks of the legislative session. This proposal would codify carbon neutrality to reduce climate pollution, adopt 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target from 40% to 55% below the 1990 level, and advance natural and engineering technologies to remove carbon pollution.
Caltrans EPD Implementation Project – The purpose of the Caltrans Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Implementation Project is to collect EPDs for materials incorporated into construction projects in order to quantify the Global Warming Potential (GWP) emissions in the manufacturing of those materials for our transportation system.
How are LCA and EPD Sustainability Laws Impacting us?
These legislations will give another major task to producers and contractors. We’re leaning towards a future where mix designs must have an EPD included to bid or continue working on a project. This may open an individual in their respective company to be educated in sustainability and go through with the LCA process.
G3 Quality is an elite team of engineers and professionals who provide world-class quality management, pavement engineering, materials design, construction inspection, and testing on infrastructure projects throughout California and the Western United States. We are here to provide any professional services, consulting or guidance on future requirements in sustainability for any upcoming projects. For more information, please reach out to our Staff Engineer, Samuel Adan by email at sadan@g3quality.com or by phone at 562.321.9859.