The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a new round of grants worth nearly $160 million to support the clean manufacturing of domestically produced construction materials. 

The funds are being distributed to 38 entities, including the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Austin, and nine other institutions of higher learning. Holcim’s U.S. operation, the American Wood Council, the Hemp Building Institute, and the International Living Future Institute are also included on the list of grantees, among others. The grants range up to $10 million in total. 

The grants are meant to support the Biden Administration’s Federal Buy Clean Initiative, whose task force issued first recommendations for low-carbon construction materials in September 2022. They will be used by each entity in order to develop Environmental Product Declarations (or EPDs), a data-driven consumer label that helps architects make decisions on green product procurements in 14 different categories.

The EPA's Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe commented: “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.” 

In the end, the initiative will contribute to the building sector's quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The grants will also support important workforce development efforts that will in turn further propel industry-wide efforts in a number of different areas. Another notable is MIT's almost $1 million initiative that will create a new academic hub for research into rigorous reused steel EPDs.