This Request for Information (RFI) is for general fact-gathering purposes only. Interested parties will not be reimbursed for any costs related to providing information in response to this RFI. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI. BACKGROUND On September 15, 2022, in accordance with the Federal Sustainability Plan and Executive Order 14057, President Biden announced new actions under its Buy Clean Initiative to promote use of low-carbon construction materials. Through Buy Clean, the United States Federal Government as a whole will, for the first time, prioritize the use of American-made, lower-carbon construction materials in Federal procurement and Federally-funded projects. The Federal government is prioritizing low-carbon selections for the most carbon intensive materials (concrete, steel, glass, and asphalt) for construction and building projects. These four categories account for 98% of what the Federal government spends on construction materials. This action will advance America's industrial capacity to supply the goods and materials of the future, while creating good jobs for American workers. PURPOSE This RFI seeks to gather information from manufacturers on the current availability of construction materials and products (concrete, steel, asphalt, glass, aluminum, insulation, roofing materials, gypsum board, and structural engineered wood) that have substantially lower levels of embodied carbon as compared to industry averages or other estimates of similar materials. It also seeks to gain insight on the ability of manufacturers across the country to provide product-specific Type III environmental product declarations for construction materials and products. Respondents to GSA’s previous concrete and asphalt RFI released February 15, 2022 do not need to respond again. This RFI will help build understanding of the impacts of the government’s material and product sustainability initiatives on American manufacturers, small businesses, and underserved or disadvantaged communities. Growing the market for more sustainable construction materials and products may help the U.S. move toward a cleaner and more competitive industrial sector. GSA plans to use RFI responses to help inform “Buy Clean” related activities, including the $2.15B appropriated to GSA in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, P.L. 117-169, 136 Stat. 1818 for “Use of Low-Carbon Materials”. Information gathered will supplement over 130 RFI responses GSA received earlier this year on the availability of concrete and asphalt with environmental product declarations and environmentally preferable attributes. DEFINITIONS “Construction materials and products” means materials and products used to assemble, update, and improve structures such as buildings, roads, and bridges. “Buy Clean” is a procurement policy to promote the purchase of construction materials and products with lower embodied greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, taking into account the life-cycle emissions associated with the production of those materials. An “environmental product declaration” (EPD) is like a Nutrition Facts food label, but focuses on a material’s environmental and sustainable attributes. It reflects a life cycle analysis of multiple environmental impacts, including GHG emissions at all stages of production. Like the nutrition label, the information in the EPD is to inform the consumer. “Lower embodied carbon” refers to the amount of GHG emissions associated with the extraction, production, transport, and manufacturing of material. Low embodied carbon materials have less climate impact associated with mining, manufacturing and transportation compared to estimated industry averages of similar materials or products. HOW TO RESPOND Please complete the "Online Form" linked below under Attachments/Links, or email responses to
[email protected] . You can also email
[email protected] to follow the RFI results. Your response must be provided no later than 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Thursday, November 3, 2022. You are not required to answer all the questions, but the more information we receive, the better GSA’s understanding of the lower embodied carbon construction material market. Thank you for your time and contribution to this work. QUESTIONS 1. What is your company name, point of contact, telephone number, and email address? Are you a manufacturer of construction materials or products? Are your products available throughout the 50 United States (U.S.) and Washington, DC? If not, please indicate where they are currently available. (locally within one state or metro area; Northeast U.S. Census region; Midwest U.S. Census region; South U.S. Census region; West U.S. Census region; other - please specify) 2. Approximately how many employees does your company currently have? What, if any, SBA small business socio-economic category currently applies to your business? (“8a” Small Disadvantaged Business; Woman-Owned Small Business; Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business; or Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone)-Certified Small Business) If you offer lower embodied carbon materials or products, are those made or assembled in the U.S.? Any notable socioeconomic aspects of your operations, such as environmental justice or community engagement initiatives, or reduced impacts on populations historically exposed to externalities such as manufacturing emissions? 3. What strategies have you used to lower the embodied carbon of your products or materials? (choosing alternative source materials; buying source materials that have EPDs; improving your plant’s energy efficiency; improving transportation energy efficiency; other- please specify) If your company currently produces construction materials or products that are lower in embodied carbon, approximately what percentage of your construction material sales are currently for lower embodied carbon products? 4. Do you currently offer construction materials or products in the following product categories that are substantially -- and demonstrably -- lower in embodied carbon, compared to industry averages for similar materials or products? Note: Tier 1 includes the most carbon intensive materials that the Federal government purchases, which are the highest priority for Buy Clean. Information gathered on all Tiers will help the government identify additional materials for prioritization. Tier 1 Concrete (including pre-fabricated products) Steel (including structural and rebar) Flat glass (including window assemblies) Asphalt Tier 2 Aluminum (including curtain walls and storefronts) Insulation (including enclosure, equipment, piping, and acoustical) Roofing materials Gypsum board Tier 3 Structural engineered wood (including mass timber and cross-laminated timber) 5. Does your company currently track GHG emissions from the manufacturing process? If yes, has it developed a product-specific EPD for any of your construction materials or products? Which one(s)? If possible, please include a link to one or more of your EPDs. What input data sources do you use, and are there gaps where specific necessary data is unavailable? 6. If you do not have an EPD, how do you measure and document lower embodied carbon, compared to industry averages? (certification system (please specify); peer-reviewed study; other report generated by a third party; Other - please specify) Does your company participate in industry-wide greenhouse gas emissions benchmarking? If yes, through what organization? If not, are there certain barriers to developing industry-wide benchmarking capacity that you are aware of? 7. How does the cost of your company's lower embodied carbon materials or products compare to that of conventional equivalents used to serve the same purpose? (lower embodied carbon versions are cheaper by 20%+; 10-19% cheaper; 5-9% cheaper; about the same (+/- 4% or less); lower embodied carbon versions are more expensive by 5-9%; 10-19% more expensive; 20%+ more expensive; other - please specify) 8. Is the strength and durability of your products tested using standard methods, such as standards developed through an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) process? Has your company or its customers or users experienced any quality, workability, or durability challenges with lower embodied carbon construction materials and products? If so, please explain. 9. What, if any, are the technical, economic, or regulatory obstacles to reducing the embodied carbon of more of your materials or products? Please list any resources, information, or actions (e.g. from the public sector, trade associations, or nonprofit organizations) that could help your industry reduce its carbon footprint from manufacturing. Please share any implementation lessons learned or best practices associated with your development, manufacturing, and marketing of lower carbon materials or products.