GSA R7 IRA Industry Day presentation 8-2-2023.pdf

GSA Public Buildings Service

Greater Southwest Region

Public Buildings Service (PBS)

Region 7 LEC and Pilot Program Information Overview

Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Project Information

Industry Day

August 2, 2023

Agenda

Kickoff and Introductions

What is the Inflation Reduction Act?

Region 7 Pilot Projects

What are Low Embodied Carbon Materials?

Resources

Next Steps

Discussion

Introductions

John “JD” Dennis PBS Inflation Reduction Act Program Management Office

Walter Tersch Sustainability Program Manager, Office of Architecture and Engineering

Kendall Waldie / Kathren Santikos / Adena Alarcon Region 7 Design and Construction

Ashley Seffernick / Daria Giannotti Office of Acquisition Management

Carolyn Smith / Marsha Howard

Jason Gerloff / Jessica Garrett Region 7 Acquisition Management Division

Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)

Background

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 was signed on August 16, 2022 and makes the single largest investment in climate and energy in American history.

Enabling America to tackle the climate crisis ✓

Advancing environmental justice

Securing America’s position as a world leader in domestic clean energy and technology manufacturing

Putting the United States on a pathway to achieving the Administration’s climate goals, including a net-zero operational emissions federal building portfolio by 2045, and net zero emissions procurement by 2050.

IRA Program Goals and Objectives

REDUCING

HARMFUL

EMISSIONS

Avoid millions of metric tons of greenhouse gases through the use of low-embodied carbon construction materials and improved energy-efficient building operations.

CREATING GOOD-

PAYING JOBS

Resulting projects will support an estimated

9,500 annual economy-wide jobs across the length of the projects (approximately

43,000 total job-years).

IMPROVING

EFFICIENCY AND

REDUCING LONG-

TERM COSTS

By making federal buildings more energy efficient, these projects will reduce operating costs and save money for taxpayers over the long run.

CATALYZING

AMERICAN

INNOVATION

By increasing demand for low-carbon materials and emerging/ sustainable technology, these investments will strengthen

America’s domestic industrial base while catalyzing innovation and job growth in homegrown industries that produce next-generation materials, products, and equipment.

Total GSA IRA Funding - $3,375,000,000

Summary of GSA IRA Programs for low-embodied carbon materials in construction and renovation projects.

*Funding available through 9/30/26* for emerging and sustainable technologies.

*Funding available through

9/30/26* for measures to convert GSA facilities into High-

Performance Green Buildings *Funding available through 9/30/31*

$2.15 billion $975 million $250 million

GSA’s appropriations are in IRA sections 60502, 60503, and 60504.

https://www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ169/PLAW-117publ169.pdf#page=267

Low Embodied Carbon (LEC) Materials

Embodied carbon is the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from the mining, harvesting, processing, manufacturing, transporting, and installing construction materials. (Current focus is “cradle to factory gate”.)

• Must use materials that have substantially lower levels of embodied GHGs, compared to estimated industry averages of similar materials or products

Region 7 LEC Pilot Projects

Ysleta Land Port of Entry (LPOE), Ysleta, TX Paving will use LEC concrete, asphalt and steel

Construction Services (Design Bid Build Project)

Estimated Cost of Construction: $5M to $10M

Target RFP issuance to bidders: October 2023

Planned award date: March 2024

The LPOE processes privately owned vehicles, commercial traffic and pedestrians.

The port operates 24 hours a day, seven days per week.

Intent is for the select repair and replacement of approximately 725,000 square feet (SF) of concrete pavement. The repairs consist mostly of joint sealing, patching, and the select replacement of 8” – 10” thick reinforced concrete.

Kika de la Garza LPOE, Pharr, TX Paving will use LEC concrete, asphalt and steel

Design and Construction Services (Design Build Project)

Estimated Cost of Construction: $5M to $10M

Target RFP issuance to bidders: January 2024

Planned award date: April 2024

Region 7 LEC Pilot Projects

The LPOE serves both passenger and commercial vehicles.

Intent of the project is to have selective repair and replacement of approximately 300,000 SF of concrete pavement. The repairs consist mostly of select repairs of 8” to 13” thick reinforced concrete. Areas that are currently asphalt are to be converted to concrete.

World Trade Bridge LPOE, Laredo, TX Paving will use LEC concrete, asphalt and steel

Design and Construction Services (Design Build Project)

Estimated Cost of Construction: $10M to $20M

Target RFP issuance to bidders: January 2024

Planned award date: May 2024

This commercial vehicle-only port of entry processes about 8,200 vehicles each day.

Intent of the project is to repair and/or replace approximately 887,000 SF of deteriorating or damaged rigid concrete pavement. The repairs consist mostly of joint sealing, patching, and the select replacement of 8” – 10” thick reinforced concrete.

Areas include commercial traffic roadways, commercial dock areas and a non intrusive inspection access roadway.

Region 7 LEC Pilot Projects

Region 7 LEC Pilot Projects ( ) and construction materials with environmental product declarations

Ysleta, TX

Laredo, TX

Pharr, TX

The U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) issued an Interim

Determination in December 2022 to guide GSA and the Federal Highway

Administration on selecting IRA-qualifying materials and products.

For each material, GSA established GWP limits and announced them in May for:

- the best-performing 20% of materials in terms of embodied carbon,

- the best performing 40% of materials in terms of embodied carbon (Top

40% Limits), and

- better than industry average (Better

Than Average Limit).

More Details on Low Embodied Carbon Materials

Approved LEC Materials

Asphalt | Concrete | Glass | Steel https://www.epa.gov/inflation-reduction-act/inflation-reduction-act-programs-fight-climate-change-reducing-embodied#federal https://www.epa.gov/inflation-reduction-act/inflation-reduction-act-programs-fight-climate-change-reducing-embodied#federal https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/gsa-pilots-buy-clean-inflation-reduction-act-requirements-for-low-embodied-carbon-construction-materials-05162023

How is embodied carbon measured?

o An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is an independently-verified summary, created by a manufacturer, of how a product impacts the environment during its life cycle.

o EPDs enable purchasers to better understand a product’s environmental impacts so they can make more informed product selections.

o In an EPD, the GHG emissions associated with a product is called global warming potential (GWP) and is measured as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).

How is Embodied Carbon Reported?

The Business Case for EPDs o GSA's P100 Facilities Standards require concrete and asphalt EPDs for

ALL GSA projects that use at least 10 cubic yards of a mix type.

• Sections 4.8.5 "Low Embodied Carbon Concrete" and 4.8.6

“Environmentally Preferable Asphalt”.

• These requirements are also in GSA's contract templates.

https://www.gsa.gov/system/files/P100%202022%20Addendum%20Final_.pdf#page=159 https://www.gsa.gov/system/files/P100%202022%20Addendum%20Final_.pdf#page=160

● EPDs are at the heart of all state and Federal Buy

Clean Initiatives, and are the key to receiving any low-carbon material appropriations.

○ For example, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

(IRA) allocates $2.15 billion to GSA and $2 billion to the U.S. DOT’s Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA) alone, exclusively for low-carbon concrete, steel, glass, and asphalt with

EPDs.

● GSA considers offerors’ embodied carbon reduction plans during its source selection process to choose a winning bidder.

● Other public agencies also consider whether materials have EPDs and low carbon.

○ TxDOT participates in FHWA’s Climate

Challenge

○ The New York Low Embodied Carbon Concrete

Act and New Jersey’s low embodied carbon concrete requirements offer bid discounts and tax credits to compliant offerors.

https://www.sustainability.gov/buyclean/ https://www.sustainability.gov/buyclean/ https://www.sustainability.gov/buyclean/ http://gsa.gov/ira http://gsa.gov/ira https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/inflation-reduction-act/ https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/inflation-reduction-act/ https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/inflation-reduction-act/ https://highways.dot.gov/newsroom/fhwa-steps-efforts-tackle-greenhouse-gas-emissions-highway-construction-71-million-climate https://highways.dot.gov/newsroom/fhwa-steps-efforts-tackle-greenhouse-gas-emissions-highway-construction-71-million-climate

● Market demand for EPDs continues to increase. For example, projects pursuing

LEED certification often target “Environmental Product Declarations” points.

○ EPDs are also key for calculating a building’s whole-building "embodied carbon" footprint associated with material selections

○ GSA’s new construction and major modernizations target a 20% whole-building embodied carbon reduction. (P100 section 1.9.2.9 “Decarbonization”)

● The business decision to develop an EPD may yield a competitive advantage.

○ It distinguishes your company's offerings, shows market leadership, can get your products listed in popular EPD databases, and can help increase efficiency.

● All IRA low-carbon funding received by GSA ($2.15B) and FHWA ($2B) requires an EPD. There is no waiver process for IRA-funded materials.

● Direct EPD and embodied carbon questions to embodiedcarbon@gsa.gov.

https://www.usgbc.org/credits/new-construction-core-and-shell-schools-new-construction-retail-new-construction-data-15?return=/credits/New%20Construction/v4.1 https://www.gsa.gov/system/files/P100%202022%20Addendum%20Final_.pdf#page=39 https://www.oneclicklca.com/article-the-business-case-for-investing-in-epds/

How to get an Environmental Product Declaration* o Climate Earth is one popular tool for generating concrete EPDs. With Climate Earth, it costs about

$7,000 and takes about four months to generate initial EPDs.

• Theta EPD for Concrete and Cement is another new platform for efficiently construction material EPDs.

o Asphalt: Emerald Eco-Label EPD Tool o EPDs get easier, quicker, and less expensive after the first one.

• Automated links to your existing data help.

o This general “How to get an EPD” overview gives more detail, including on EPD Program Operators.

*GSA does not endorse these or any other third-party resources.

https://climateearth.com/ https://thetaepd.com/signup/concrete https://asphaltepd.org/ https://www.buildingtransparency.org/resources/how-get-epd/

Embodied Carbon Resources

• gsa.gov/ira

• GSA’s Pilot IRA LEC

Requirements

• GSA LEC Pilot Fact

Sheet

• GSA IRA LEC FAQs

• Federal Buy Clean

Initiative

• GSA Sustainable

Facilities Tool:

Embodied Carbon Page http://gsa.gov/ira https://www.gsa.gov/cdnstatic/Interim%20IRA%20LEC%20Material%20Requirements%20-%20used%20in%20Pilot%20May%202023%2005162023.pdf https://www.gsa.gov/cdnstatic/Interim%20IRA%20LEC%20Material%20Requirements%20-%20used%20in%20Pilot%20May%202023%2005162023.pdf https://www.gsa.gov/system/files/Fact%20Sheet%20-%20LEC%20pilot%20May%202023%20PDF.pdf https://www.gsa.gov/system/files/Fact%20Sheet%20-%20LEC%20pilot%20May%202023%20PDF.pdf https://www.gsa.gov/system/files/FAQs-on-GSAs-IRA-LEC-Material-Requirements.pdf https://www.sustainability.gov/buyclean/ https://www.sustainability.gov/buyclean/ https://sftool.gov/learn/about/658/embodied-carbon https://sftool.gov/learn/about/658/embodied-carbon https://sftool.gov/learn/about/658/embodied-carbon

The Source Selection Process and

Embodied Carbon

● A source selection evaluation factor will be included that favors the provision of IRA-Eligible Materials with the lowest possible GWP

● Offerors will propose materials that meet Top 20% Limits, Top 40% Limits, or Better Than Average Limits and will be scored accordingly

○ Materials meeting the Top 20% limit are scored higher

● EPDs to support the proposed materials will be required as reflected in the solicitation for each project.

How to find GSA opportunities

Helpful links:

o GSA Forecast of Contract Opportunities: Acquisition Gateway o Open Market opportunities over $25,000: sam.gov (search contract opportunities) o Prepare for Getting on the GSA Schedule: MAS Roadmap https://hallways.cap.gsa.gov/app/#/dv/federal-business-forecast https://sam.gov/content/home https://www.gsa.gov/buy-through-us/purchasing-programs/gsa-multiple-award-schedule/mas-roadmap

Next Steps

August 21: Issuance of Sources Sought

NOTICE – OPEN TO ALL CONCERNS .

September 8: Due Date for Letter of Interest

Anticipated Submission Requirements:

Experience of Similar Projects

Past Performance of Similar Projects

EPD Requirements

Design Portion: Civil Engineer with TxDOT experience

(commercial concrete pavements)

Note: All dates are anticipated dates and are subject to change.

Please continue to review SAM.gov http://sam.gov

Thank You!

QUESTIONS?

Embodied carbon policy contact: embodiedcarbon@gsa.gov

Contact about these specific projects: jason.gerloff@gsa.gov

General GSA IRA program questions: IRAexternalinquiries@gsa.gov mailto:embodiedcarbon@gsa.gov mailto:jason.gerloff@gsa.gov mailto:IRAexternalinquiries@gsa.gov