New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the NY Department of Transportation had received a Federal Highway Administration grant to advance the use of low carbon materials in construction projects.
The grant will help the department in its ongoing efforts to identify and use materials that have a lower level of embodied carbon which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, officials said. Part of the Low-Carbon Transportation Materials Grants program established under the Inflation Reduction Act, the grant will help the department develop and implement outreach and training for agency staff and industry stakeholders; evaluate low carbon materials; develop and update technical specification to allow for the use of the materials; and establish a process to identify, verify and use materials with lower levels of embodied carbon.
“Whether it’s droughts, wildfires or record-breaking snowstorms, New Yorkers are feeling the effects of climate change in their daily lives, and these low carbon grants are an important tool in our efforts to stop it,” Hochul said. “This funding from the Biden-Harris Administration will help us use cleaner materials in our transportation projects, which will reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that are released into the atmosphere and advance our battle against climate change.”
The department said embodied carbon refers to the estimate of the greenhouse gas emissions produced during the stages of a building or infrastructure’s life cycle. Embodied carbon accounts for about a third of the carbon emissions in the construction industry. Comparison when electing and using lower embodied carbon materials requires transparency around the embodied carbon associated with a given material or product, officials said.
“Governor Kathy Hochul has made it clear that the fight against global warming demands that we leave no stone unturned in our efforts to find solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector,” New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said. “Embodied carbon is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and these federal funds will help NYSDOT continue to lead the way in identifying and utilizing more climate friendly materials so we can safeguard our environment for future generations.”