Publication
Procurement guidance for public bodies: Reducing embodied carbon in construction
From Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Published on
Last updated on
The government has provided the below procurement guidance to public bodies, required to promote the reduction of embodied carbon in publicly supported construction projects, and in particular the procurement of cement and concrete.
Public bodies are instructed to reduce the embodied carbon in procured construction projects and construction materials under the Public Sector Mandate and the Green Public Procurement Strategy.
The guidance for public bodies is outlined in full below. This information video introduces the required approach and provides a practical guide to implementation:
Under the Climate Action Plan, all public bodies are required to specify low carbon construction methods and low carbon cement material as far as practicable for directly procured or supported construction projects. The Cement and Construction Sector Decarbonisation Working Group considers this requires that, at a minimum, for projects commencing design from 1 September 2024:
1. Public bodies should be guided by best-practice carbon management design approaches, including avoidance of over-specification of materials, when undertaking or procuring construction projects.
2. Concrete products procured by public bodies, or used in publicly produced construction projects, including poured or pre-cast products, should in general specify a minimum of 30% clinker replacement, consistent with IS EN 206, except where a technical justification is made by a suitably qualified professional to the satisfaction of the procurer.
3. High-carbon CEM I cement products should not be procured by public bodies, or used in publicly produced construction projects, except where a technical justification is made by a suitably qualified professional to the satisfaction of the procurer.
4. Public bodies should seek an Environmental Product Declaration, to an EN 15804 standard, or equivalent when directly procuring cement or concrete products. Confirmation of a similar disclosure should be sought by public bodies, where a contracted party is managing materials procurement. When available, public bodies should require a Declaration of Performance and Compliance under the Construction Product Regulation.
5. From 1 September 2025, public bodies that are commencing design for new buildings for projects in receipt of exchequer funding in excess of €10 million in the case of non-residential buildings, or in excess of €60 million in the case of residential buildings, should produce or procure a Whole Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions assessment in accordance technical guidance to be provided by SEAI in 2025, consistent with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. Subject to a review of the first step, from 1 June 2026, projects in receipt of exchequer funding in excess of €5 million in the case of non-residential buildings, or in excess of €30 million in the case of residential buildings, should produce such an assessment. Projects below this scale should also consider implementing this assessment.
6. Public bodies procuring infrastructure projects (construction other than buildings) in receipt of exchequer funding in excess of €60 million, should produce or procure a Whole Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions assessment for their project. From 1 January 2026, projects in receipt of exchequer funding in excess of €10 million should produce such an assessment. Public bodies should identify the most appropriate, available methodology to ensure that the project’s embodied carbon is suitably interrogated, and applicable to the infrastructure or project-type. Projects below this scale should also consider implementing this assessment. Data produced for Building Information Modelling (BIM), introduced under the Capital Works Management Framework can, in most cases, also be used to produce this assessment.
The consultant’s report 'Reducing embodied carbon in cement and concrete through Public Procurement in Ireland' informed the new government approach.