Construction Administration

Table of Contents

Submittal and substitution review

• Review structural submittals against the embodied carbon requirements in the specifications.

• Flag proposed substitutions that would increase embodied carbon (e.g., a higher-GWP concrete mix or a product without supporting environmental data) and evaluate them on carbon alongside cost and performance.

• Confirm mix designs, mill certificates, and product data meet the GWP limits or EPD requirements stated in the contract documents.

EPD verification

• Confirm submitted EPDs are current, product-specific (or appropriately industry-average), and applicable to the actual product supplied.

• Check that the EPD scope and declared unit match what the specification requires.

• Watch for common gaps: expired EPDs, EPDs for a different plant or product line, or generic data where product-specific data was required.

Closeout and benchmarking

• Capture final as-built material quantities and the GWP of products actually installed.

• Calculate realized embodied carbon and compare against the design-phase estimate.

• Report results to firm and industry benchmarking programs (e.g., SE 2050) to improve future projects.

Supporting resources

• Reading and verifying EPDs (EC3): Use the EC3 database to confirm submitted EPDs are current, product-specific, and applicable. buildingtransparency.org

• Low-Carbon Concrete Mixes: Performance, Specs, and Submittals: Covers submittal review, EPD verification, and QC for low-carbon concrete during construction. mckissock.com

• SE 2050 Database (project reporting): Where to submit as-built structural carbon data at closeout to support benchmarking. se2050.org