Summary
Details
- Minnesota
Buy Clean Minnesota applies to eligible projects funded by the state, including:
- New state buildings over 50,000 ft².
- Large renovations where costs exceed 50% of the building’s assessed value.
- New construction or reconstruction of at least two lane-miles of trunk highway.
Vendors supplying eligible materials (concrete, asphalt paving mixtures, structural steel, carbon steel rebar) to the above projects will be required to provide EPDs and comply with GWP limits as the program is implemented.
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Introduction
Minnesota’s Construction Materials; Environmental Analysis statute (Minn. Stat. 16B.312) – often referred to as Buy Clean Minnesota or the Buy Clean and Buy Fair Minnesota Act – was enacted in 2023 as part of an energy-policy package. It directs the Commissioner of Administration, working with the Department of Transportation (MnDOT), to use public procurement to cut embodied carbon in key construction materials.
The law defines eligible materials as carbon steel rebar, structural steel, concrete and asphalt paving mixtures, and eligible projects as large state buildings and trunk-highway projects above specified size thresholds. For these projects, the Commissioner must set maximum acceptable GWP values for each eligible material, with concrete in buildings covered by January 15, 2026, and rebar, structural steel, asphalt mixtures and concrete pavement covered by January 15, 2028.
Unlike voluntary building-rating tools, Buy Clean Minnesota is designed as a binding procurement rule: once GWP limits and bidding procedures are in place, materials that do not meet the limits will not be acceptable on covered state projects. The Environmental Standards Procurement Task Force (“Buy Clean Task Force”) was created to advise on program design, including which materials to cover, how to set limits and how to integrate EPD-based reporting into state purchasing.
Reporting implications for companies
For suppliers and contractors, Buy Clean Minnesota centres on EPD-based climate reporting tied directly to bidding on state-funded projects. In practical terms, companies can expect to:
Provide supply-chain-specific, Type III EPDs for eligible materials used on covered projects. EPDs must be consistent with ISO 14025 and ISO 21930.
Demonstrate compliance with GWP limits using these EPDs. The Commissioner must set maximum acceptable GWP values using recognised EPD databases.
Prepare for broader EPD coverage than immediate GWP limits. The 2025 Task Force report recommends requiring EPDs for a wider set of concrete, asphalt and steel products, including some where limits are still “to be determined”, to build a robust data set ahead of future tightening of standards.
In practice, manufacturers that want to serve Minnesota’s state construction market will need up-to-date, facility-specific EPDs for concrete, asphalt and steel products, while contractors and design teams must start building these EPD requirements into specifications, bids and procurement workflows to stay eligible and competitive as Minnesota’s Buy Clean rules and GWP limits phase in.
Current status and future outlook
As of December 2025, Buy Clean Minnesota is in the implementation and design phase. Minnesota Statutes 16B.312 is in force, the Environmental Standards Procurement Task Force (“Buy Clean Task Force”) is active, and a pilot program is underway to collect voluntary EPD and supply-chain data for selected products used by state agencies. In 2025, grants of up to $49,999 for individual manufacturers and $150,000 for groups of manufacturers were awarded by the Task Force to support the development of EPDs.
The Task Force’s December 2025 legislative report recommends that full program requirements – including EPD submission and compliance with GWP limits for specified concrete, asphalt and steel products – apply to eligible state-funded projects with letting dates on or after July 15, 2026, with limits reviewed and tightened every two to three years. It also suggests phasing in additional materials over time (such as lumber and mass timber, glass, insulation and aluminium) and aligning data systems with national Buy Clean efforts.
For companies, this means that EPDs are already becoming important – through pilot projects and grant-funded work – and will likely become a formal precondition for supplying concrete, asphalt and steel into major state building and highway projects in the second half of the decade. Firms that invest early in high-quality EPDs and lower-GWP products will be better positioned as Minnesota moves from piloting to mandatory Buy Clean procurement.
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