Summary
Details
- Ireland
Ireland's Procurement Guidance for Public Bodies affects any company (whether a large manufacturer, small supplier, or contractor) that provides cement, concrete or structural construction products to Irish public-sector projects. It also touches design firms and consultants engaged by public bodies. For these entities, it means supplying low-carbon materials, providing product data (such as Environmental Product Declarations) and aligning with state procurement requirements on embodied carbon.
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Introduction
Ireland’s procurement guidance for public bodies was published on 28 June 2024 by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE). It gives public bodies a common approach to cutting the embodied carbon of construction projects, with a particular focus on cement and concrete, which account for almost 5% of Ireland’s emissions.
The guidance sits under the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate and the Green Public Procurement (GPP) Strategy, both of which support Climate Action Plan targets to cut embodied carbon in construction materials by at least 30% by 2030. Unlike a formal Act (e.g. Buy Clean California), this is guidance, but it is framed as a requirement for publicly supported projects, especially where Exchequer funding is significant.
It was developed by the cross-departmental Cement and Construction Sector Decarbonization Working Group, which includes the Office of Government Procurement (OGP), SEAI and several key ministries. For companies, it effectively signals that to work on Irish public projects, low-carbon concrete and better carbon data are now indispensable.
Climate-reporting implications for companies (suppliers & contractors)
The guidance does not create corporate-level reporting like CSRD, but it does create project- and product-level climate data expectations. For many suppliers, that’s functionally a new reporting obligation. Key expectations include:
Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)
Public bodies “should seek an Environmental Product Declaration, to EN 15804” (or equivalent) when directly procuring cement or concrete.
Where the contractor manages procurement, the client should seek confirmation that similar disclosure is in place.
Declarations under the Construction Products Regulation (CPR)
When available, contracting authorities should require a Declaration of Performance and Compliance under the CPR alongside the EPD.
Data for whole life-cycle GHG assessments
Large building and infrastructure projects must produce Whole Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas (WLC GHG) assessments above set thresholds (e.g. non-residential buildings >€10m from Sept 2025, dropping to €5m from June 2026).
These assessments will rely heavily on supplier data: EPDs, mix designs, quantities and BIM inputs.
Who is the guidance aimed at?
Formally, the guidance is addressed to Irish public bodies – government departments, agencies and other entities that directly procure construction or provide Exchequer funding for it. Under the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate, they must “specify low carbon construction methods and low carbon cement material as far as practicable” for directly procured or supported projects.
In practice, the guidance strongly affects:
Main contractors and subcontractors delivering public works, who must work within the clinker-substitution, CEM I and WLC-assessment rules when bidding and designing projects.
Cement, concrete and precast manufacturers, whose mix designs, EPDs and CPR declarations determine whether their products meet the expectations (e.g. 30% clinker replacement as a general norm).
Design teams and consultants (engineers, architects, QS, LCA specialists) who must apply best-practice carbon management, avoid over-specification and deliver WLC GHG assessments above the monetary thresholds.
From the government perspective, the guidance is a way to use the state’s role as largest concrete client to send a clear market signal and drive investment in low-carbon products and better design.
Current status and future outlook
As of 1 September 2024, the guidance applies to projects commencing design, meaning new public projects are expected to:
Use best-practice carbon management design,
Generally specify ≥30% clinker replacement in concrete (consistent with IS EN 206),
Avoid high-carbon CEM I except where technically justified by a qualified professional, and
Seek EN 15804 EPDs for cement and concrete.
From 2025–2026, thresholds for mandatory WLC GHG assessments for buildings and infrastructure phase in and then tighten, while SEAI prepares detailed methodologies aligned with the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. Over time, the guidance might expand beyond cement and concrete and to become more embedded in Ireland’s Capital Works Management Framework and green procurement practice overall.
Resources
DETE's official guidance page - Procurement guidance for public bodies: Reducing embodied carbon in construction
Consultant report – Reducing Embodied Carbon in Cement and Concrete Through Public Procurement in Ireland
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