The Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois Center for Transportation signed an intergovernmental agreement on September 10, 2026, to support the development of a Low-Carbon Transportation Materials Program in Illinois.
IDOT is expanding its use of low-carbon transportation materials by requiring environmental product declarations for ready-mix concrete, asphalt and steel, with the goal of building regional global warming potential benchmarks. By making GWP data part of procurement decisions, IDOT aims to better understand and eventually reduce the embodied carbon in its infrastructure materials.
Under the three-year agreement, ICT will work with IDOT to collect, review and analyze EPDs for construction materials and products used in transportation projects. The IDOT specific EPDs will allow IDOT to consider environmental impact alongside cost and performance when selecting materials for roadways.
The ICT agreement is part of a grant awarded to IDOT from the Federal Highway Administration to expand the use of clean construction materials. IDOT is one of five state transportation agencies to receive funding.
ICT will provide technical guidance for IDOT’s EPD specifications and procedures, assist with developing an incentive program to encourage EPD submission and establish a database structure for managing the collected information. The center will process data and work with the IDOT team to group materials into comparable categories. In addition, ICT will provide data analysis and modeling to assist the IDOT team with establishing benchmarks.
The agreement also includes long-term research on low-carbon transportation materials used in LCTM construction projects, including performance of LCTM construction materials versus traditional construction materials.
“This agreement will position Illinois as a leader among states implementing sustainable standards, while building a reliable, consistent environmental database to support the quantitative measurement of environmental impact from transportation infrastructure,” said Imad Al-Qadi, ICT director.
“By combining LCTM construction project research, data analysis and long-term performance assessment, we can assist IDOT in making informed decisions that support resilient transportation infrastructure while reducing environmental impacts,” he added.