CT HB 6784: Will Low-Carbon Concrete Get a Boost?
Connecticut lawmakers have floated HB 6784, a bill that would dangle new incentives in front of contractors who pour low-embodied-carbon concrete. The proposal is still winding through committees, yet it already signals where public procurement is headed. Manufacturers that can back their mixes with bullet-proof Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) stand to gain specification share—everyone else risks being left on the curb.
Why Hartford’s Proposal Echoes National Shifts
The Empire State’s buy-clean concrete rules kick in this January, capping global-warming-potential (GWP) at 360 kg CO2e per cubic yard for a 4,000-psi mix (NY OGS, 2024). Federal buyers are even tougher: GSA’s IRA guidance slices the same mix to 326 kg CO2e for “top-40 percent” bids (GSA, 2025). HB 6784 copies that playbook. It tells the Department of Economic and Community Development to reward contractors who outperform regional medians.
Nuts and Bolts of HB 6784
The three-page bill does two things:
- Orders the agency to “establish a program” of financial or bidding incentives.
- Defines “eligible concrete” as mixes with demonstrably lower embodied carbon than a yet-to-be-set threshold (LegiScan, 2025).
Exact dollar figures are still blank, but prior Connecticut green-building grants have paid up to ten percent of material cost, so the upside is hardly pocket change.
How Low is “Low”?
Sponsors lean on National Ready Mixed Concrete Association averages, which peg typical 4,000-psi ready-mix in the Northeast at about 480 kg CO2e per cubic yard (NRMCA, 2023). Expect the final threshold to land 20-30 percent below that benchmark, mirroring New York.
EPDs: Your Admission Ticket
Under the draft text, contractors must prove compliance “by submitting a third-party-verified Type III EPD for each mix.” No EPD, no incentive, period. With bid cycles already compressed, waiting six months for paperwork is not an option.
Commercial Upside for Producers
Every public owner that adopts GWP caps nudges the spec market toward quantified carbon. When New York announced its mandate, producers with plant-specific EPDs saw DOT bid opportunities jump by roughly twelve percent in one quarter (state procurement dashboard, 2025). HB 6784 could unlock a similar bump across Connecticut’s $1.4 billion annual concrete market.
Data Hurdles That Trip Teams Up
Collecting twelve months of energy, admixture, quarry haul, and waste figures sounds simple until you chase invoices across three ERP systems. Spreadsheet fatigue breeds errors, and a single unit typo can nuke an LCA reviewer’s confidence.
Picking a Partner Who Won’t Slow You Down
Look for an LCA shop that:
- mines utility data directly, trimming email chases,
- can translate dozens of mix designs into one streamlined model, and
- has relationships with multiple program operators so your EPD lands where specifiers actually search.
Speed matters. If the service cannot hand you a publish-ready draft in eight weeks, your bid window may slam shut.
What Happens Next?
The Commerce Committee will decide this fall whether to advance HB 6784. If it lights green, the agency must publish rulemaking by July 1, 2026. That leaves roughly nine months for producers to gather data, run LCAs, and publish EPDs. Begin now, or watch competitors pocket the incentives while you scramble later. Missing out would be a realy expensive lesson.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does HB 6784 set concrete GWP limits yet?
No. The bill instructs the agency to define thresholds later, likely using NRMCA regional medians as the baseline.
Will a generic industry-wide EPD satisfy the bill?
Unclear, but the draft says “third-party-verified Type III,” which usually means at least product-specific data. Bank on plant-specific EPDs to stay safe.
How fast can I publish an EPD before the rules hit?
Experienced teams are turning around plant-specific concrete EPDs in eight to twelve weeks if data flows smoothly. Build a buffer for internal approvals.
What counts as embodied carbon in this context?
The GWP calculation covers cradle-to-gate stages A1-A3: cement, aggregates, admixtures, transport, and batching energy. Placement emissions are excluded unless later rules say otherwise.
About the Author
With a passion for sustainability and a love for complex data, Toby helps manufacturers efficiently collect data from across their organization and get their EPDs done right. He’s especially interested in how AI can support human expertise, helping R&D and factory teams work faster, smarter, and with less friction.
