GECA Certified InfraBuild Steel Products Achieve Lower Embodied Carbon Through Renewable Energy Sources
GECA certified licensee InfraBuild has released updated Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for its range of GECA certified reinforcing steel and merchant bar products, demonstrating significant reductions in Global Warming Potential (GWP) across much of its portfolio. GECA is always thrilled to celebrate and recognise partners who use innovation to boost their sustainability outcomes.
InfraBuild’s improvements follow the company's transition to approximately 50% renewable electricity at its Laverton Steel Mill through a Victorian wind farm Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), highlighting how strategic investment in renewable energy can deliver measurable environmental outcomes.
For architects, engineers, contractors and procurement professionals, the updated EPDs provide further evidence that independently certified products can continue to improve their environmental performance over time.
Significant reductions across GECA certified products
InfraBuild's 2026 EPDs show measurable reductions in embodied carbon across several products certified under GECA's Steel & Steel Products standard.
Highlights include:
Reinforcing Bar (500E): 30% reduction in GWP
SENSE 600® TrenchMesh™: 29% reduction
SENSE 600® Reinforcing Bar: 20% reduction
Merchant Bar: 16% reduction
Reinforcing Bar (500N): 13% reduction
Reinforcing Rod: 11% reduction
Reinforcing Mesh: 8% reduction
These results demonstrate how continuous investment in manufacturing improvements can translate into tangible environmental benefits while maintaining independent third-party certification.
"Reducing embodied carbon is a priority for the construction sector, and it's encouraging to see manufacturers like InfraBuild continuing to innovate meaningful improvements," said Josh Begbie, CEO of GECA.
"These updated GWP figures demonstrate measurable progress, while GECA certification provides assurance that lifecycle carbon is being considered alongside a much broader range of health, social and sustainability criteria."
Independent certification that goes beyond carbon
EPDs play an important role in helping specifiers compare products by transparently reporting quantified environmental impacts.
However, an EPD alone does not indicate whether a product is environmentally preferable.
That's where GECA certification adds value.
InfraBuild's reinforcing steel and merchant bar products are independently certified to GECA's Steel & Steel Products standard, which assesses products against comprehensive lifecycle requirements covering far more than embodied carbon.
The standard includes criteria relating to:
Responsible sourcing of materials
Energy and resource efficiency
Waste minimisation and recycling
Hazardous substances and emissions
Product quality and fitness for purpose
Human health and social responsibility
This independent assessment provides confidence that certified products have been evaluated against robust environmental, human health and social criteria—not simply their carbon footprint.
Supporting better specification decisions
Together, updated EPDs and GECA certification provide specifiers with complementary tools for making informed sustainability decisions.
The EPDs deliver transparent, independently verified environmental data, while GECA certification demonstrates that products meet rigorous lifecycle sustainability requirements that extend well beyond carbon accounting.
This combination supports more credible procurement decisions and helps projects pursuing sustainability outcomes, including Green Star and Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) ratings.
Continuing a journey of improvement
The updated EPDs reinforce InfraBuild's ongoing commitment to reducing the environmental impact of its steel products while maintaining the high standards required for independent third-party certification.
For GECA, it also demonstrates an important principle: sustainability certification is not a one-off achievement but part of a process of continual improvement.
As manufacturers invest in cleaner technologies and more sustainable production methods, independently certified products can continue to evolve, delivering even greater environmental benefits for customers and the built environment.
Explore InfraBuild's GECA certified products in the GECA Product Directory.