Peter Bacas is an environmental protection specialist at the EPA who has experience sourcing, specifying, and reviewing EPDs on public procurement projects to report on the environmental impacts of construction materials. During his time with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Peter established means and methods for estimating the embodied carbon associated with Concrete, Asphalt, and Structural Steel products on all construction projects while also draft specification and standard contract clause updates to accounting for the reporting and procuring of lower embodied carbon construction materials. Now with EPA, Peter is leveraging his expertise to improve the fundamental data quality of EPDs through working with and leading discussions on PCRs across the federal government. He is currently one of the leads with EPA’s label program (data quality improvement and GWP threshold setting for the label) as well as participating in several PCRs. He regularly conducts reviews and represents EPA in externally posted comments on PCRs, as well as various federal government wide and international efforts surrounding EPDs, LCAs, and PCRs. Peter is a graduate of Drew University with a Bachelors in Business and is currently completing his Masters in Sustainability at Harvard University’s Extension School (expected completion Fall 2024).
Torey Brooks is an embodied carbon specialist with the EPA implementing provisions under the Inflation Reduction Act. In this role she is focused on the enhancement and availability of EPDs and the increased procurement of low carbon construction materials on public projects. She has a background as a Designer and Sustainability Coordinator working on private and federal green buildings, including conducting Whole Building Life Cycle Assessments and working on lower embodied carbon through material selection and specification. She has education and experience in conducting carbon footprint analysis for businesses and municipalities under the GHG protocol, with a specialty in indirect Scope 3 emissions. She is involved on the National Council of Structural Engineering Associations (NCSEA) Sustainable Design Committee, and holds a bachelor's and master's degree in engineering from the University of New Hampshire. She has a passion for developing a new generation of engineers who have an understanding of sustainable practice, and does so as an adjunct professor at UNH teaching Green Building Design. Torey is LEED AP accreditation and involved in embodied carbon education and policy on a local level in her home state of New Hampshire.
Ga-Young Park leads US EPA’s Center for Corporate Climate Leadership, which supports organizations with measuring and managing greenhouse gas emissions. Formerly, Ga-Young was an energy efficiency professional and led specification development for ENERGY STAR residential appliances and managed partnerships for the ENERGY STAR New Homes program at the US EPA. She also led operations and strategy at Cyclone Energy Group, a firm that delivers consulting and engineering services for the commercial building sector in Chicago. Ga-Young has a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment.