Brandie Sebastian, LCACP Technical Director/Senior LCA Strategist

Education:
BS Environmental Systems Engineering – Penn State University
MS Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering – Penn State University

Years Experience: 17

Thought Leadership and Climate Policy:

  • ACLCA, Policy Committee Co-chair, Inaugural Member of the Leadership Recruitment Committee, and PCR Committee Member

  • ACLCA, Former Vice-Chair/Secretary on the Executive Committee, 2014 - 2022

  • Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, Board of Directors, 2014 – 2019, 2023 – 2024

  • Served for eight years as the technical lead for American steel industry activities and research on the topics of decarbonization technologies and pathways, GHG emissions calculation methodologies, live cycle inventory data collection, embodied carbon policies, and sustainability standards development.

  • Co-lead the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Sustainability Committee and Sustainability Expert Group.

Key Project Experience

Life Cycle Assessment

  • Technical lead for the first (2015) and third (in progress) generation North American Steel Construction Products PCRs. Served as a critical review panel member for the second generation of the same PCR published in 2020..

  • Served as a critical review panel member for a comparative LCA of steel and concrete pipes. https://www.ail.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Summary-of-LCA-Comparison-of-CSP-with-RCP.pdf

  • Project lead for cradle-to-grave analyses of numerous household product and packaging types from manufacturing facilities in the U.S. for a Fortune 500 consumer products company, as well as creation of Excel-based tools allowing the client to evaluate and compare raw material and energy scenarios to assess impacts on global warming potential and other life cycle environmental metrics.

  • Technical lead for an LCA training for corporate executives.

Carbon Accounting

  • Project Manager for a global steel GHG methodology harmonization project evaluating numerous criteria for over 50 initiatives to determine areas of alignment and developing opportunities for harmonization.

  • Senior technical advisor for “hot spot” analysis for a Fortune 500 consumer products company.  Advised the client on actions to reduce GHG emissions based on data showing highest emissions on a business unit-by-business unit basis.

  • Senior technical advisor for Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions estimates for projects in multiple sectors.

Sector Experience:

Sector experience includes materials and product manufacturing, construction, consumer products, automotive, healthcare, and food and beverage. Extensive experience conducting, managing, and serving as an ISO critical reviewer for LCA and carbon footprinting studies, developing PCRs and EPDs, strategic planning, sustainability metrics and reporting initiatives, standards development, and policy making.

Publications/Presentations:

  1. Steel PCRs in the Realm of Buy Clean, co-author, ACLCA 2023 Conference, Burlington, VT, Sept. 2023

  2. Steel Sustainability and the Path to Decarbonization, Steel Framing Industry Association webinar, co-presenter, Sept 2023

  3. Industrial Decarbonization: The Steel Industry Perspective, and Stories from Industry, ACLCA LCA Institute, virtual, April 2023

  4. LCA in Policy: The Steel Industry Perspective on Buy Clean, ACLCA Environmental Life Cycle Assessment in Design (eLCAd): Co-creating Sustained and Measurable Climate Action, virtual, March 2023

  5. Steel Production Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculation Methodology Guidelines, lead author, November 3, 2022, available at:  https://www.steel.org/2022/11/aisi-releases-ghg-emissions-guidelines-for-steel/

  6. The State of Applied Life Cycle Thinking in Green Chemistry (and Why it is Needed), co-author, and Reducing the Environmental Impact of Your Supply Chain: Trends, Targets, and Supplier Engagement, pre-conference workshop co-author, ACLCA 2021 Conference, virtual, Sept. 2021

  7. Sources of Propane Consumed in California: Argonne National Laboratory, Sep 30, 2020. The information provided in this report is suitable for use to assess the life cycle carbon intensity of propane used as a transportation fuel in California.  https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1688418

  8. Implementing Circular Economy Concepts into LCA for Plastic-containing Products, pre-conference workshop; Developing a Corporate LCA Decision Framework presentation; ACLCA 2020 Conference, virtual, Sept. 2020

  9. Assessing Unintended GHG Consequences of Vehicle Lightweighting using Attributional and Consequential LCA Approaches presentation, LCA XIX Conference, Tucson, AZ, September 2019

  10. Lessons Learned from a Whole Building Design and Optimization LCA Study presentation, Engineering Sustainability Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, April 2019 and LCA XIX Conference, September 2019

  11. ACLCA Guidance to Calculating Non-LCIA Inventory Metrics in Accordance with ISO 21930:2017, co-author, May 2019, available at: 

    https://aclca.org/aclca-iso-21930-guidance/

  12. Consequential Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Study of Automotive Lightweighting with Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) and Aluminum, lead author, ISO critically reviewed study report, published by AISI, July 2018

  13. Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas and Energy Study of Automotive Lightweighting, lead author, ISO critically reviewed study report, published by AISI, November 2017