Dr. Mark Grey

The Building Industry Association of Southern California, Inc.’s (BIASC) Director of Environmental Affairs, Mark Grey, Ph.D., celebrated his tenth year with the organization. Dr. Grey, who also works as the Technical Director for the Construction Industry Coalition on Water Quality (CICWQ), brings a wealth of knowledge to BIASC and CICWQ in the fields of water and air quality protection, having worked in environmental science for the past 30 years in the Pacific Northwest and California. Dr. Grey represents the interests of BIASC and CICWQ members in California, with an emphasis on water quality policy and regulatory matters.

“I work with our members and their consultants to understand complex water quality regulation and how we can do business within that structure,” Dr. Grey mentioned when asked about his role with BIASC. “And I spend a significant amount of time communicating the technical basis for our advocacy positions, in a number of different ways…many presentations in a variety of forums, writing and research report production, and regulatory workshops and proceedings among others.”

Before joining BIASC in April of 2006, Dr. Grey operated his own consulting firm and was the Director of Technical Services for Synagro Technologies, Inc., one of the nation’s largest private company involved in organic waste recycling. Dr. Grey is a certified professional soil scientist and is a member of the Soil Science Society of America. Dr. Grey holds a Ph.D. in Soil Chemistry and M.S. in Forest Ecosystem Analysis from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA and a B.A. in English from Eastern Washington University in Cheney, WA.

In February 2008, Dr. Grey was appointed to the state of California’s Storm Water Advisory Task Force that advises the State Water Board on program priorities, funding criteria, project selection, and interagency coordination of state programs that address storm water management. Dr. Grey is a trustee of the Southern California Water Committee and serves as a governing board member for the Council for Watershed Health.

Dr. Grey has an extensive teaching background, both during work at the University of Washington and in the past ten years for CICWQ and BIASC. Dr. Grey has also published peer-reviewed papers in the fields of water quality and atmospheric science.

When asked what he loves most about BIASC, Dr. Grey responded by speaking about how enjoys working with such great members of the organization. [I enjoy] “the super high caliber people who are our members, and the super high caliber people they work with to do business, especially in figuring out how to succeed and thrive within a complex regulatory and project approval structure that exists in California.  The professional quality of our members is really amazing and is a blessing for our industry as a whole, and it’s my job to get the best out of them so I can do the best job possible for BIA and others in the construction industry.”

Dr. Grey has been married to his wife, Amanda, who is the Environmental Programs Manager at the University of California, Riverside, since 2011.  They have a daughter Olivia, 16, who is a sophomore in high school who aspires to be a college softball player.

Mark Grey, Ph.D, Director of Environmental Affairs at the Building Industry Association of Southern California and Technical Director of the Construction Industry of the Coalition on Water Quality was invited by the San Gabriel Municipal Water District to present at the 2016 San Gabriel Valley Water Forum on September 20, 2016.

The forum arrives during a time when the current drought is demonstrating the potential to create extreme conditions for our water supply, environment, public health and economy in the San Gabriel Valley. The event invites industry experts to think about solutions regarding the water supply that may be faced with shortages, but other significant drought-related impacts are on the horizon.

Dr. Grey’s talk titled, Forward-Looking Residential Building Strategies, was presented during the 10:50 a.m. panel discussion, Lessons and Success Stories: The Future of Water Conservation.

The discussion covered the efficiency, technology, and the building industry’s support in adaption of new residential homes from a water conservation standpoint.

Dr. Grey spoke alongside Ty Teissere of Greywater Action; John Gillett, Chief Operating Officer of Energy Inspectors; and Dominique Hargreaves, Executive Director of  U.S. Green Building Council – Los Angeles. The presentations and discussions were moderated by Cindy Montañez, Chief Executive Officer of TreePeople.