LEED Certification Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Construction of the upcoming Procter and Gamble site in Martinsburg is well on track, but the company is still looking for 400 new hires to work the plant once fully built.

Since groundbreaking in September 2015, the Procter and Gamble site in Martinsburg has been the work zone for an average of 1,000 construction workers.

P&G officials say nine buildings will be located on the nearly 500-acre site, and all nine are seeking LEED certification – that stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

By 2019, about 700 total employees are expected to be on the site. So far, a total of 265 people have been hired, with most of those from West Virginia.

Sandy Hamilton is the Executive Director of the Berkeley County Development Authority. She says P&G has totally changed the state’s business climate.

“Once word got out that P&G’s here,” she noted, “that’s like a marketing finanza that you know, other companies in other areas of the world who didn’t know we existed, now they know we do.”

The West Virginia P&G site will be the largest Procter and Gamble site built in a decade. It will manufacture products like body wash, shampoo & conditioner, and fabric softener.

Bounce will be the first major brand made with production expected to begin in January 2018. It will be about four more years before the site is in full operation.

*Editor’s Note: This story originally indicated P&G in Martinsburg would make laundry detergent, however, this was not correct. The mistake has been removed.

Marshall University’s year-old Arthur Weisberg Family Engineering Complex has been awarded LEED Gold level certification.

The four story engineering complex opened just last fall on Marshall’s Huntington campus. In construction of the facility the university was aiming for LEED Silver Certification, a lesser recognition. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The LEED rating system is developed by the U.S. Green Building Council as the guide for buildings constructed, maintained and operated for environmental performance.

Travis Bailey is the Environmental Specialist in the Health and Safety Department at Marshall.

“This building is 25% more efficient than a building of similar size,” Bailey said. “Another one is water efficiency, we are 40% more efficient than a building of similar size, so we’re saving water and energy at the same time and with that we’re also collected rain water.”

Among the features built into the facility to help achieve those efficiencies is a rooftop green space that helps cut down on the amount of water that runs off the building. Bailey said it’s an example he hopes will be followed by other building designers both on and off college campuses.

“I think it’s huge, it’s a goal and standard we need to start shooting for,” Bailey said. “It’s a statement that we are here to be environmentally friendly. It’s easy to build buildings, but it’s a little harder, takes more time a little more money to build environmentally friendly buildings, but that’s the way we should be heading.”

The engineering complex is just the 7^th building in West Virginia to achieve gold status.

Tag: LEED Certification

Procter & Gamble Still Looking for New Hires

Marshall Engineering Complex Achieves Gold LEED Certification