Wagman Construction – Featured Business

This season’s featured business is Wagman Construction. While many construction companies are considered to be enemies of the environment, releasing toxic fumes and air particles, Wagman Construction has become a friend and advocate for the environment.

Recently, the company made the switch to its new office located in downtown York at 231 North George Street. Their new office building captures their passion toward environmental conscientiousness. The company moved its office to downtown York so they could be in closer proximity to their projects. Urban Redevelopment Projects are an important part of the company, covering about 20-25% of their business. The office itself sets this company apart. They moved into an existing building and used many of the existing structural features, including all of the exposed wooden beams. It is an open-office environment with most employees having roughly the same amount of desk and working space. There are also smaller conference rooms that employees can use for private meetings. This type of environment allows for an open flow of ideas and work between employees.

Many of the environmentally friendly features of this office are subtle, yet make an outstanding contribution to this beautiful, green office space. The countertops are made from concrete, which is an eco-friendly alternative to granite, due to the environmental cost of quarrying and shipping. All of the lights used in the office are compact fluorescent lights and are hooked up to a sunlight sensor dimming the lights when the sun shines through the giant windows lining the back and front of the office space. This saves energy and adds to the ambiance of the office. All of the paint, sealants, and similar materials were certified as being environmentally friendly to ensure there was no release of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Even the bathrooms are environmentally friendly! The toilets are low-volume toilets, using less water than a traditional toilet. The sinks and lights are motion-controlled. The paper towels and toilet paper are made from recycled material.

In addition to the office environment, employees are encouraged to care about their environment. There are five community bikes that employees can use during the day as an alternative to using their cars. There are LEED-accredited professionals on staff, helping customers make green choices in their own projects. Also, there is a Green Committee of employees planning events for the office. The next event is planned for April 17th, when the entire office staff will be working to clean up the Codorus Creek.

Wagman Construction Chief Operating Officer, Dave Cross is proud of the way that the office turned out. He said they chose to build a green building because it was simply the right thing to do. If there was a more environmentally friendly way of doing something during the construction, they did it. It was not always more cost-effective, but the payoff is for the future environmental viability. Wagman Construction clearly does not fit the mold of traditional construction companies, but by breaking the mold, they have distinguished themselves as an innovative construction company.