Feature: February 2007

Energy Star

NADA program saves on energy costs—in big ways.

By Nancy Dunham

Often car dealers don’t consider environmentally friendly office equipment, lighting, and other initiatives because they don’t perceive green efforts as being kind to the bottom line,” says Jeremy Fleming, environmental and safety manager, Lithia Motors, Medford, Oreg. There are lots of simple ways dealers can save on energy costs, adds Fleming, though he admits that relatively few dealerships employ experts who can work on energy savings full-time.

Enter NADA, which has teamed with EPA’s Energy Star Small Business Network to let members reap some of the same energy cost savings seen by businesses that employ energy specialists. Through the partnership, NADA members will receive a host of special benefits, including:
• access to Energy Star Portfolio Manager, a password-protected online tool that measures and tracks dealership energy and greenhouse gas emissions savings;
• guidance on energy-efficient heating and cooling systems and appropriate temperature controls;
• recommendations for energy-efficient computers and other office equipment;
• energy-efficient lighting suggestions; and
• online consultations with energy specialists.

The program will also guide dealers so they don’t short-circuit their own programs, which NADA Dealer Academy management instructor Robert Atwood calls a fatal flaw among some who invest in green systems. “Some dealers aren’t getting the benefits they had hoped for [from energy-efficient systems] because they are taking shortcuts.”

Those benefits can be significant. Consider that if dealerships cut energy use by 20 percent overall, they would save an estimated $4 billion in utility costs—the equivalent of 5,000 GWH of electricity and 87 million therms of natural gas.

For example, Larry Sevrin of Fox Chevrolet/Mitsubishi, Baltimore, found that changing the 4,500-plus lights in his three buildings and grounds from standard to energy-efficient bulbs will save the dealership $18,000 in three years.

Although Sevrin’s dealership is part of the giant AutoNation, almost all dealerships can easily achieve cost savings through relatively simple initiatives.

Dealer Pat Lobb says some green initiatives are very simple, but many dealers “probably just haven’t thought about them before.”		Dealer Angelo Ingrassia found major savings though energy-efficient lighting.

IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL
“Most people don’t understand that this isn’t a single incentive but a longtime payoff,” says dealer Angelo Ingrassia, who owns three stores in the Rochester, N.Y, area.

One of the first energy-saving moves Ingrassia made was to install efficient lighting and fixtures in the showroom. He was so impressed with his 50 percent savings on lighting costs—plus an energy credit from the state—that he explored other energy-savings possibilities. For instance, he paved the parking lot with an environmentally friendly mixture of concrete and recycled ash, which is cost-effective and doesn’t harm the pavement’s structural integrity.

Now Ingrassia has built an entirely green dealership, Ideal Chevrolet, Avon, N.Y. Savings from that store include $4,000 to $5,000 each month just on building-loan interest because of energy initiatives.

Dealer Pat Lobb, Pat Lobb Toyota of McKinney (Tex.), who built a “green dealership,” cautions dealers to fully investigate potential savings before they move ahead. “Some proposals had payback in 20 years. That wasn’t reasonable to me,” Lobb adds.

LOW-TECH PAYOFFS
But some low-tech changes saved Lobb big on energy. “When you start to look at energy savings, you realize some things you can do are very simple,” he says. “You probably just haven’t thought about them before.”

One such idea that Lobb will use is to collect condensation from air-conditioning units. That should equal about 16,000 gallons of free water just in the month of August. He plans to use the water to irrigate.

“That is free water right there,” says Lobb, and experienced project managers can help dealers design such systems. Lobb expects the free water will help him pay for an $8,000 water-collection tank in less than two years. “As the cost of water goes up and up, so will the savings.”

Consultant Richard Flint, Richard Flint Seminars, Newport News, Va., suggests that those who consider such energy-saving programs talk to vendors and business owners who have completed similar projects.

“What we are talking about is nothing that will run afoul of [automaker standards],” says Rick Ferrara, Gensler Architecture, Dallas. “These are not complicated issues, just issues that have been overlooked in the past.”

(To get a head start on energy savings, visit www.energystar.gov/autodealer. Copies of NADA’s A Dealer Guide to Energy Star: Putting Energy Into Profits can be ordered at a cost of $30 for members and $50 for nonmembers. E-mail me@nada.org or call 800.252.NADA, ext. 2.)

Nancy Dunham is a freelance writer in Alexandria, Va.

HELPING THE ENVIRONMENT, TOO

Oil filters can often be recycled at no cost. Car washes are one place to examine for energy-saving ideas. The reason that some dealers don’t [pursue energy saving] is that it’s never been presented to them,” says environmental and safety manager Jeremy Fleming, Lithia Motors, Medford, Oreg., who recently led Lithia’s Saturn of Southwest Oregon, Medford, to certification as an “eco-logical” business by the state. The dealership was recognized for operating at “the highest level of environmental responsibility” in such areas as hazardous-waste management and air emissions. A couple of Fleming’s suggestions: • Replace caustic car washes with environmentally friendly cleaners available for about the same price to not only help the environment but also avoid expensive workers’ comp claims. • Request that used oil filters be recycled with used oil. Vendors may do that at no cost to the dealership.