Green Car Dealerships

Green car dealerships sell various types of ‘green cars’ or environmental friendly cars. There are 16 green car dealerships in 10 states in the United States of America. The dealers are also converting their dealerships into green areas. The main idea is to use less water, less energy and use environmental friendly processes in a place with a lot of green space.

People at first thought that it would not be possible for car dealership to go green. Then the LEED voluntary rating system came into existence. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. This has been set up by the US Green Building Council to recognize buildings that are environmental friendly in their custom, design and operations. Gensler was the first to design a car dealership to register for a LEED rating. The rating is given according to the indoor environmental quality and energy efficiency that is met by the dealership. The ratings are – Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum. This rating system provides a uniform manner of measuring a building’s sustainability. Many car dealerships have followed this initiative and have gone green. There are at least 16 green dealerships in the United States.

The green car dealership follows certain architectural practices. These include having the outside of the building being made of 80% recycled aluminum, when heat is needed, it comes from oil change waste, the car wash uses recycled water, taps, lighting that conserves energy and the carpet is made of recycled windshield glass. Alternative means of transport is shown preference, by having bicycle racks and preference for parking for people who carpool. Rainwater is used and plants that do not need much water such as drought resistant plants and grass are grown. This type of green car dealership proves that it is possible for people to go green if they just put their mind to it. In the future there is a possibility that this initiative will pick up and many major companies will go green.

R&B Auto Center, located in Fontana, CA is the first Pre Owned car Dealership to go green. R&B Auto Center’s has installed beautiful rockwork and Eco-Alliance Artificial Grass throughout the dealership and playground, all of this in an effort to conserve one of earths most valuable resources, water. R&B Auto Center has retrofitted most of the lighting fixtures with energy efficient lighting to conserve energy. Recycling is a way of life for all employees at R&B Auto Center. Recycling bins are placed throughout the dealership for paper, plastic and aluminum. R&B Auto Center’s Service department recycles used oil, tires, and metal.