Green Dealer Support

Green initiatives within dealership operations are becoming a way of life for many dealerships. New car dealers are already well on their way to Going Green, but may not have ever thought of these activities as being Eco-Friendly. Some actions that are being taken reduce Energy usage by over 50%. Some actions that are being taken reduce Water usage by over 40%. Some actions that are being taken reduce Waste to Landfill by over 60%. What should a dealer do to accelerate the process at their store?

Answer: Make a commitment to take action to Go Green, just do it. Then take one action at a time and move forward doing something about it.

The best step is for management to make a commitment that this is something that we are going to do and then begin to gather the support of others in each department finding those individuals who are naturally inclined to support being Eco-Friendly. Everyone in the dealership is not going to be so inclined to be advocates of environmental sustainability efforts, but many are and their involvement will encourage others along with internal communications that become a part of operations on a regular basis.

One thing to do to get it started is to determine what the current status is. This can be as simple as two lists:

1. Green Things We are Already Doing
2. Green Opportunities

Don’t be too concerned if it is 100% complete. This is a work in progress item. You will find that the list tends to include components such as:

• Reduce Energy Usage
• Reduce Water Usage
• Reduce Waste to Landfill.

Most dealerships like to tackle the Green Initiatives that have the greatest ROI which generally will be reducing Energy usage. Energy usage has many forms including electricity and fuels such as natural gas. The good news is that most of the Energy saving projects have a good payback and in a lot of cases are reduced in cost through incentives and tax advantages. Operating cost reductions frequently pay for the investments in the short term and results in improved cash flow in the long term resulting in improved profits.

Lighting tends to be the biggest energy consumer and takes many forms both inside and outside the building. Technology has moved fast in the lighting area and almost all facilities have opportunities to improve the quality of lighting and reduce the operations cost.

How do you figure it all out? Of course, you need to rely on the experts in this field. They should have all the skills necessary to determine what is best for you particular situation and be sure you are able to take advantage of all of the incentives and benefits. As always, get more than one opinion (proposal) and work with reliable suppliers. Most important is to be an educated buyer. Use the tools that are available to educate yourself and come up with your own set of numbers so you can check out what the vendors say.

These and many more practical ideas will be presented at the NADA Workshop:

Improve Cash Flow and Profits with Green Initiatives

Panel members:

Chuck Golden, Green Dealer Support

Scott Ringlein, The Energy Alliance Group of North America

Andrew Lindstrom, Cree Lighting

Ryan Rodau, GE Lighting

You can attend the NADA Workshop on:

Improve Cash Flow and Profit with Green Initiatives

Friday            1/24/2014   2:00 pm – 3:15pm             Room 220-222

Sunday          1/26/2014   10:30am – 11:45am          Room 228-230

Sunday          1/26/2014   3:30pm – 4:45pm              Room 211-213