Auto Dealers to Get Energy Smart

In a first-of-its-kind partnership between automobile dealers and EPA, the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) today announced at the kick-off of the Washington Auto Show that they are joining the Energy Star Challenge. NADA is challenging its 20,000 member dealerships to reduce energy use at more than 43,000 facilities nationwide by 10 percent or more.

Automobile dealerships are obviously energy intensive operations that have always used an obscene amount of bright lighting, both indoors and outdoors, and first-rate climate control. EPA estimates if auto dealers cut their energy use by 10 percent they would save nearly $193 million and prevent more than 1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

Today's announcement by NADA and EPA expands the Energy Star program's ongoing work with motor vehicle manufacturers in the United States to include automobile dealers. NADA members will assess and track the energy performance of their facilities using EPA's rating tool, Portfolio Manager. The information entered into Portfolio Manager by NADA members will allow not only individual dealerships but the industry as a whole to monitor changes in energy use.