Toyota Announces First ‘Green’ Dealership

15th October 2008 7:59 pm

Toyota celebrates its grand opening today at its new location at 730 South West Temple in Salt Lake City. The new dealership has been designed from the ground up with environmental standards in mind and expects to earn a Gold LEED Certification in the coming weeks. The grand opening ceremony on Monday, Oct. 13, kicks off with remarks at 5:30 p.m. and a ribbon cutting at 6 p.m.

The majority of Mark Miller Toyota’s facility is made up of construction elements that are designed to conserve energy and water. The dealership was built to maximize local and recycled materials. In building the new dealership, Mark Miller Toyota retained much of the original building on the site to further reduce the needs for new materials in construction. Most of the building waste was recycled. Eco-friendly elements include:
– A high-performance, high-efficiency heating and cooling system;
– Innovative sun-tracking skylights to optimize natural daylight use to lower interior light use;
– A cool-roof system to lower the overall heat that comes off large buildings;
– Self-sustaining landscaping that requires a minimal amount of water;
– Low-flow faucets and toilets as well as waterless urinals to conserve water and use of 300 MPH paperless hand dryers;
– A cistern system to collect and store rainwater and air conditioning condensation for irrigation and for washing cars;
– High-speed glass service bay doors to reduce heat and cold loss from service areas while providing additional light to the interior;
– Recycled materials used in tile, carpeting, wood paneling and cubicles including the use of recycled windshield glass used as carpet backing and
– A full-service cafe as well as a fuel farm on-site so employees won’t have to drive to get something to eat or to fuel their cars.

“Mark Miller’s leadership in building a dealership that is friendly to the environment, provides a healthy work environment and a great customer experience leads the way for other Toyota dealers,” Toyota Motor Sales President Jim Lentz, who will be on hand for the grand opening along with Toyota’s Vice President of Retail Market Representation, Ernest Bastien.

“Opening this new dealership is exciting,” said Mark Miller, dealer principal. “Building it wasn’t a cheap proposition, but we think what we’ve done will have a payback both monetarily and in a reduced impact on the environment. In fact, we expect the facility’s design to pay for itself within a decade. As buildings are the number one user of energy in the economy, our design will help reduce our energy use by about a third. We are pleased to help lead the way in Salt Lake City with an energy-efficient
and environmental facility.”

“Anyone familiar with Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive knows there is a screen that shows the car’s energy use over a time period. We’ll have the same sort of panel inside the dealership that shows the building’s energy use over the last half hour or so,” added Miller.

The dealership has applied for and expects to be awarded a Gold LEED certification in the next few weeks. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a voluntary program designed to promote and validate environmental leadership in the building industry. Receiving LEED certification is an extensive process and involves being evaluated in key environmental categories by the U.S. Green Building Council — Sustainable Site Development, Water Savings, Energy Efficiency, Materials Selection and Indoor Environmental Quality. Mark Miller Toyota was built to meet and exceed the standards and operate with high environmental efficiency.

Mark Miller Toyota expects to be the first dealership in the West to ever earn LEED certification by the US Green Building Council. Pat Lobb Toyota in McKinney, Texas was the first dealership to earn LEED certification in 2006. Besides Mark Miller Toyota, five other Toyota dealerships in the country are built and either have received or are in the process of being reviewed for LEED certification. Three additional dealerships seeking LEED certification are under construction with severalmore in the design and planning stages.

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