As dealers, we are always looking for way to enhance our businesses operations, including improving the energy efficiency of our dealerships and decreasing our usage where possible. So I was pleased that last month, NADA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made a major announcement on their ENERGY STAR partnership to promote and recognize dealership energy efficiency practices.

You may recognize the bright blue ENERGY STAR logo or recall seeing it on businesses in your community, but currently, dealers are not eligible for this certification. Why you ask? Businesses in any sector must be measured against one another and at present, there is no scoring system for dealers.

The first step in moving towards ENERGY STAR certification for dealerships is to collect the data necessary. NADA and EPA have developed the NADA Dealership Energy Use Survey, a 20-minute, anonymous survey that collects energy use information from dealerships, including percentage of facility that is heated and/or cooled.

From this data, eligible dealerships will be able to earn the coveted ENERGY STAR certification for outstanding cost-saving, energy efficient initiatives.

This is an important project that will reward our industry’s commitment to energy use improvement and enhance our industry’s reputation for sustainability. 

But, we cannot do this without your participation. I ask my fellow dealers across the country to step up today and have a member of your office or facilities team complete the voluntary, 20-minute survey. If you have more than one dealership location, please complete a separate survey for as many as possible. And please don’t hesitate to email any questions you may have to energysurvey@nada.org.

Thank you in advance for your help!