Ontario Toyota Dealerships

Embracing LEED® Concepts and Values

Grant Peters, P.Eng., LEED® A.P.

Introduction

• Senior Project Manager for Fluent Group Consulting Engineers Inc.

• Working exclusively in the green building field for over 7 years

• Currently managing over 20 LEED® projects • Vice-Chair of the CaGBC Sites-Water TAG • Direct involvement in each Toyota project

Why Are You Here?

• Learn about Toyota’s dealership initiatives and how they came to be

• Become familiar with the dealership green building practices and view the results

• Discuss what it takes to implement a large scale environmental movement in your business

Agenda

The Sales Pitch (no undercoating)

Oldsmobiles, Plymouths & Pontiacs A brief and recent automotive history

Kaizen, Muda, and Yokoten Toyota in the green building industry

The Racetrack Toyota’s 4 LEED Gold dealerships

Fuel Efficiency Real life savings and benefits

Continuous Improvement Lessons learned

Automotive Industry Recap

• Energy crisis (oil prices) of mid 2000’s • Great Recession of 2008-2010

Automotive Industry Recap

• Gas prices continue to rise, yet fuel efficiency had not been a priority (particularly for the big 3)

• Reduced market share – more players

• Fewer sales

Toyota in 2008-2011

Market share was down 34% in 2008

Recalls on flagship models (Corolla, Camry, Prius)

Toyota in 2008-2011

• Earthquake/tsunami in 2011

Meanwhile, in LEED

• Tremendous market growth • Introduction of new rating systems (2009)

– specific to building type, including retail

• Ongoing updates and addenda

Meanwhile, in LEED

• Very little competition from other standards • Far ahead of most code requirements

LEED + Retail

Slow uptake – why? Quick, inexpensive construction Fit-out is done by the tenant Landlord/developer does not pay the energy bills

Early on, there was no LEED Volume Program

LEED + Retail in Canada

• Early Canadian retail (2008 certifications) – Teknion showroom – 1st Choice Credit Union – Big box store

• Many have come since, including strip malls, supermarkets, restaurants, etc.

• No car dealerships as of April 2010 (over 250 Canadian projects)

Toyota Motor Corporation

• Have always had a strong product history – Fuel efficiency + environmental efforts – Durability and maintenance – Hybrids and electric vehicles

• Recently produced an environmental report (2013) for corporate and plant operations

• Eliminate “Muda” = waste • Implement “Kaizen” = improvement(s) • Practice “Yokoten” = sharing lessons learned

http://www.toyota.com/about/environmentreport2013/index.html

Toyota Motor Corporation

Toyota Motor Corporation

Toyota Motor Corporation

• View dealerships as an extension of their corporate image and goals

• Began to encourage green building practices

Toyota Green Building Timeline (Canada)

• Jan. 2009 – Stratford + Stouffville register • Mar. 2009 – Toyota hosts LEED course for

dealers • Apr. 2009 – Toyota reworks dealer standards • Dec. 2009 – Welland registers • June 2010 – Stratford Toyota achieves Gold • June 2011 – Stouffville Toyota achieves Gold • Fast forward > > >

– there are now 4 Gold dealerships, +1 recently occupied, +1 in construction

Toyota Dealer Standards

• Lighting is one of the most critical energy considerations in retail – tough nut to crack

• In dealerships, lighting is 25-40% (cost)

– Dealership X (built 2008) • 24 hr fluorescent lighting (no controls) • replaced throughout with LED • < 10 W/m2 building wide • est. $2,000 per month in elec. savings

– LEED Dealerships are achieving 30%+ savings on lighting (some up to 50%)

Toyota Dealer Standards

• Certain materials are either short-listed or have specific requirements in order to contribute to the “scheme” and brand – Ceramic tile (colour, size, material) – Aluminum panels (colour) – Glazing (tints/colouring, location)

• Conscious decision to move to higher recycled content, better thermal performance, etc.

Convincing Dealerships

• Dealership background – private owners • Little to no previous building experience • Know what they want (or think so)

• Toyota recognized this and held a training

session dedicated to green buildings, specifically targeting current and potential dealers

Competition Between Toyota Dealers

• Stratford and Stouffville were early adopters within the dealership community

• Knowing both were pursuing Gold, Welland would settle for nothing less

Competition in the Canadian Marketplace

• Stratford was the second LEED automotive dealership in Canada – by less than 3 weeks – despite completing construction 1 year later

• Stouffville and Welland were #3 and #4

• 4/7 LEED certified dealerships in Canada are

Toyota (5 if you count Lexus)

Competition in the Global Marketplace

• Toyota is leading the charge – over 35 buildings, 2.1M sq.ft. of certified space – 2003 LEED Gold Corporate Campus in Torrence, CA – 2006 LEED Silver dealership in Texas (1st in N.A.)

• Honda and others have joined in – Honda HQ in Markham – GM plants in MI and Brazil – Volkswagon, BMW, Jaguar…

• How did they do it?

A Different Beast

• Dealerships are not your typical retail • Quite a mix of spaces and occupants

New Approaches

• Utilizing LEED in a dealership setting required a fresh perspective on green buildings

• Teams took a “first principles” approach to how business is conducted and what their employees and customers want

• Many “old school” concepts were revisited

• The dealership is more than just a building

Replicable

• Dealerships work off a shell of pre-determined design attributes

• All buildings share a similar flow, function and distribution of spaces

• Dealers have the same goals – Sell cars, lower operating costs, keep employees

happy

Success Stories

• 4 Gold dealerships in ON, 2 more in the queue

Success Stories

• Reasonable incremental costs • Utility savings ($) • Intangibles • Dealer satisfaction • Education and outreach

Green bldg. tour map

Success Stories – Incremental Cost

• Reasonable incremental costs Stratford ~ 6.3% incremental cost Stouffville ~ 7.6% incremental cost (includes PV)

• With ever-increasing technology and Code

requirements, even retail can be built for a reasonable upcharge

Success Stories – Utility Savings

• Energy conservation measures

- radiant heating - VRF cooling - efficient lighting

• Rainwater catchment systems - indoor plumbing - landscape irrigation - car washing

Success Stories – Utility Savings

• Solar PV installations at 2 of the dealerships – 7 kW ground mounted tracking array at Stouffville – 12.5 kW roof mounted array at Vandermeer

Success Stories – Utility Incentives

• All of the dealerships qualified for energy incentives – Offset the cost of implementing efficiency

measures – Some were offered a case study – free publicity

• The projects that installed PV qualified for Feed-in-Tariff (FiT)

Success Stories – Utility Study

• A wealth of information available for comparison

• Water, gas, and electricity over 10 months for 5 dealerships (2 LEED certified)

• Similar use and function, of a similar era • Slight variations in space ratios, operating

hours, etc.

Success Stories – Energy Savings

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Non-LEED Stratford Stouffville

ekW

h/m

2/ye

ar

Electricity

Gas

Total

Success Stories – Energy Savings

31.01

16.09

19.26

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10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

30.00

35.00

Non-LEED Stratford Stouffville

$/m

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Electricity

Total

$30,000/year savings!

Success Stories – Water Savings

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200

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1400

Non-LEED Stratford Stouffville

Litr

es/m

2/ye

ar @ $3/m3, savings of $7,000!

Success Stories – Intangibles

• Skylights in the shop

Success Stories – Intangibles

+ =

• Happiness + Comfort = Worker Satisfaction

- Increased productivity (up to 10%*) - Decreased absenteeism (40% in Seattle*) - Employee retention (especially in the shop) * studies by RMI

Success Stories – Intangibles

• Pride in ownership and the brand – Employees need to understand the goals of the

corporation – Taking ownership of the environmental goals

breeds enthusiasm and healthy competition – The “team” approach engages workers

Success Stories – Dealer Satisfaction

• Dealers are proud of their LEED buildings – Market edge in their locale – Third party verification means no greenwashing – Alignment with the brand

Success Stories – Dealer Satisfaction • “The LEED program has been a great experience. We are a true

believer in the initiative. A lot of times people are trying to sell an idea telling you, ‘If you do X you will save Y’. Seldom to you actually realize Y.” - John Strickland, Stratford Toyota

• “How do you put a number on feeling? Pursuing LEED made sense. Our facility is extremely comfortable, everyone is generally happier, and it has provided a sense of future-proofing our building.” - Kevin Baxter, Stouffville Toyota

• “From the moment we decided to move to a new and larger site, we were committed to making green innovation the essence of the facility…We are ecstatic to be giving the people of Cobourg a building that puts our community at the leading edge of environmental sustainability.” - Hank V., Vandermeer Toyota

Success Stories – Education

• Toyota promotes each of their successful dealers through intra-company bulletins and media

• Dealers promote their buildings and successes within their communities

Success Stories – Education

• 3/6 dealerships have implemented green building education strategies

• 2 of those 3 have implemented interactive, hosted tours

• Car sales are all about interaction with the customer base

Lessons Learned

• Service bays and drive through areas pose unique challenges and opportunities

• While dealerships all look similar, each needs to be addressed independently

• It’s hard to get started without a champion • Corporate initiatives do not always translate

into company-wide uptake • Focus on the successes

Next Steps for Toyota

• New builds – Toyota design standards or LEED • Existing dealership stock – Level I or II energy

audits (water too!) • Milton Toyota just approved a full lighting

change to LED – expected savings of $24,000/yr.

How This Applies to You

• These principles apply beyond dealerships

• Success in corporate initiatives requires: – Engaging the audience – Having a champion for the cause – Believing in the initiative – Healthy competition and goal setting – Measurement

LEED v4 and Beyond

• A whole new set of firsts

• Pushing the industry

• A chance to reinvigorate the industry and engage a brand new set of users

Grant W. Peters, P.Eng. Senior Project Manager, Sustainability Services

Fluent Group Consulting Engineers Inc.

t 888.358.3683 x703 f 866.620.7502 c 519.938.0563

www.fluentgroup.com