Improving Our Environmental Footprint

Solar power arrays have been added to the roofs at 4 of our dealerships. We now are harvesting clean, local, renewable power and dramatically decreasing our carbon footprint.

With the accelerating pace of the effects of climate change in mind, our organization is trying to do its part on multiple fronts. We've refitted our older buildings with low-flow fixtures and energy-saving lighting upgrades, and our brand-new facilities have been constructed with the environment in mind. We have electric vehicle charging stations installed across our group, as each of our brands rolls out exciting new hybrid and fully electric models. Motor oil, tires and scrap metal are being recycled.

Our solar installs are our biggest green project by far. While the architectural styles of our stores range from century-old brick industrial to modern boxes, the one common feature is flat roofs, which are perfect for attaching solar panels.

What Does this Mean?

In total, the arrays will offset more than half of the dealerships' annual electric consumption. The EPA's online calculator tells us that these installs are the equivalent of:

• 1,189,303 pounds of carbon.
• The CO2 emissions from burning 60,702 gallons of gasoline.
• The energy needed to charge 68,787,620 cell phones.
• The annual energy use of 65 homes.

Moving forward, we hope to continue to add solar capacity across our group. Thanks for FireFlower Alternative Energy and MassAmerican Energy for their partnership in getting us up and running.