Honda announced on Thursday that Rossi Honda of Vineland, New Jersey, is the first of approximately 17,500 car dealers in the United States to achieve an Electric Grid Neutral status.
Spurred by Honda’s “Green Dealer” initiative, Rossi Honda installed a 223kW solar PV system in 2012 that was able to fulfill 90 percent of the dealership’s energy needs. Looking to push the green needle even farther, Rossi replaced its metal halide parking lot lights with LED units in the spring of 2013, allowing the dealership to rely on solar power for 100 percent of its energy needs.
The move to all solar power has reduce Rossi’s annual grid electricity consumption by approximately 321,000 kWh and annual CO2 output by approximately 341,000 lbs.
“Rossi Honda has pioneered a new era for automobile dealers in which they too can be environmental leaders,” said Steven Center, vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., in charge of the company’s Environmental Business Development Office. “By virtually eliminating CO2 from the consumption of electricity and saving money in the process, Rossi has created a path that other dealers can follow.”
Honda launched its “Green Dealer” program in 2012 and now has 200 participants. Of those dealers, 28 have managed to reduce their electricity consumption by at least 10 percent.
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