2024 Environmental Leadership Program Award

El Cerrito Honda earned the Green Dealer badge and the Environmental Leadership Program Award for 2024. The awards recognize the hard work of the local dealership and management in their commitment to creating a more energy-efficient environment to benefit clients, the community, and the world.

For those shopping for a new or pre-owned vehicle, it's great to know that this local business is just as excited about embracing changes for a brighter and more sustainable future. The folks at El Cerrito Honda hope to continue to reduce energy usage and keep the momentum going.

What is the Green Dealer Program?

This program recognizes efforts by local dealerships that result in a smaller environmental footprint. Experts at Honda provide support and direction so that each location can participate, starting with zero or low-cost improvements and climbing up to capital investment projects designed to help the business and the local community and infrastructure.

Once a property reaches a certain low threshold of energy consumption, it must continue to invest in future eco-conscious improvements to maintain its designation as a Green Dealer.

The goal of the program is for Honda to attain a carbon-neutral status as a worldwide company by 2050 and set an example as a responsible citizen of the planet.

Eligible upgrades combine to reach the status of Environmental Leadership Award and begin with simple changes, including switching to LEDs inside and out, adding timers for unoccupied areas, and adjusting HVAC settings. Another option features optimizing EV charging stations that service dealer inventory and expand the local public charging network.

The addition of high-speed garage doors help to reduce heat or cooling loss while vehicles enter and exit service bays. Motion sensors in storage rooms ensure the lights are always turned off when everyone goes home.

For a larger impact, the location may invest in insulated and tinted windows, improve roof insulation, install high-efficiency heat pumps, or even add photovoltaic solar panels to produce their own power.

When a location embraces investments in all segments of the program, it can lower its total energy consumption by as much as 50% while maintaining superior service to its customer base.

A Commitment to Continued Efforts for the Future

The Environmental Leadership Program Award is determined based on Energy Use Intensity (EUI), or annual energy usage per building square footage. The current threshold for the 2024 award was 134,000 British Thermal Units per square foot. Utility data is continually provided to the program for review to ensure compliance, so underperforming areas can be targeted for future improvements.

Honda intends to lower the threshold for energy use intensity as the years go by to encourage their Green Dealers to continue to embrace new technologies focused on creating a healthier world for the future.

A Program that Looks Beyond Heat and Light

Honda recognizes that its dealerships impact their environment beyond maintaining the showroom and service bays. The Green Dealer program also considers landscaping and encourages investing in plantings and hardscapes that require less or no watering while providing space for oxygen-producing native trees and flowers.

Some locations have added green roofs in urban settings that offer excellent insulation for the building while trapping carbon in the growing topside garden.

Sharing Our Insight with Our Customers Exploring Electric Vehicles and Charging Stations

Perhaps the most direct benefit of embracing energy-saving technologies at a local Honda dealership is connecting with new clients wishing to enter the electric vehicle market.

At El Cerrito Honda, we welcome our neighbors who are ready to explore the benefits and performance found in today's all-electric vehicles. See a physical example of how an in-home charging station will fit into your garage while enjoying the comfort of our energy-efficient showroom. Experience a glimpse of a world that is not only beautiful and functional, but actively cares for the future of your family.

Are you keen to lower your carbon footmark by adding a Honda Prologue EV to your home in the Oakland area? Visit us at El Cerrito Honda for a test drive and experience everything that we have done to become part of a shared greener future.