Firestone’s Complete Auto Care Center in Smyrna, Tenn. has been awarded Gold Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.
The outlet, which opened in June, incorporates a range of natural-resource conservation features, including improved indoor air quality from the use of low-VOC paints, stains, carpets and sealants; ultra-low flow water fixtures that will reduce H2O consumption by 30 percent; solar panels that generate 12.5 percent of the building’s electricity; a reflective metal roof that lowers heating and cooling costs; sidewalks using recycled rubber from tires; and landscaping that doesn’t need a sprinkler system because recycled rubber tire mulch has been applied to the landscaped areas along with and native and drought tolerant plant species.
“This places (the company) not only among leaders in the automotive industry, but also among an elite group of retailers who are undertaking exciting new green alternatives,” notes Larry Magee, chairman, CEO and president of Bridgestone Retail Operations.
“As more and more consumers incorporate ‘going green’ into their lifestyles, businesses must act accordingly,” he adds.
“The green building movement offers an unprecedented opportunity to respond to the most important challenges of our time, including global climate change, dependence on non-sustainable and expensive sources of energy and threats to human health,” says Rick Fedrizzi at the Green Building Council.
“The work of innovative building projects such as the Firestone Complete Auto Care store is a fundamental driving force in the green building movement,” he reports.
LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at providing energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and “stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.”
LEED-certified facilities meet a long list of environmental criteria that are verified by independent inspectors before the building can be officially recognized.
In addition, the Automotive Service Association (ASA) of Arizona has named five Firestone locations in the state as “green shops” via the organization’s Green Business Automotive Program. Minnesota’s Tires Plus centers were recently certified as “Green Star” automotive service providers through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s voluntary Environmental Audit Program, and a Firestone outlet in Portland, Ore. offers “green” oil changes using recycled and re-refined oil.
For more information, visit www.bridgestone-firestone.com.
