We’ve designed this program around what we feel are both meaningful and achievable targets that are well within the reach of most of our 1,300 US Honda and Acura dealers. Our goal is to engage as many of our dealers as possible to reduce their environmental impact in order to have the broadest possible impact in communities throughout the nation. And we heartily congratulate our first group of Honda and Acura Environmental Leadership Award winners.

—Steve Center, vice president of the Environmental Business Development Office

The program offers three achievement levels: Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

• Silver-level dealers must achieve a 10% reduction in total energy use, develop a water use reduction plan, and implement a comprehensive recycling program.

• Gold level dealers must achieve continuous improvement in their reduction and conservation goals above and beyond the Silver level.

• The top-level Platinum award is reserved for dealers whose facilities earn LEED certification from the US Green Building Council. The required 10% energy reduction is in line with the US EPA’s Energy Star Award / National Automobile Dealers Association program.

Honda introduced the voluntary program to its dealers at national sales meetings held last fall. The company uses a third party evaluator to conduct environmental audits of participating dealers and recommend strategies for reducing their energy use. Dealers who have already earned the Honda or Acura Environmental Leadership Award are:

• Honda - Platinum Level. Headquarter Honda (Clermont, FL).

• Honda - Silver Level. Rock Honda (Fontana, CA); Joe Morgan Honda (Monroe, OH); Rossi Honda (Vineland, NJ); Honda of Burleson (Burleson, TX); Diamond Honda (City of Industry, CA); Voss Honda (Tipp City, OH).

• Acura - Silver Level. McDaniels Acura (Columbia, SC); Norm Reeves Acura of Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, CA); Acura of Peabody (Peabody, MA).

In addition to the dealers who received the Environmental Leadership Award for their quantifiable energy reductions, a number of Honda and Acura dealers have independently taken steps to address their environmental impact by replacing their lighting with low-energy lamps, installing motion sensors that turn lights off when not in use, replacing older air conditioning and heating systems with newer, more energy efficient equipment, installing solar panels, adding rainwater collection systems, and planting native vegetation to reduce irrigation water use. Dealers, which are independent businesses, are responsible for developing strategies to reduce their environmental impact.

For example, Headquarter Honda planted a garden on the roof as natural insulation to reduce energy use, and installed a rain water collection system to conserve water; Rossi Honda installed solar panels to significantly offset electricity use; and Rock Honda installed an energy-efficient heating and air conditioning system and a water-reclaiming car wash.

Over the past three decades, Honda has been working to reduce the environmental impact of its products, manufacturing and logistics operations, and facilities in North America. These initiatives are reported annually in the company’s North American Environmental Report. Expanding its environmental initiatives to its dealer body is the logical next step in the company’s effort to reduce waste, energy use and CO2 emissions across the full spectrum of its operations and throughout the lifecycle of Honda and Acura products, including at the point of sale.

Honda has led the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) rankings of overall vehicle environmental performance since 2000, and a Honda vehicle has topped the list of America’s greenest vehicles from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) for eleven out of the past twelve years. The company leads all automakers with eleven LEED-Certified “Green Buildings” in North America, and last year announced that ten of its 14 North American manufacturing facilities are zero-waste to landfill.

In 2006, Honda became the first automaker to announce voluntary CO₂ emissions reduction targets for its global fleet of automobile, power sports and power equipment products and its global network of manufacturing plants.