How about placing showpiece cars in spotlights and juxtaposing them against walls painted with sexy, light-reflecting colours?

Or the generous use of glass to capture as much natural light as possible – something most dealers already do in order to display their machines to passers by outside.

These are just some of the suggestions from Raphael Siket, director of building biology consultancy, Ecolibria.

And Siket says they are suggestions that will help put customers in a buying mood in addition to being good for the environment.

Siket believes the clever use of colours, lighting and building materials along with smarter maintenance and cleaning practices can greatly assist a car dealer’s efforts to “green” their showrooms.

The formula is quite simple. Maximise the use of natural light, choose colours that reflect that light and use building materials that either retain or deflect heat to reduce the energy consumption associated with heating and cooling.

For instance a polished concrete floor will absorb heat for use when the weather turns cold.

Car dealers could also, like other businesses, use green power as much as possible.

All of these measures are easy to apply and will save money in the long run - and in no way detract from the oomph of your showroom.  

“The grunt of your showroom need not be diminished,” Mr Siket said.

“All of the basic ingredients are already in place considering, for instance, car dealers’ already generous use of glass.

“It’s just a matter of taking a step back, applying some commonsense and then greening your showroom by, for example, using different materials, paint colours and changing some work habits.”

Mr Siket said dealers could also advertise to customers that they use environmentally-friendly products and sell or give them away by placing, for instance, microfibre cleaning cloths in the glove boxes of new cars.
 

For instance, in addition to promoting green cars such as hybrids, diesels and ethanol vehicles, dealers could cultivate good habits in their customers by educating them about environmentally-friendly car-care techniques such as waterless cleaning or – as US President-Elect, Barack Obama, famously said during his campaign - ensuring your tyres are properly pumped-up to reduce petrol consumption.

Mr Di Iorio said dealers also needed to “live it to sell it”, to “lead by example” and where possible should involve themselves in automotive industry green initiatives such as Green Stamp Plus, a joint initiative between the Motor Traders’ Association (MTA) of New South Wales and the Australian Government Department of Environment and Heritage.

The initiative has been taken in part because of changing customer expectations – today’s car buyers care about the environment and want to know that the businesses they deal with care too.

A point reiterated by Peter Lovett of Business Sustainability and Carbon Consultant, Green Pass.

Mr Lovett said a growing consumer segment, known as LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability in Australia) – what the New York Times has described as “the biggest market you have never heard of” - were seeking to buy goods and services from environmentally-friendly businesses.

“Green consumers within the marketplace are driving change and responsible environmental business practices,” he said.

He also said there were two other key driving forces behind the need for car dealers to green their operations – the inevitable increase in energy prices under the Australian Government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) and the importance of attracting and retaining a growing pool of climate conscious employees.

So there you have it. Greening your dealership is easy, your customers are demanding it and it proves highly cost effective in the long run, especially with energy prices expected to rise.

So what are you waiting for?