Interview with Eco-Friendly Leader Planet Subaru

Meet the landscaping crew at Planet Subaru in Hanover, MA, near Boston (pictured above). That’s right, the grounds are maintained by goats and sheep, rather than Lawn Boy and John Deere, and this is only one of the ways Planet Subaru is setting the pace for eco-friendly auto dealers.

With the use of a 78,540-watt solar power plant on the dealership’s roof, Planet is the first Subaru showroom powered completely by the sun. When it comes to conserving water, the retailer recycles its carwash water, and a recent plumbing upgrade results in a savings of over 40,000 gallons of water each year.

Jeff Morrill (JM), Plant Subaru’s president, is eager to share about the organization’s green efforts. Green Dealer Support (GDS) recently talked with Morrill about Planet’s work to shrink its environmental footprint, green efforts on the horizon for the dealership and ideas other Subaru retailers can implement in their facilities.

GDS: Eco-friendly practices seem to be intertwined with everything you do, even your dealership name—Planet Subaru. Tell us about how you selected the name and its relationship to your commitment to the environment?

JM: We chose the “Planet” name when we opened in 1998 because it captured several dimensions of the business we hoped to build: green, different, unexpected, serving a larger community than just the town where we operated. And the green commitment is just one part of that vision. For example, we have an unexpectedly diverse workplace, including a large number of women throughout the dealership, especially in sales and fixed operations, which are areas where our customers don’t expect to find many women. We capture these various differentiators in our tagline, in use since we trademarked it in 2002, “your undealership.” See more about this here.
 

“We chose the ‘Planet’ name when we opened in 1998 because it captured several
dimensions of the business we hoped to build: green, different, unexpected,
serving a larger community than just the town where we operated.”

GDS: You are Subaru’s first showroom powered by the sun. Are you still the only one or have other dealers embraced solar at the same level?

JM: Other dealers, including Long Subaru in Webster, MA, have followed our lead. We installed our system in 2010, very early in the solar revolution, and so we learned a lot about what to do and what to avoid. I have shared our experiences with other Subaru dealers who have gone on to put our hard-won knowledge into use in their systems. I’m happy to talk with any Subaru dealers interested in pursuing solar so they can learn from our experience.

GDS: Of all the eco-friendly efforts at your dealership, which one is your favorite?

JM: I don’t think goatscaping is the most important thing we do, but we certainly have the most fun with it. We use goats and sheep for our fall clean ups, and our customers and team members really get into it. Furry animals just bring out the best in people!
 

GDS: What is your advice to dealers just getting started with green efforts?

JM: Renovations or relocations offer the best opportunity to bake green solutions into the infrastructure (with solar, low-flow plumbing fixtures, xeriscape, etc.). But in-between facility actions, lighting is a great place to start. Illumination consumes a big chunk of the typical dealership’s energy, so it’s the low hanging fruit, and many utilities provide incentives and financing to defray the cost. LED replacements save a lot of power and pay back quickly.
 

“LED replacements save a lot of power and pay back quickly.”
 

GDS: Aside from the information available on your website, in what ways do you promote your green efforts to customers?

JM: Many of our green practices are not visible, but we want our customers to know we share their values. Around the facility, we use the Eco-Friendly placards provided by Subaru to point out various features. To help tell the solar story, we have a kiosk in our showroom that reports on the energy production in real time, and we fabricated a memorable coffee table out of a solar panel so customers could see one up close. To attract media attention, we invited our U.S. Congressman to “flip the switch” when we turned the solar system on.
 

GDS: On your website, you are honest about how some eco-friendly efforts save money while others require a significant investment and the balance of those two sides. With that in mind, which of your efforts brings you the most cost savings?

JM: I tend to hesitate to discuss the pursuit of cost savings because that’s not why we do all this. Have you ever paid more for an eco-friendly product, maybe bath tissue or something? It probably wasn’t cheaper, but spending your money conscientiously supports the vision of the world you want to live in. Of course our customers want to know that they don’t pay a premium to do business with us, so we have to include the cost dimension in our communications. And to the extent that I can inspire other business owners to follow our lead, it’s helpful to demonstrate the business case for undertaking the effort. With all that said, I think our lighting upgrades generate the best bang for the buck. The solar installation is super cool, but very expensive and complicated. I encourage my fellow dealers to take on solar after they pick the low-hanging fruit with energy efficiency efforts.
 

“...spending your money conscientiously supports
the vision of the world you want to live in.”
 

GDS: What green initiatives are on the horizon for your dealership?

JM: We just wrapped up the installation of high-efficiency plumbing fixtures, and now we’re working on replacing our previous generation exterior lighting with the latest LED fixtures. Not only are the bulbs much more efficient, but now we’ll be able to control each fixture over the course of the night, adjusting the illumination under each pole depending on the requirements of that particular area.
 

Read more about Planet's environmental commitment,
including interior and exterior lighting updates completed after this interview. 
 

Since the publication of this article, Planet Subaru's green efforts continue. 
Read about three additions to the 10-acre campus and their impact on recreation,
food supply, natural habitats, and education.