Its not just its cars which have been getting greener, now its dealerships are too-BMW, known for its EfficientDynamics low emission vehicles, is now asking its retail network to look at ways to reduce its environmental impact.
As part of its wide reaching sustainability programme, the car maker has tasked its dealers to improve the environmental standards. Using a team of specialists, they assess the level of development each dealer is required to make the grade by looking at four main areas: heat, electricity, operational conditions and air systems within a building. Areas included increasing insulation and changing light bulbs to the most energy efficient ones right through to photovoltaic solar panels on the roof, groundwater heat pumps, wind turbines and heat recovery technology.
All of the measures are being deployed in line with BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) requirements-the world’s most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings and sets the standard for sustainable design.
Since BMW introduced this initiative, three dealerships have implemented a raft of environmental measures in line with BREEAM. The first BMW UK site to go live was Williams Bolton in Lancashire. Through the use of low energy lighting, storm water drainage, an air source heat pump and recycled wash water the dealership has saved £85,000 a year in energy costs, while the storm drainage saves £65,000 a year in water rates. Its comparative BREEAM score is ‘excellent’.
Williams BMW and MINI in Rochdale, was the second dealership in the network to go green. It also scored highly with a comparative BREEAM rating of ‘excellent’ courtesy of the regeneration of a brownfield site coupled with air source heat pumps and low energy lighting.
BMW’s latest green dealership is Elms Cambridge which will launch this month. This new build will feature a wind turbine, LED lighting and see nearly two thirds of all vehicle wash water recycled with 12 per cent of energy from renewable sources including photovoltaic cells. Electricity usage is expected to be cut by up to £15,000 resulting in a natural reduction in emissions as a result.
Tim Abbott, Managing Director of BMW UK, said: "There’s some very good reasons why BMW has been named the most sustainable car company in the world for the sixth year in a row and these measures are just some of them. A return on investment for this technology can take time but the dealers are in this with us together and we plan to remain at the forefront of green building and stay as the class-leading premium car manufacturer when it comes to CO2 emissions."
It is not just the UK where the initiative has been implemented. Dealers in Germany, South Africa, Switzerland, Korea, Australia, USA and Japan have as well all been introducing various sustainability measures to both ecological and financial effect.
