Toyota of Rockwall in Texas has become the first automotive dealership in the country to be given a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification. Just a little while ago, Pat Lobb Toyota in McKinney, Texas managed to get a Silver certification and was the first auto dealership to be LEED certified at all. Not too shabby. But more are on the way, as Michael Bevan, Corporate Manager, Retail Market Development at Toyota Motor Sales in the U.S. says, "We expect there will be six LEED certified Toyota dealerships by this summer. We've also been working with other auto companies on the dynamics of building a LEED dealership and they are beginning to build facilities for LEED certification." Some examples of the lengths Toyota of Rockwall went to get the Gold are water cisterns which capture rain water for use in irrigation and exterior panels made from ninety percent recycled aluminum.

In order to facilitate the greening of its dealerships, Toyota has created what it calls its "Image II program," where dealerships can order "turn-key" LEED certified buildings. For what it's worth, Toyota has a network of over 1,400 dealerships to oversee.