Sewell Launches Green Program With Fort Worth's First Building With Gold-Level LEED Certification

Celebration at Fort Worth Lexus Location on Thursday, Sept. 24

FORT WORTH, Texas, Sept. 24 -- Sewell Automotive Companies has kicked off a new green building program with Fort Worth's first-ever structure earning Gold-level LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The new building, which houses pre-owned sales and the service team at Sewell Lexus of Fort Worth, is one of fewer than 20 buildings in North Texas to achieve the Gold-level LEED certification to date and the first Lexus sales facility nationwide to earn LEED certification.

"The Sewell family of automotive dealerships is committed to making environmentally sustainable building practices an integral part of our business," said Carl Sewell, chairman of Sewell Automotive. "By pursuing LEED certification with future new construction and building remodels, we aim to help conserve energy and North Texas' environment, as well as provide our customers and employees a better environment in which to carry out business."

The automotive dealer will give customers the opportunity to see the new LEED-certified building's green features, as well as preview the new Lexus hybrid sedan, the Lexus HS 250h, at a private celebration on Thursday, Sept. 24 from 6 to 8 pm attended by Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief.

Customers are not the first to see the building's green features. School children from the Fort Worth Independent School District have also toured the facility as a part of outreach efforts by Sewell. Additional school tours are being scheduled to educate future generations on the ways, some of them very simple, of creating responsible and healthy places to work.

  Highlights of the building's green features are:
  --  A storm water control system that uses a cistern to collect rainwater
      running off the roof to be re-used for landscape irrigation.
  --  Water-efficient landscaping reducing the need for watering by 50%.
  --  Ultra-efficient lavatory fixtures reducing the use of potable water by
      30%.
  --  Approximately 90% of building waste recycled, diverting it from
      landfills.
  --  90% of all regularly occupied spaces with direct line of sight to the
      outdoors, reducing the need for electric light and creating a
      healthier work environment.
  --  Light-colored roof tile that reduces the amount of electricity needed
      to cool the building.
  --  Optimized energy efficiency by building to ASHRAE (American Society of
      Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) Advanced Energy
      Design Guide standards.
  --  Air monitors that check the quality of air being supplied to the
      building, monitoring for pollution and contamination.
  --  Low-emitting carpets, paints, adhesives and sealants that reduce the
      level of chemical gases in the air.
  --  An in-house recycling center that encourages recycling of paper, glass
      and metal.

  --  Preferential parking for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles.

In addition, Sewell is purchasing green energy certificates to help offset the use of electricity in the building. The company is paying for the production of wind-generated electricity equal to 70 percent of the building's energy consumption.

"We hope other businesses will see the benefits of participating in the LEED program," said Ken Clayton, Sewell's corporate facilities manager and in-house LEED Accredited Professional (AP). "Not only is improving the environmental impact of your buildings the right thing to do, but there are solid business incentives to make it worthwhile. Green design, over the life of a building, reduces your operating costs and creates better work spaces for your employees."

According to the U.S. Green Building Council, an upfront investment of as little as 2 percent in green building design on average results in life cycle savings of 20 percent of the total construction costs - more than 10 times the initial investment.

Sewell worked with Turner Construction on the new 5,600-square-foot building, which received its Gold-level LEED certification at the end of June 2009. Turner Construction is the largest builder of green buildings in the nation, having completed close to 100 LEED Certified projects and working on more than 140 additional projects registered with the U.S. Green Building Council.

LEED is a third party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council in 2000, LEED serves as a tool for buildings of all types and sizes. LEED certification offers third party validation of a project's green features and verifies that the building is operating exactly the way it was designed to. For more information, visit www.usgbc.org.

Dallas-based Sewell Automotive Companies has 10 dealerships in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grapevine, North Houston, Plano and San Antonio. Established in 1911, the company markets brands including Cadillac, Hummer, Infiniti, GMC, Lexus, Pontiac, Saab and Buick. For more information, visit www.sewell.com.