Dealership built with environment in mind

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One of Salt Lake City's newest buildings will also be one of the greenest in the Intermountain West.

The Mark Miller Toyota Dealership was built with what's called a LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, from its shop, filled with natural light from high-tech sun-tracking sky-lights, to bay doors that open quickly to avoid heat and cold loss, right down to the restrooms. "Waterless urinals. One waterless urinal will save 30,000 gallons of water a year," Miller told us.

Dealership built with environment in mind

He says building it, wasn't cheap. "But I think, with a couple of exceptions, everything we've done has a payback," he said.

Miller says energy use will be cut by one-third, and he expects the design to pay for itself within a decade. He also hopes it's good for business, saying buildings and cars are some of our biggest energy users.

Other elements in the building include tile, carpeting, wood paneling, cubicles and flooring made of recycled materials. It also has cisterns to catch water to use for irrigation and for washing cars. The building will house a café and a fuel farm so, Miller says, employees won't have to drive just to get something to eat or to fuel cars.

He says besides the initial costs, the building has also created some unique challenges when it comes to getting permits from the city, especially when it comes to use of the cisterns and current water laws. He says he was told Salt Lake's water laws were written in 1909. It now may be time to change them, he says.

E-mail: mgiauque@ksl.com