The California Autobody Association (CAA) announced its Southern California Chapter’s Sept. 18 meeting will feature Steven Schillinger, president of GRC-Pirk Management, a registered environmental assessment company. Schillinger will present “Certified Green Investment” and explain how to upgrade your shop using government-approved, “pay-it-forward” techniques.
Certified Green Investment (CGI) is a third-party qualification procedure using accepted benchmarks to verify that a business is environmentally efficient. In cooperation with the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED System and the U.S. EPA’s Energy Star Program, CGI certification serves as an official credential that a shop has achieved a qualifying score.
The CGI presentation will focus on investment measures that haven’t been realized even though they may be profitable. Certifying that a shop has converted to Green status can be competitive against any other investment needs of the shop, Nathan Simmons, CAA meeting coordinator, said.
Schillinger will explain how CGI can be self-funding to a body shop and not tie up capital. Pay-it-forward takes place in the form of transferring part of the Green conversion cost to rebates, discounts and energy savings. An essential element in the CGI process is the shared savings payment by the body shop based on guaranteed savings. The CGI principle has been applied in North America energy performance contracting for over 20 years and has become known and adopted as a way of doing business in the United States and European countries.
The meeting will be held at Brookside Golf Course at the Rose Bowl, 1133 Rosemont Dr, Pasadena, Calif., on Sept. 18 at 6:30 p.m. For more information, call Simmons at (626) 795-4749 or e-mail him at [email protected]. To reach Schillinger, call (775) 824-9008 or e-mail [email protected].