Effectively practicing pollution prevention and energy reduction has become increasingly important for collision repairers. To make it easier for body shops to manage and improve their environmental performance, the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) announced it has teamed with GRC-Pirk Management Company – an EPA-recognized, registered professional engineering firm – to provide GreenSweep, an energy and pollution performance program tailored to the needs of the SCRS membership.
GreenSweep is designed specifically for the collision repair industry.
"The collision repair industry faces unique challenges in reducing its carbon footprint," said GRC-Pirk President Steven Schillinger. "Not only do they have to manage energy output, they have to deal with chemical emissions from their refinishing departments. The SCRS-sponsored program handles both requirements, making it of special interest to body shops."
GreenSweep offers repairers a complementary set of environmental products and services. It assists shops in measuring, tracking and recording the environmental performance of their facility, including the measurement of baseline and ongoing business emissions. It also helps the shop develop and implement a plan for remaining compliant with the EPA and U.S. Department of Energy’s ENERGY STAR energy management guidelines.
"The goal is not to establish a one-shot sustainability," said Schillinger, "but to display consistent performance improvement over time."
In addition, GreenSweep offers enrollment in the SCRS-recognized Green Sustainability School – a free, ongoing monthly training service for collision repair managers and employees with curriculum designed to keep body shop professionals up-to-date on green practices and technology.
Once a shop is certified – a service managed and provided by EPA-recognized third-party GRC-Pirk – it is then listed on the website www.findgreengarage.com, a validation that the business is officially recognized as "green" by federal, state and local authorities.
The opportunity to be recognized and create an effective, localized marketing campaign around environmental practices – SCRS notes the GreenSweep program includes marketing collateral – is only one of the advantages for repairers enrolling in the program, which more than pays back its service fee. Improved energy efficiencies reduce utility expense and operating costs. Green operators benefit from tax credits and deductions as well as city rebates and subsidies. Some garagekeeper’s liability insurance providers even offer discounts to environmentally responsible policyholders.
"Adopting sound environmental practices is not only the right thing to do, but it can provide a collision repairer with some competitive advantages," said Schillinger. "It is exciting to bring our expertise to the industry, and we look forward to helping SCRS members reduce their environmental impact and become more efficient operators in the process."
"SCRS pursues opportunities and strategic partnerships that position its members to succeed not only in the present, but in the long run," said SCRS Executive Director Aaron Schulenburg. "This often includes placing new tools, progressive solutions and cost saving measures at their fingertips, exemplified by our agreement with GRC-Pirk and the rollout of the SCRS-recognized GreenSweep program. As the industry moves forward, optimal energy and pollution performance will play an increasingly large role in repair facility success, creating distinction between the SCRS members making use of the program and the other facilities operating within the market. We are honored to make this program available to our members, and thank GRC-Pirk for putting together such a robust program for our organization."
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