Tandus, Toyota Work Together To "Drive" Sustainability Within Their Industries.

DALTON, Ga. -- With a commitment to preserving the environment that doesn't stop with vehicles, McKinney's Pat Lobb Toyota dealership, with the help of C&A Floorcoverings, a Tandus brand, built a new dealership with sustainability as a driving creative force. The nation's first silver LEED certified automobile dealership, located in McKinney, Texas, prides itself for being one of the most environmentally responsible businesses in the area, as well as for serving as a prototype for future Toyota dealerships.

Because Pat Lobb Toyota wanted to create an environmentally responsible and healthy building for employees and clients, it was important to use materials that encompassed their vision to achieve that goal.

Meeting both environmental and performance requirements, much of the carpet used in the McKinney Toyota dealership features C&A's ethos[R] backing, a high-performance vinyl backing for commercial carpet. Containing 76% post-consumer recycled content, ethos is made from the polyvinyl butyral (PVB) film recovered when laminated safety glass is recycled. Ethos incorporates high post-consumer recycled content, does not contain antimicrobial pesticides, has extremely low VOC emissions, and is 100% closed-loop recycled into carpet backing at C&A's existing recycling plant. An environmental leader for nearly 40 years, C&A introduced in 1994 the first commercially available, fully operational, carpet-to-carpet recycling program for recovering and recycling its - and competitors' - vinyl-backed carpets into backing for new carpet backing.

"There are hundreds and hundreds of vendors with eco-friendly products and services and everyone wanted in on this," said George Irving, Toyota Field Manager. "We wanted the latest and greatest, but our objectives were to create something that was functional, on time, on budget and with the ability to duplicate. We wanted to create a great environment to work and a great experience for customers. We were delighted to select the C&A ethos carpet for this project as it met all of Toyota's eco - criteria."

In keeping with Toyota's sustainable vision, the building's environmental impact goes beyond its carpet, with many of the building materials made from recycled content. The dealership, which opened last summer, features a number of innovative technologies designed to conserve resources. Such details include:

* Aluminum Composite Material panels made with 95 percent recycled aluminum comprise the building's front wall;

* 20 percent of all cement was replaced with fly ash, a pulverized fuel ash;

* An ivy-covered green wall improves air quality by removing common pollutants and humidifies dry air and adds oxygen to building surroundings. The green wall also absorbs heat from the sun, keeping the building cooler, reducing energy use;

* Natural light is used in most interior offices.

Pat Lobb Toyota considered the lifecycles of both the materials used in its building, as well as the products they use on a daily basis.

* To reduce water usage, a closed-loop recycled water car wash was installed to recycle water used in each wash; and

* An 8,660-gallon water cistern was installed to capture rain and excess water generated by air conditioners. This water will irrigate the landscape so that it will flourish even in the hot, dry Texas summer.

Not only has the dealership recycled more than 80 percent of its construction waste, but it has also devised a system to reuse the waste oil that comes out of customers' cars. By using it as fuel to heat the shop, car wash and detail bays, the dealership incinerates the waste oil, the disposal manner recommended by the EPA.

"Pat Lobb Toyota has gone above and beyond traditional, environmentally sound building practices," said Lee Schilling, Senior Vice President, Tandus. "In a world where green usually describes the color of money, two businesses, from two different industries, have come together to give the word a whole new meaning."

About Tandus

Tandus unites the industry's leading specialized commercial flooring brands - Monterey, C&A, and Crossley -- to offer its customers single-source innovative product design and technology, comprehensive services, and environmental leadership. Based in Dalton, Ga., Tandus is a leading commercial floorcoverings company. More information can be found online at www.tandus.com.