Fast food, car dealers and gas stations are America's global symbols of environmentally destructive corporate practices. But a unique partnership has brought together a local McDonalds, Ford auto dealer and Statoil gas station (part of a large Norwegian oil company) to create the "Greenzone," a ecologically sound business area in Sweden's northern University city of Umea, located near the Baltic.

The Greenzone opened in April 2000 following an extensive, holistic educational, planning and design effort that brought together scores of businesses, government agencies and nonprofits beginning in 1997. All the contractors and everyone involved went through a one-day Natural Step seminar and an additional full day of education on a sustainable way of doing business. Each company agrees that all new employees will receive similar training.

"The aim was to show how to do things in a sustainable way and also to make more money than doing things conventionally," said Ola Borgernas, a manager of the Ford auto dealership. "We have around 50,000 facilities around the world, so if can learn something from this, it will be huge impact."

The first thing one notices when driving into the Greenzone is that the roofs are green, with grass growing on the roofs of the McDonalds, Ford and Statoil gas station. Not only are they more attractive, but Ford has found that the green roofs eliminate the need for air conditioning, thus reducing cooling energy needs by 100% compared to a typical dealership. In addition to the insulation benefits for both heating and cooling, the inside air temperature is dropped by the evaporation of rainwater.

Instead of a typically paved parking area, there is a permeable surface with pavers inserted in grass. This allows rainwater to penetrate into the earth where it is collected in cisterns, from which it is biologically filtered in a series of attractive streams and ponds and then released as clean water. This is in contrast to typical parking lots from which rainwater is contaminated by oil, car exhaust and atmospheric pollutants which then run-off directly into our waterways.

Imagine purchasing a Ford vehicle and being assigned a Ford mechanic who is responsible for taking car of your car for its life. Rather than dealing with various service personnel, you come in and speak directly to your mechanic. The mechanic welcomes you into the bright, naturally lit service area (complemented by automatically adjusted lighting), which is spotless and probably cleaner than most people's kitchens. Then you notice that that there are no exhaust or toxic smells, thanks in part to the beautiful glass-encased mixtures of plants that act as a natural air filtration system and are automatically water spray washed every half hour to remove pollutants.

The Greenzone has attracted a great deal of public attention with bottom line benefits. Ford saves about $15 per car in servicing by reducing chemical usage, bulk chemicals, and not washing engines. Its car sales have increased by 150% the last two years to 1200 cars and car servicing has increased by 100%. The dealership was previously ninth or tenth in Umea a year or so ago but now is number one in sales and service.

The benefits have been remarkable compared to a similar-sized Ford facility:

• Electrical consumption has been reduced by 60% and only renewable energy is used, coming from solar heating panels and a coastal windmill.
• There is 100% re-use and recycling of materials.
• There is 90% reduction in the use of fresh water from the public supply. Rainwater is collected and used for washing cars and flushing toilets and there is a vacuum toilet system that only uses 1.2 litres for every flush.
• 100% of nutritive substances are used, with toilet waste going to tanks outside where it is composted for use as a fertilizer on farms.
• The whole building is bolted or screwed together so it can be completely deconstructed and all the materials reused.

Copyright 2001 Terry Gips, Alliance for Sustainability