Are You Green Enough?

You may call yourself green – but are you certified green?

There’s a difference, and TRA Certification can help you earn that designation.

TRA Certification, based out of Elkhart, Indiana, works with manufacturers of RVs, park models, trailers and emergency vehicles as an independent, third-party certification service. The company, an outgrowth of parent company T.R. Arnold & Associates, which was founded in 1967, “specializes in green building and energy efficiency programs as well as ISO 9001 and ISO 14000 certifications for environmental management systems.”

“There was a lot of green building talk in residential construction and there was really nothing for the RV industry for anyone of those manufacturers to say, ‘Look, these are the materials we’re using; these are some of the practices we’re using to consider the environment,’” says Mandy Leazenby, TRA Certification president and a certified green professional. “So we put that in place and we’ve been doing that since ’09, and we’ve had some clients that have been with us since the very beginning.”

Building RVs, park models and more with “green” in mind is important because transparency is a strong factor for consumer purchasing decisions, TRA says. It also shows a company’s commitment to smart construction and component choices.

“The benefit of companies reaching out to me is they already know about green, they already want it, they already have some idea,” Leazenby says. “It might be a focus of theirs or a consideration in their production process or their corporate mindset. I would say it’s definitely easier when they reach out to me, but then I’ll see different companies that are making claims or have some solar or [are] utilizing cool green components. Then that’s when I rush out the door and am like, ‘Hey, you’d be perfect for our program.’”

Some manufacturers that TRA has certified include: Airstream, Coachmen, REV Group, Forest River, Foretravel Motorcoach, General Coach, Lance, Roadtrek, Winnebago and more.

Other RV industry-related companies that have been certified by TRA include: Go Power! Dometic, Dicor, Ultrafabrics, Zamp Solar, AquaView, Pinnacle and more.

“There is a cost for the actual certification. Green certified manufacturers have the ability to put a certified green label on their units, typically right next to the RVIA building codes – the standard to which RVs need to be built,” Leazenby says, referring to the RV Industry Association (RVIA)’s standards seal.

The ratings that TRA uses are assigned based on the TRA Certification Checklist, and then the ratings earn the companies the level of Emerald, Gold, Silver or Bronze.

The level can tell dealers, and subsequently customers, a lot about how a manufacturer conducts their business.

“I think people, especially millennials, want that feel-good feeling that the product that they’re buying, the company that produced it, has the environment in mind. It’s not just an afterthought,” Leazenby says. “So if you have three products on the shelf, obviously it’s going to depend on your priorities, but you’re going to find one that has some sort of sustainability skew. It’s just more and more popular, and it’s not so much a trend as it’s just becoming the standard.”

TRA’s Certification Checklist

When TRA conducts an evaluation for certification, the process includes evaluating the facility, looking at the procedures and practices, to measure against national consensus standards on the following points (among several others):

• • Resource efficiency
  • Energy efficiency
  • Water efficiency
  • Indoor air quality

Green RV Checklist, which includes factors such as:

• • Construction materials recycled off-site
  • Material scraps reused
  • Reusable shipping containers for materials
  • Materials with recycled content are used
  • Rain drainage system installed
  • Regional material used for major components
  • RV component facility is ISO 9001/14001 or equal (certified that day-to-day operations are sustainable to reduce environmental impact)
  • Interior/exterior LED lighting
  • Awnings standard
  • Energy efficient appliances
  • Energy efficient furnace and AC
  • Solar panels (prewired or factory-installed)

Appealing to Millennials

Here’s how TRA suggests RV manufacturers appeal to this demographic:

1. 1. Incorporate eco-friendly materials and technologies into their RVs, such as renewable energy systems and energy-efficient appliances.
   2. Design RVs with minimal environmental impact, focusing on lightweight construction and sustainable manufacturing processes.
   3. Use recycled and recyclable materials, plus promote waste reduction and responsible disposal practices, which can resonate with millennials.
   4. Leverage digital marketing and social media platforms to communicate their sustainability efforts effectively, connecting with millennials who actively seek out brands that prioritize sustainability.