Posted July 17, 2008 --- 6:00 p.m.

We hear so much about shop green, think green, drive green.

One Madison business has become a shining example of what it means to take small steps to protect the environment.

The business may be 100 years old, but Smart Motors is keeping current and planning for the future with its green building.

When you drive on Odana Road, you may not know that this building is green... but a closer look inside will show what it means to go green.

"We have ceramic and T-8 lighting that helps with our energy savings here. We also heat our service department with waste oil. It also heats the surface drive floor and the outside which helps prevent slipping and falling and things like that as well."

JR Smart, President of Smart Motors, says their windows are also solar tinted to help control the temperature of the building.

But it;s not just what's inside the building that makes this business unique, even the property is in step with the idea of green.

"We feature a rain garden which is a bio-retention feature...city's sewer system."

And being Madison-friendly, they have created a bike pit stop off the bike path to encourage people to bike over to shop for a car.

And if you are looking to buy green, Toyota also ushered in the most popular hybrid vehicle: the Prius.

It is a pretty impressive building.

Even if you want a cup of coffee, they serve fair trade brew as well. Proving that you can have a successful, large volume business and still take small steps here and there to protect the environment.