Nissan Technology Center North America (NTCNA) celebrates Earth Day 365 days a year

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – On Earth Day 2014, it’s business as usual at Nissan Technical Center North America (NTCNA). Inside, a thermal ice storage system efficiently reduces greenhouse gas emissions and lowers costs. Translucent skylights energize employees and simultaneously reduce energy consumption, helping trap heat on cold days. In the summer, white roofs provide the opposite effect, cooling the building. Outside, a massive recycling center salvages unused plastics, aluminum, steel, wood, cardboard and other vehicle parts no longer in use, while in the parking lot sits the only public electrical vehicle charging stations in Farmington Hills.

At NTCNA, every day is Earth Day.

“We encourage every one of our 1,200 employees to be environmentally conscious on a day-to-day basis, while always keeping an eye on what we can do to improve,” said Kunio Nakaguro, senior vice president, Research and Development, Nissan North America. ”For Nissan, Earth Day is a celebration of what we do on a daily basis to ensure we’re saving energy and avoiding unnecessary pollution, and we take pride in this accomplishment.”

Just yards in front of the facility – which houses production engineering, research and testing, purchasing, quality and administration – the campus pond conserves water and aids irrigation. Not far is the organic garden, a beneficiary of the irrigation system, where employees plant vegetables each spring and donate the finished product to a local charity. Employees are also encouraged to carpool to work, evidenced by a line of “Car Pool Only” parking spots at the front of the company lot.

The brains behind many of the employee initiatives is the NTCNA “Green Team,” a group of 22 company employees who meet monthly to brainstorm green ideas. For Earth Day, the team has organized a “Zero Waste Lunch” with a goal of recycling or composting every bit of leftover components.

Other regular environmentally savvy technologies and initiatives at NTCNA include:

• Unusable wood pallets and old tires are chipped and made into mulch.
• Wheels and other metals are turned into various auto parts and other products.
• Usable computer parts are refurbished and reused, while unusable parts are broken down and recycled.
• Recycled cardboard is converted into paper for brown paper bags.

About Nissan North America
In North America, Nissan's operations include automotive styling, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program and has been recognized as an ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year in 2010, 2011, and 2012 by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency. More information on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at www.NissanUSA.com and www.InfinitiUSA.com, or visit the Americas media sites NissanNews.com and InfinitiNews.com.

About Nissan
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Japan's second-largest automotive company, is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, and is part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Operating with more than 236,000 employees globally, Nissan sold more than 4.9 million vehicles and generated revenue of 9.6 trillion yen (USD 116.16 billion) in fiscal 2012. Nissan delivers a comprehensive range of over 60 models under the Nissan and Infiniti brands. In 2010, Nissan introduced the Nissan LEAF, and continues to lead in zero-emission mobility. The LEAF, the first mass-market, pure-electric vehicle launched globally, is now the best-selling EV in history.

For more information on our products, services and commitment to sustainable mobility, visit our website at http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/.

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Media Contact:

Wendy Payne
248-488-4227
wendy.payne@nissan-usa.com