Durham City/County Sustainability Office

Greener Durham

Solar hot water system on the City’s General Services Building.

Both the City and County of Durham are committed to vigorously pursuing sustainable practices in their operations. Recent initiatives include:

The City and County Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plan sets the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the governments by 50 percent and the community by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
City and County idle reduction policies require employees to shut off vehicles when not in use to reduce fuel costs, maintenance, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.
A County green building policy requires all new buildings to meet high environmental standards. (City policy in development.) The county currently has three LEED-certified buildings and three more in development. The City-owned Durham Performing Arts Center was constructed to meet high environmental standards.
A City environmentally preferred purchasing policy and employee expectation policy guides purchasing and use of the most environmentally friendly products possible.
Paperless systems and records are new in several departments, including the Department of Social Services, the Registrar of Deeds, and Durham Parks and Recreation.
The City Fleet Management Department purchases fuel-efficient vehicles that qualify for the Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay program.

Other city and county departments that work to make our community more Sustainable:

City

County

City

County