Durable North America has a deep sense of commitment to the environment and an ongoing evaluation of what this means to our customers.

One of our efforts include: A Lower Carbon Dioxide Emissions Strategy (LoCO₂e) for customers interested in reducing the carbon footprint of their building projects or organizations.

We offer our customers the option of selecting a lower carbon footprint for their refrigerated buffet bars, dish washing equipment, ice systems, and high-speed combination cooking equipment.

We’ve made it our priority to seek out manufacturers that are expanding their "Bright Green" offerings and Energy Star® qualified products.

Durable has been approved by the U.S. EPA to become a Service and Product Energy Star® Provider.  We’re working to promote the benefits of Energy Star® along side the leading manufacturers that offer "a standardized, generally accepted, proven strategy for improving the energy efficiency of commercial and industrial buildings."

This strategy focuses on energy conservation and advocates the reduction in indirect CO₂ emissions (LoCO₂e).

In 2007 Research & Development Fixtures developed the Shallow Flat Cold Pan technology that reduces indirect carbon dioxide emissions and in 2008 they added energy saving LED lighting to their product offering. 

R&D’s design staff is ready to help our customer’s with every aspect of designing a custom food merchandising fixtures so it works in conjunction with the overall mission of the "Green" building project.

As part of their commitment to the global environment, Ice-O-Matic is devoted to sustainability in every aspect of their business.  To ultimately offset the carbon footprint of their factory in Denver, they not only use recycled materials in their packaging and manufacturing, but also recycle their industrial and office waste products.

More important, they also plant a tree for every ice machine they sell, to contribute to the reforestation of key regions throughout the world. Their goal is to plant 150,000 trees through their Global Sustainability program.

In just a couple of months they will plant enough trees to offset the entire carbon footprint of their factory, and by the end of our program they will have planted enough trees to absorb the CO2 emissions from more than 15 factories like Ice-O-Matic each year.

Trees reduce topsoil erosion, prevent harmful land pollutants from getting into our waterways, and replace air pollutants with fresh, clean oxygen.

We are doing our part to help the environment when we sell an Ice-O-Matic ice machine.

• Over one year, an acre of trees absorbs the same amount of carbon dioxide as that produced by driving a car 26,000 miles.
• A single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 lb. per year.
• That means by reaching their goal of planting 150,000 trees, Ice-O-Matic will reduce the carbon dioxide in our air by more than 7 million pounds a year!

Ice-O-Matic has partnered with American Forests' Global ReLeaf education and action program, which helps individuals, organizations, agencies, and corporations improve the local and global environment by planting and caring for trees. To learn more about its efforts visit americanforests.org/global_releaf/

We joined the thousands of wildlife enthusiasts across the country that has been recognized for creating havens for neighborhood wildlife in their very own yards. We have provided the essential elements for a healthy and sustainable wildlife habitat and have earned the distinction of being part of National Wildlife Federation’s Certified Wildlife Habitat™ program.

All that we had to do was provide elements from each of the following areas:

• Food sources: native plants, seeds, fruits, nuts, berries, nectar
• Water sources: birdbath, and shoreline
• Places for cover: thicket, log pile, birdhouse
• Places to raise young: dense shrubs, vegetation, nesting box
• Sustainable gardening: mulch, compost, rain garden, chemical-free fertilizer

It was fun! Watching wildlife in action is fun and relaxing for our entire family, clients and guests. Our habitat attracts beautiful sand cranes, herons, roseate spoonbills, pelicans, egrets, ibis, limpkins, shore birds, woodpeckers, songbirds, hummingbirds, bald eagles, osprey, hawks, owls, bees, butterflies, dragonflies, frogs, lizards, turtles, and other interesting wildlife for viewing from our gazebo swing and out our windows.

Eco-friendly! Our gardening and wet-shore-land practices help our wildlife, we’ve reduced the use of chemicals, conserved energy and water where we could, and the natural ground-cover composting has helped to improve our air, water and soil quality.

Stop-over site!  We wanted to create a habitat which would attract stop-over birds during migrations. Annually we count birds during The Great Backyard Bird Count and we’ve taught our grandson that a good way to see nature is to count/monitor landbird, waterbird, waterfowl, and raptor migrations.

Bringing wildlife home! Restoring habitats where land development had degraded natural ecosystems was our way of giving back to wildlife.

Curb appeal! We replaced our entire front grass lawn with native wildflowers, shrubs, and trees and it increased the beauty of our property and provided a nurturing refuge for wildlife.

After our habitat was certified by NWF, we ordered and now proudly display the Certified Wildlife Habitat sign to convey your commitment to wildlife conservation and the environment, and help us spread the word to our grandchildren, clients, friends and neighbors.