Natural Resources Canada recognized SFU's significant energy savings between 2002 and 2006 with an Energy Conservation in Existing Buildings award. By strategically conserving energy in campus heating and electrical systems, SFU realized an average annual savings of more than $150,000. Over the past two decades, sustainability initiatives such as the capture and recirculation of water used to cool the university's compressed air systems and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions at the boiler plant have helped the environment and contributed to energy savings of more than $25 million.

SFU Library hosted the first Multicultural Canada conference to strengthen support for a national project to digitize the historical records of Canada's immigrant communities. Using state-of-the-art equipment, SFU is leading the initiative to make oral histories, photos, letters, legal documents and other relevant materials more easily accessible online to anyone with an interest in immigrant history. The digitization of the Chinese Times is one of five major projects currently underway at SFU’s W.A.C. Bennett library.

SFU's influential City Program turned the spotlight on sustainability issues in 2006, increasing course offerings in the areas of green building economics, rehabilitation and heritage preservation, and ecological and alternative development standards. In addition, the program drew more than 700 people to a public lecture with “new urbanist” Peter Calthorpe, and attracted significant media attention with its successful Affordability for All conference last fall.

SFU has a long tradition of making higher education more accessible. Now, SFU's Vancouver campus will be the home of the new Weekend University, a flexible program that will allow anyone wanting to earn a university degree the opportunity to study when it suits them best — including evenings and weekends. Applications are now being accepted for Fall 2008 enrolment; call 604.291.5686 or email ytabin@sfu.ca for more information.

Thanks to the efforts of a student-led task force, SFU adopted an ethical purchasing policy in 2006. The policy currently requires all SFU coffee shops to offer a fair trade coffee option and ensures that all university apparel is manufactured according to the International Labour Organization's core labour conventions. In addition, SFU has formed a committee, with membership from all university communities, to work with the administration to expand and implement ethical policy.

SFU's Reaching New Heights campaign surpassed the original $100-million target and delivered more than $130 million over five years to help fund student financial support, research chairs, athletic facilities, and new buildings such as the Segal Graduate School of Business in downtown Vancouver and SFU's Surrey campus. Next up, SFU's Advancement team is looking to fund a range of strategic initiatives in collaborative research such as The Initiative for the Protection of Our Environment, which will see SFU researchers applying their interdisciplinary expertise to diverse environmental issues.