A partnership between the University of the Fraser Valley and FortisBC will showcase cutting-edge gas absorption heat pump (GAHP) technology at UFV Chilliwack’s Trades and Technology Centre (TTC).  Made possible by a significant contribution from FortisBC, seven GAHPs have been installed at the TTC. They are estimated to save 860 gigajoules of natural gas, and…

In the summer of 2022, UFV’s first pollinator garden was planted behind Lá:lem te Baker. It came on the heels of the devastating heat dome in the summer of 2021, and the catastrophic flooding that came months later. Jennifer Martel, Sustainability Manager in UFV's Office of Sustainability, says those two events killed millions of pollinators. …

The Sustainable Office Certification program is one of the ways UFV's Office of Sustainability (OoS) is empowering staff to make their workplace more socially and environmentally focused. Its first iteration ran from August to December last year, with its second session coming up this month. The program gathers representatives from departments across UFV, who support…

The 2024 Waste Audit produced valuable results for UFV’s Office of Sustainability and will serve as another step to UFV becoming a net-zero campus. The event was held March 21 as part of UFV's March for Sustainability, a series of events throughout the month of March focused on increasing community engagement on topics such as…

For the third year in a row, the Career Closet is clothing student job-hunters while battling prejudice in the workplace. Hillary Rowe, a Student Transition and Engagement Coordinator with UFV’s Student Experience Office, created and directs the project. The Career Closet is part of March for Sustainability, an annual event series addressing topics like climate…

The stars of Canada West women’s basketball will shine bright when UFV hosts the 2024 Canada West Basketball Championships Feb 21-25, and so will the lights at the UFV Athletic Centre. Recent upgrades have replaced fluorescent and metal halide lighting with LED (light emitting diode) technology. This upgrade results in brighter illumination and 46 per…

March for Sustainability returns in 2024 with more events than ever before. A series of collaborative events, March for Sustainability is co-hosted by various UFV departments and groups throughout the month of March. Events address sustainability topics such as climate change, biodiversity, EDI, and gender diversity. “There’s something for everyone across the Abbotsford and Chilliwack…

To reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions at the Chilliwack campus at Canada Education Park, UFV is working with Fortis-BC Energy Inc. (FortisBC) as an early adopter in its Gas Absorption Heat Pump (GAHP) program. FortisBC will contribute approximately $570,000 to the design, purchase, installation, and commissioning of GAHP technology at UFV’s Trades and…

More than 100 UFV employees and students participated in the third-annual Campus Ecochallenge, producing impressive results. Between Oct 10 and Nov 10, 2023, they worked on building healthy and sustainable habits, choosing from a list of more than 100 actions in nine categories: waste, food, health, transportation, energy, community, nature, water, and simplicity. Examples included…

As institutional and community demand for sustainability has increased, UFV’s Office of Sustainability (OoS) has become a central resource for pursuing the best practices of economic, social, and environmental management and advancement at UFV, and in the wider community. Guided by the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), UFV’s OoS is leading the advancement…

It can be a grinding chore: tackling a space that needs a cathartic clean-out. Confronting a garage or storage room containing keepsakes no longer meeting changing needs can be a daunting task. The purge may be required -- too many things in too small a space -- but often the will fails when items are…

The University of the Fraser Valley has been awarded the AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System) Silver rating. “This achievement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire UFV community to creating a more sustainable future.” notes  Doran Hoge, UFV…

The University of Fraser Valley (UFV) has committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Accord (the SDG Accord). Launched in 2017, the SDG Accord is a global initiative encouraging universities and other post-secondary institutions to pursue the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) -- 17 interconnected goals addressing a range of economic, social, and…

The Fraser Valley is the heart of agriculture in British Columbia. But along with bumper crops of berries and corn come real concerns about the future of food production.  Climate change, heat domes, floods, drought, global warning, and rising prices all have an impact on local and global food security.   The University of the…

Do you ever feel like you could do more to be sustainable but aren’t sure how? If so, you’ll be excited to know that this March at UFV will be full of events dedicated to sustainability. UFV’s Office of Sustainability, alongside 20 other departments and groups, will host the March for Sustainability event series again…