The $126 million Simon Fraser University (SFU) Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering Program (SE3P) building was officially opened this April.

Designed by the late Bing Thom, and delivered and executed by Revery Architecture (formerly Bing Thom Architects), the five-storey, LEED-gold-certified building is adjacent to the current SFU campus at Surrey’s Central City Mall complex. Surrey’s newest landmark features modern wet and dry teaching labs, classrooms, study spaces, offices, a large light-filled central atrium space and a 400-seat lecture hall to serve SFU as well as the broader Surrey community. The building’s façade is designed to represent ‘circuit board’ imagery symbolic of the technological subject matter that will be taught.

In September, students will be able to train, for the first time, in new state-of-the-art facilities for sustainable energy engineering, a program unique to Western Canada.

“Investing in clean tech innovators here at SFU Surrey will help build a cleaner, brighter future for everyone in B.C.,” said Premier John Horgan. “The skills and experience students gain in this new building will help them succeed in B.C.’s growing clean tech sector and become leaders in the low-carbon economy of the future.”

The new 20,458 square-metre facility creates better access for prospective tech students throughout the Lower Mainland. It accommodates 440 new full-time equivalent (FTE) student spaces and 40 faculty and staff for SFU’s new sustainable energy engineering degree programs. It also gives SFU the physical space to relocate its current 75 graduate mechatronics students to new and improved facilities.

The sustainable energy engineering programming provides an interdisciplinary approach to energy engineering by integrating science, environmental and business courses. The programs will prepare students to work in clean technology sectors, such as smart cities, clean power generation and sustainable food and water solutions.