Sustainability in higher education is dominated by practical ‘greening the campus’ programs and initiatives. This paper examines sustainable university research and development projects as part of the ‘greening the campus’ spectrum, yet distinct in their specific holistic and scientific orientation. Sustainable university projects seek institutional transformation in strategic and systematic ways; they perceive universities as open, dynamic systems capable of learning and change. Within this system, the two interlocking subsystems of academia and operations provide many leverage points for sustainable development; when utilized together, synergies for sustainability in higher education emerge which may quicken whole-systems transformation. Sustainable university research and development not only describes and monitors such opportunities and processes of institutional transformation, it also directs institutional development toward a more sustainable university. © 2008, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.