Creative Energy is a private
district heating
District heating (also known as heat networks or teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating a ...
company. The company was founded on November 1, 1968, by group of engineers with a desire to lower heating bills for buildings (no boilers to buy and maintain) and to reduce the amount of pollution being created to provide heat downtown. In 2014, Central Heat Distribution was rebranded as Creative Energy and began taking on additional district heating projects in Vancouver and Toronto.
Facilities
Beatty Street, Vancouver

A Creative Energy owned a operated district energy facility at 720 Beatty Street in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
provides heat to the
Downtown Core
The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with many integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive build ...
including the
Vancouver Public Library
Vancouver Public Library (VPL) is the public library system for the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2013, VPL had more than 6.9 million visits with patrons borrowing nearly 9.5 million items including: books, ebooks, CDs, DVDs, video game ...
Central Branch,
BC Place
BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located at the north side of False Creek, it is owned and operated by the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), a crown corporation of the province.
The venue is currently ...
,
Rogers Arena
Rogers Arena is a multi-purpose arena located at 800 Griffiths Way in the downtown area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Opened in 1995, the arena was known as General Motors Place (GM Place) from its opening until July 6, 2010, when Ge ...
,
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
The Queen Elizabeth Theatre is a performing arts venue in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Along with the Orpheum, Vancouver Playhouse, and thAnnex it is one of four facilities operated by the Vancouver Civic Theatres on behalf o ...
,
Pacific Centre
Pacific Centre (officially CF Pacific Centre since 2015) is a shopping mall located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is owned by Cadillac Fairview, the Ontario Pension Board, and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, and is manage ...
and most major hotel/office/condo towers such as
Shaw Tower via a 10.5 km network of high-pressure pipes between five centimetres and 50 centimetres in diameter running anywhere from one to five metres below street surfaces. The world-famous
steam clock
A steam clock is a clock which is fully or partially powered by a steam engine. Only a few functioning steam clocks exist, most designed and built by Canadian horologist Raymond Saunders for display in urban public spaces. Steam clocks built by ...
in
Gastown
Gastown is the original settlement that became the core of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and a national historic site and a neighbourhood in the northwest section of the Downtown Eastside, adjacent to Downtown Vancouver.
Its hi ...
is a notable addition to the more than 180 buildings that are served by the
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
powered boiler located in the Stadium/Entertainment district of downtown.
The massive building that occupies the west end of the Georgia Viaduct was once home to the printing plant for Pacific Press the publishers of
The Vancouver Sun
The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published si ...
and
The Province
''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...
newspapers.
In 2020, a plan was approved to replace the building with an office and entertainment complex that will have an expanded electric steam plant in the basement.
Oakridge, Vancouver
As part of the
Oakridge Centre redevelopment in Vancouver, Creative Energy is building a district energy facility for the
Oakridge neighbourhood that will be integrated into Westbank's buildings. The facility, estimated for completion in 2027, will use a mix of gas and electric boilers connected to a
geothermal heat pump
A ground source heat pump (also geothermal heat pump) is a heating/cooling system for buildings that uses a type of heat pump to transfer heat to or from the ground, taking advantage of the relative constancy of temperatures of the earth through ...
.
Main Alley, Vancouver
Main Alley is a proposed district cooling project for office buildings on
Main Street in Vancouver that would be an extension of a current facility on East Fifth Avenue.
TRU, Kamloops
Creative Energy is working with
Thompson Rivers University
Thompson Rivers University (commonly referred to as TRU) is a public teaching and research university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees and vocational training. Its main campus is in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, and its name c ...
in
Kamloops
Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...
to introduce three mini-district energy facility powered by electric boilers across its campus by 2024.
Horseshoe Bay
As part of a luxury waterfront development in the
Horseshoe Bay neighbourhood of
West Vancouver
West Vancouver is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District, West Vancouver is to the northwest of the city of Vancouver on the northern side of English Ba ...
, Creative Energy installed a geothermal system that extracts heat from the ocean.
Mirvish Village, Toronto
A mixed energy source district heating project is currently underway, as of May 2021, as part of the
Mirvish Village
Palmerston-Little Italy is a neighbourhood in central Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its boundaries, according to the City of Toronto, are by Bathurst Street to the east, Bloor Street to the north, Dovercourt Road to the west and College Street to th ...
redevelopment in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
.
References
External links
CHDL profile on ProfileCanadaGuestlife Vancouver article on CHDLGoogle Maps satellite view showing the CHDL facility
{{Vancouver landmarks
Companies based in Vancouver
Energy companies of Canada