Central Heat Distribution

Central Heat Distribution Ltd. (CHDL) is a private district heating company located at 720 Beatty Street in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that provides heat to the Downtown Core including the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch, B.C. Place, GM Place, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Pacific Centre 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.[1] The world-famous steam clock in Gastown is a notable addition to the more than 180 buildings that are served by the natural gas powered boiler located in the Stadium/Entertainment district of downtown.

CHDL as seen from Rogers Arena looking Southwest towards Downtown Vancouver with the Georgia Viaduct in the foreground.

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, the company was bought by developer Ian Gillespie for $32 million.[2]

The massive building CHDL occupies at the west end of the Georgia Viaduct was once home to the printing plant for Pacific Press the publishers of The Vancouver Sun and The Province newspapers.[3]

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.[4]