The District Energy System services the Cheakamus Crossing neighbourhood.
The District Energy System extracts heat energy from treated wastewater at the Waste Water Treatment Plant to provide space and domestic hot water heating to the Cheakamus Crossing neighbourhood.
The District Energy System was constructed for Cheakamus Crossing when the neighbourhood was built for the 2010 Winter Games as the Whistler Athlete’s Village. Ninety per cent of the homes in the neighbourhood are restricted to the Whistler workforce through the Whistler Housing Authority. There are just over 500 dwelling units occupied and connected to the District Energy System. The Resort Municipality of Whistler operates and maintains the District Energy System plant located at the Whistler Wastewater Treatment Plant, as well as piping in public areas.
An energy study conducted on the efficiency of the District Energy System concluded it reduced greenhouse gases for the neighbourhood by 95 per cent as opposed to individual homes heated by natural gas. This is the equivalent to taking 350 gasoline-powered passenger cars off the road for a year or avoiding five tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions for a typical townhouse dwelling of 136 square metres.