The Southeast False Creek Athlete’s Village in Vancouver, British Columbia, was developed for the City of Vancouver as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics with the goal of creating a globally recognized model for sustainable urban development. Spanning a seven-hectare waterfront site with over 20 buildings and 1.5 million square feet of mixed-use residential space, the project aimed to demonstrate how high-performance design could be successfully implemented at a neighbourhood scale.
A high-performance community for high-performing residents
CIMA+ played a key role in the project by providing sustainability consulting, LEED-NC (new construction) project management, and net-zero architectural support. The team led a unified LEED strategy across multiple buildings, ensuring consistent certification outcomes while supporting compliance with the City’s Green Building Strategy. All buildings achieved LEED Gold certification, with select facilities reaching LEED Platinum and net-zero performance.
The project delivered lasting environmental, social and economic benefits. It serves as a blueprint for future sustainable communities while influencing policy implementation and international best practices in low-carbon urban development.
Transforming local energy with low-carbon innovation
A neighbourhood energy utility was integrated into the athlete’s village to significantly reduce GHG emissions on a community scale. Designed to serve multiple buildings, the district energy system required innovative coordination and close collaboration with the Canada Green Building Council to establish new LEED compliance pathways. This forward-thinking system not only improved overall energy efficiency but also set a precedent for recognizing district energy solutions within sustainable community development frameworks.
How the Athlete’s Village was built with sustainability in mind
- LEED for Neighbourhood Developments (LEED-ND) Platinum certified, 2010
- LEED Canada for New Construction and Major Renovations (LEED-NC) Platinum certified (Community Centre and Net Zero Senior’s Building); LEED-NC Gold certified for all other buildings, 2010
- Neighbourhood Energy Utility: over 70% of heating energy derived from renewable source
- Green infrastructure: green roofs covering 50% of roof area in the village
- Natural stormwater management: bioswales and natural wetlands
- High-quality open space: 60% of development
- Parking/refuelling for electric vehicles: 15% of all parking stalls
- Housing diversity: 1,100 residential units including 250 affordable housing units and 100 modest market housing units
- Community amenities: community centre with 69-space daycare and 560 square metres of commercial and restaurant space
- Capacity building: 100 construction jobs for inner-city residents and $750,000 in training
CIMA+ (Recollective) acknowledges that the original contract was held by Thornley BKG Consultants (TBKG), with CIMA+ (Recollective) and Eco-Integration as sub-consultants. The untimely death of green building expert, Andy Kesteloo of TBKG on January 15, 2007 resulted in the contract being transferred completely to CIMA+ (Recollective). Therefore, we share credit for this project with TBKG and Eco-Integration.
To honour Andy, the Canada Green Building Council created an award recognizing a student project that demonstrates leadership, innovation, inspiration and a creative vision for the future of sustainable design in the field of green building and communities.
Read more about the Southeast False Creek Athlete’s Village on the City of Vancouver website.