Project Guide
This chapter is about assessing your building, identifying potential upgrades, and translating community needs into a preliminary resilience hub concept.
Once community priorities and project goals have been identified, the next step is to understand the physical building and evaluate what improvements are possible. The Audit & Design phase focuses on assessing the existing facility, identifying potential upgrades, and translating community needs into a preliminary resilience hub concept.
At this stage, the goal is not to produce final engineering drawings but to develop a clear understanding of the building’s current condition, energy performance, and spatial opportunities. This helps project teams identify the most impactful improvements, estimate feasibility, and prepare the project for funding and implementation.
The tools in this section help teams document building conditions, evaluate potential upgrades, and organize early design concepts so they can be shared with engineers, funders, and project partners.
Assess the Existing Building
The first step is to understand the facility’s current conditions and capabilities.
This includes documenting:
- Building size and layout
- Existing heating, cooling, and electrical systems
- Structural conditions
- Current energy use and major loads
- Spaces that could support community programming during emergencies
A structured building assessment helps teams identify both limitations and opportunities before exploring potential improvements.
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Building Assessment Questionnaire
This questionnaire helps project teams systematically document building characteristics, infrastructure conditions, and facility capabilities. It provides a structured starting point for evaluating whether a building could support a Community Clean Energy Resilience Hub.
Identify Potential System Improvements
After understanding the existing building conditions, teams can begin identifying improvements that would strengthen resilience and energy performance.
Potential upgrades may include:
- Energy efficiency improvements
- Electrification of heating systems
- Battery storage or backup power
- Improved ventilation or indoor air quality
- Community cooling or warming capabilities
At this stage, teams should focus on identifying possible options, not final decisions.
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Feature List
The Feature List template helps teams organize potential building upgrades and system improvements in a clear and structured format. It allows project teams to compare different options and evaluate which features may best support resilience hub operations.
Evaluate Feasibility and Performance
Once potential improvements have been identified, teams can begin evaluating whether the proposed upgrades are technically and financially feasible.
This process may involve:
- Estimating system sizes
- Understanding potential energy performance
- Evaluating infrastructure requirements
- Identifying potential engineering challenges
Early feasibility analysis helps ensure that the proposed concept is realistic before moving forward.
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Feasibility Analysis and Facility Performance Estimate
This spreadsheet tool helps project teams estimate potential system performance and evaluate early-stage feasibility for clean energy and resilience upgrades.
Define the Resilience Hub Concept
Once building conditions and potential upgrades are understood, the next step is to translate those findings into a clear concept for the resilience hub.
This includes defining:
- The primary purpose of the hub
- Key services it will provide during emergencies
- Core building upgrades needed to support operations
- How community spaces will be used
The goal is to produce a clear concept that can be communicated to partners and funders.
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Resilience Ready Memo
The Resilience Ready Memo provides a structured format for documenting the resilience hub concept, including the facility’s purpose, proposed improvements, and expected community benefits.
Engage MWBE/CUBs Contractors Early
The audit and early design phase often requires technical support from electricians, HVAC professionals, energy auditors, or architects. These are real engagement opportunities — and the right moment to prioritize minority- and women-owned firms before the project moves into formal procurement.
Bringing MWBE contractors in early gives them direct familiarity with the building and scope, strengthens your project's equity narrative for funders, and increases the likelihood they can compete effectively when construction begins.
The goal is to produce a clear concept that can be communicated to partners and funders.
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MWBE Evaluation Rubric
A simple scoring guide to compare contractor qualifications, experience, and alignment with project needs. Promotes fairness and helps diversify who gets hired at every stage of the project.
Develop Preliminary Design Concepts
Once the resilience concept is defined, teams can begin outlining how the building may be organized and how systems may be integrated.
This stage may include:
- Identifying locations for energy systems
- Mapping community spaces within the building
- Planning equipment placement
- Exploring layout options for critical infrastructure
These early concepts help guide engineering discussions and support funding proposals.
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Proposed Site Plan
Provides a visual framework for mapping the location of key systems, infrastructure, and building improvements across the site.
Proposed Basement Plan
Helps teams plan the placement of equipment, utilities, and infrastructure within lower building levels.
Document the Project Blueprint
The final step of the Audit & Design phase is to consolidate the project concept into a clear blueprint that can guide funding applications and implementation planning.
This blueprint summarizes:
- Building conditions
- Proposed system upgrades
- Facility layout
- Community resilience services
- Preliminary project scope
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CCRH Blueprint
The CCRH Blueprint template helps teams organize key project information into a clear and structured format that can be shared with partners, funders, and technical teams.
