What is a Resiliency Study?
A building can look fine on paper and yet still fail the moment a hazard disrupts key systems. A property in good condition may still be vulnerable if critical electrical equipment is in a basement prone to flooding, if there is no available backup power, or if the building cannot maintain habitable temperatures during an outage.
These are the kinds of vulnerabilities that are increasingly important to investors and operators because they affect downtime, repair costs, tenant safety and retention, and insurance outcomes. In other words, a property can be both physically sound and financially fragile.
Offered as an optional add-on to a Property Condition Assessment (PCA) or Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA), a Resiliency Study by Criterium Engineers uses an observation-based approach and available hazard data to evaluate a property’s risk exposure, identify key vulnerabilities, and deliver practical recommendations.
These recommendations are a part of real estate due diligence and can be used by the client to develop an informed financial plan considering options to improve the property’s ability to withstand, adapt to, and recover from disruptive climate-related events.
What a Resiliency Study Includes:
The study incorporates both a physical site inspection, and analysis of publicly available hazard exposure data:
- Public Hazard Data Review: Flood risk, natural disaster exposure, sea-level rise, climate risk, history of events affecting the site
- Site Inspection: Observations of the site and surroundings, building exterior/envelope, electrical and infrastructure systems, available utilities/utility usage, HVAC, safety features, site usage
- Social Resiliency Review: Property’s role in community, tenant type(s), continuity plans, access to available recovery resources
- Occupant Safety & Survivability Review: Life safety & egress, fire suppression, shelter & refuge, passive survivability
- Ratings & Recommendations: Recommendations are categorized by priority (timeframe) and strategy (e.g.: protect/accommodate/relocate)
The risks posed by a changing climate are too great to ignore, and a Resiliency Study provides valuable insight into an asset’s physical, social, and financial durability.
Criterium Engineers is here to help provide the information you need to make an investment decision. Contact us today to see how our team can help you prepare for an increasingly unpredictable future.
Request a Proposal!