'Greening' your building isn't just about protecting the planet; it’s about making your organisation more resilient, reducing soaring energy bills, and creating healthier spaces for local communities to thrive.
Whether you are managing a historic hall or planning a new community hub, this guide provides a clear, supportive roadmap for your environmental journey. We move beyond the jargon to help you understand the practical changes you can make today to ensure your asset remains a sustainable heart of the community for generations to come.
What you will learn
This handbook breaks down complex environmental challenges into manageable steps. By reading this guide, you will learn how to:
- Climate action context: The urgent need for community‑level action, as buildings are a major contributor to UK carbon emissions.
- Policy and governance: National climate laws and local authority action plans help shape how community assets can plan for and deliver decarbonisation.
- Energy and carbon audits: Conducting audits provides essential baseline data and identifies where efficiencies, savings and carbon reductions can be made.
- Efficiency first approach: Low‑cost behavioural changes and energy‑saving measures should be prioritised before investing in larger technical upgrades.
- Building fabric focus: Understanding materials, insulation needs and embodied carbon helps assets reduce energy loss and improve long‑term sustainability.
- Renewables and heating: Smart controls, modern heating systems and renewable energy sources offer ways to cut emissions once efficiency measures are in place.
- Culture and engagement: Organisational policies, staff training, and community participation help embed sustainable behaviour and maximise co‑benefits such as improved wellbeing and cost savings.
Who is this for?
This resource is designed for the 'informed optimists' leading our community sector:
- Trustees and Board Members: Looking to align their organisation’s mission with climate goals and reduce long-term running costs.
- Building managers and caretakers: Seeking practical, hands-on advice for maintenance and eco-friendly upgrades.
- Community Asset Transfer (CAT) Groups: Planning to take over a building and wanting to build in sustainability from the start.
- Local Climate Action Groups: Looking for a framework to help local organisations reduce their carbon footprint.
Related resources
Managing your community building
A guide to the effective and sustainable management of community buildings, covering legal requirements, maintenance, health and safety, and building strong relationships with your local community.
Marketing your community space hire
Unlock your community building’s financial potential with this expert guide to marketing space hire, covering audience segmentation, professional messaging, and strategic booking pipelines to ensure long-term, sustainable trading income.
Engaging professional advisors when acquiring or adapting your building
Successfully appoint and manage professional advisors, such as architects and surveyors, ensuring capital projects are delivered on time and within budget when planning the acquisition, development, or adaptation of a community building or land.
Maximising use of community assets in a cost-of-living crisis
How do you run an asset that can be used for service delivery while maintaining a viable community business? This session looked at how to make the most of asset space during the cost-of-living crisis.
This feels like the eternal question for asset owning community organisations. However, as the cost-of-living crisis deepens, finding the balance between service delivery and sustainability has become even more of a challenge. This session looked at how to make the most of asset space during the cost-of-living crisis.
We heard from community organisations who are currently tackling this issue. We also heard from Wrigley’s Solicitors about how best to “flex” your assets and the legal considerations.
- Fran Etherington from the The Old Fire Station, Leeds, told us that room hire remains a core part of their income generation model. They believe forward planning has been essential to their sustainability through the cost of living crisis. They put strong financial planning procedures in place during covid, agreed to fixed utility rates before the crisis fully hit, and have loyal tenants.
- Laura Moss of Wrigleys Solicitors discussed the legal considerations of using assets in different ways. “it is important to have flexible legal structures so the organisation can adapt and exploit new opportunities”
- Megan Ohri from SOAR, Sheffield, explained how they have tapped into the desire of tenants/ users to make more ethical choices. They have been able to use the fact they are a non-profit, with green credentials, that provide warm spaces to work as a unique selling point.
Energy efficiency for community buildings: Quick wins checklist
Use this checklist to identify quick actions to cut energy bills, reduce carbon emissions, and make your community building more comfortable.
Writing a Business Plan for a Capital Project
This guide is designed to help you develop a business plan for acquiring and/or refurbishing an asset.
While a strong business plan can help secure support and funding, its primary purpose is to guide your organisation’s development and planning.
The guide is especially useful for those unfamiliar with writing business plans, offering clear explanations and outlining the key elements needed for a successful project.
It also highlights funders’ expectations and provides advice on presenting information clearly and accessibly, avoiding jargon. Supporting details can be included in appendices, and the final section focuses on the criteria funders typically use when assessing project proposals.
Assessing the feasibility of a community asset project
This resource provides guidance on assessing the feasibility of acquiring or refurbishing a building or land asset. It emphasises that feasibility is an ongoing process, not a one-time task, and should be revisited throughout development.
The resource highlights the importance of asking challenging questions early, as many later-stage issues stem from inadequate feasibility assessments.
A thorough feasibility process also strengthens funding proposals by showing a well-reasoned development approach.
A guide to capital development projects
Plan, fund, and manage building projects from initial concept to completion. Whether you are looking at new build, refurbishment, extension or more modest repair and renewal works, this guide provides a roadmap for success.