Crown Diligence is the practice of Sarah MacLean, an electrical engineer (BS, Northeastern University) with 23 years delivering complex MEP infrastructure programs — for Fortune 500 retailers, global financial institutions, pharmaceutical campuses, hyperscale technology operators, and institutional real estate portfolios — the last six focused exclusively on EV charging. In that time she has served as a Tier 1 design partner to national charging networks and built a deep bench of utility, AHJ, and specialist relationships across the country. She is LEED AP BD+C accredited and served on the NYC Energy Conservation Code Committee (2019–2020). Recognized across the industry as a subject-matter expert in EV charging infrastructure, she has been a speaker and moderator at the EV Charging Summit & Expo (2023–2026) and a speaker and panelist at ASHRAE NYC's Earth Day event at Fordham University (2024). When you engage Crown Diligence, your engagement is senior- and owner-led from start to finish — the expertise you hired is the expertise steering the work, not a checklist run by rote.

Outside of work, Sarah is a mom and a New Englander to the core — which makes her loyalty to Boston sports teams permanent, and a steady source of grief for many New York friends. She is also a ceramic artist, a yoga enthusiast, a devoted live-music fan, and an avid traveler.

Sarah MacLean moderating a panel at the EV Charging Summit & Expo.

Everything that has to be known before design begins: utility infrastructure and capacity, AHJ permitting requirements, ADA compliance obligations, site constraints, zoning, and conceptual layout. What sets it apart is how it runs. Instead of resolving each question to conclusion before the next begins, we surface the highest-impact risks first — overhead conflicts, setback and ADA flags, whether the utility point of connection is even reachable — while the deeper questions run in parallel. You get an actionable read on the deal-breakers early, the harder items resolve without holding up the rest, and it all lands as one coordinated package — not a stack of disconnected reports that leaves you connecting the dots.

Initial findings land in days, not weeks — the first read across the utility screen, AHJ research, and desktop site review surfaces the high-impact risks fast. From there it is iterative: as the deeper questions are investigated and the risks that need mitigation get worked, the findings are updated — so you are acting on what matters early instead of waiting on the slowest item. Full-scope engagements — conceptual design, field survey coordination, and active utility and AHJ engagement — are scoped per project, and we will always tell you upfront what to expect.

Focus, experience, and continuity. A large engineering firm may be strong across many disciplines, but the engineer assigned to your EV project often is not dedicated to this sector. Crown Diligence is — exclusively EV charging site intelligence, bringing sector-specific knowledge and the pattern recognition that only comes from lessons learned across thousands of sites: the constraints a checklist never catches, and the ones that resurface as change orders if you miss them early. And we stay with the project across its stages — so when it moves from diligence to design to construction and the stakeholders change, the context carries with it. One consistent voice, no silo, no handoff where what matters gets lost. Senior- and owner-led, independent, free of conflicts of interest, and backed by a vetted specialist network — the same caliber of expertise that powers Tier 1 deployments, at fees that work for every tier of client.

Both. Single-site feasibility assessments and full portfolio programs — with pre-priced base-scope packages for 10, 25, 50, and 100+ site pipelines. No two sites in a portfolio are identical, but most share the same base scope of work — so pricing that base scope as a package gives you a predictable number to budget against across the whole pipeline, with site-specific complexity scoped as it surfaces. Program-level engagements include a monthly coordination retainer to keep multi-site pipelines moving between Task Orders.

Nationwide — with direct project experience across 40+ states. That means firsthand familiarity with how utility providers, AHJ jurisdictions, and ADA requirements actually operate market to market: who to reach, what they require, and how submission and approval really run. Land in a market we have already worked, and you skip the learning curve entirely. Land somewhere new, and reading a market fast — what to ask, who to ask — is exactly the muscle 23 years builds.

Priced to serve the clients large engineering firms routinely price out — without cutting depth or quality. Engagements flex to fit the work: site-specific diligence scoped per Task Order, portfolio programs with meaningful per-site savings as volume scales, and hourly retainer rates when you need ongoing advisory support. Flexible structures, built around your project and your budget. Contact us to discuss your pipeline.

Three convictions sit at the center of Crown Diligence. First, that rigorous site intelligence shouldn't be a luxury reserved for the best-funded developers — accessible pricing puts senior-level diligence within reach of the smaller operators and owners who need it most. Second, that accessible diligence is a sustainability lever in its own right: when smaller operators can afford to do it right, more charging infrastructure actually gets built — and it reaches the places larger developers tend to pass over, whether rural, lower-income, or simply lower-margin. Broadening who can build is how the energy transition reaches everyone, not just the easiest and most profitable sites. Third, that the EV, AEC, and construction industries are stronger when women and underrepresented professionals have a real seat at the table. We proudly sponsor Professional Women in Construction (PWC) New York and Women's Energy Network – Greater NYC, are actively involved with Women of EVs – NYC, and have a Build Out Alliance NYC chapter sponsorship currently in process — with sponsorships of additional organizations championing women and minorities across these industries also under review.

Women of EVs – NYC touring the JFK fleet maintenance garage. Yes, electric trash trucks are exciting — we don't make the rules.