A round table of SuDS experts, housebuilders, supply chain representatives and industry bodies convened this week to examine how the housebuilding industry was addressing the challenge of stormwater management, and the planning requirement to pursue sustainable urban drainage solutions (SuDS) where possible.
The Building Insights LIVE event, sponsored by specialist merchant Burdens, was held in London, and included leading figures driving SuDS uptake in the industry, such as Paul Shaffer, director of policy at CIWEM, and Glen Westmore, co-chair of the Association of SuDS Authorities. In addition, key delivery side representatives from the housebuilding sector such as Construction Leadership Council member Chris Carr, MD of Carr & Carr Builders, David Owen, head of engineering at Taylor Wimpey, and Steve Wilson of Environmental Protection Group gave some valuable insights about the positives and negatives of current practice around SuDS.
Representing sponsors Burdens were Ken Graham, National Sales Director, Mark Gillies, Director of Technical Solutions, and Andrew Taylor, Technical Sales Manager, who contributed perspectives from projects showing how early consideration of design issues and maintenance could bring benefits to clients. The group explored how both natural and engineered SuDS could be explored in all new housebuilding sites, to achieve resilience against flooding, help aid water purity, and offer amenity and biodiversity to developments. However, they also acknowledged a lack of Government regulation, allied to issues around value engineering and accountability in the industry, as well as a long-standing mindset around groundworks being ‘out of sight and out of mind,’ in terms of robust solutions.
Collaborative approaches could achieve cost parity with standard approaches, our panel heard, but planning authorities needed to become more engaged, despite their resource challenges. Adoption and awareness was patchy across the UK, as evidenced by the research conducted among housebuilders by Housebuilder & Developer and supported by Burdens. The merchant’s representatives at the meeting posed questions around how maintenance of SuDS features should be owned and tackled, given its crucial importance, and how including SuDS in plans in more detail, and early in projects, was required before it reaches product selection – when currently it wasn’t always given enough attention. Overengineering of SuDS systems including engineered installations was also a risk cited by many.
Examples of success however included using geotextiles to replace large volumes of stone typically specified for drainage in housebuilding projects, meaning potentially huge carbon savings and reduction in site disruption. Barriers to such innovations were also explored in this in-depth discussion, and recommendations given for both industry and government.
James Parker, round table chair and editor of Housebuilder & Developer, commented:“The case for SuDS is well established, and while the English Government has swerved Schedule 3 implementation that would make it fully mandatory, there is no good excuse for ignoring it in new housing schemes, particularly given the more extreme weather patterns we are continuing to see.”
He added: “Our highly informed group didn’t waste time restating the case for SuDS, but instead looked at how projects could be delivered at lower carbon and financial cost, and with higher value combining expertise to bring the bespoke designs needed. It might take more time and collaboration, and there are some time-honoured groundwork methods that may need to be challenged, but our round table proved why that interrogation is a no-brainer. We thank all delegates including Burdens for their sponsorship and real-world insights, and we look forward to publishing the full report in the October edition of Housebuilder & Developer.”
A Building Insights podcast capturing highlights and recommendations from the discussion, will be available soon at: insights.netmagmedia.co.uk