INDUSTRY VIEWFINDER: DESIGN FOR SUDS 51
INDUSTRY VIEWFINDER Design for SuDS Stormwater Management & Green Infrastructure Executive Summary
The Government has finally announced that it will be mandatory to include Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in virtually all new housing developments from 2024. The Flood and Water Management Act was brought into law in 2010 but at the time it was decided not to implement the Act’s Schedule 3 which would have made SuDS compulsory for new developments. SuDS approaches encompass a range of established green infrastructure as well as ‘grey’ or man-made/engineered solutions to attenuate stormwater, i.e. hold it on site for slow release back into the drainage network, via making sites more ‘permeable.’ But for the past 12 years, taking such action (which can mean significant amounts of below-ground work), has only been compulsory on schemes containing more than 10 homes. On Schedule 3’s implementation, which is due at the start of
2024, all developments in England of more than one home or with an area over 100 m2 will have to include SuDS measures to protect local drainage against the effects of stormwater. This move will bring England in line with Wales – where SuDS has been mandatory since 2019.
Rising urbanisation, a growing population, and more intense weather patterns driven by climate change are causing our traditional and often aged combined sewer systems to be overwhelmed. Without a more effective, holistic water management approach, flooding events from surface water and sewers will continue to cause adverse effects, with more frequency and severity, not to mention hazardous discharges from storm overflows. By its very nature, SuDS is about designing networks, and integrating systems together, both man-made and natural. This requires design co-ordination and forethought. Bringing natural and man-made systems together is not necessarily complex
By its very nature, SuDS is about designing networks, and integrating systems together, both man-made and natural. This requires design co-ordination and forethought
in itself, but it does require design teams, engineers and municipal bodies to work together in perhaps unfamiliar ways to make sure projects are truly futureproofed. As the survey we undertook shows, architects can and should be bringing their skills to bear at the centre of this process.
Our survey was conducted to find out and understand architects’ experience in this area and gauge their opinion on the problems but also the solutions available, and how realistic they are. Among its key findings was that architects are highly engaged with the issues but also closely involved with specifying the solutions to manage stormwater across a range of projects.
Other factors we explored included respondents’ key drivers for including green infrastructure in developments, and which solutions they currently believe are realistic, such as combining ‘green’ with engineered ‘grey’ solutions. We asked further key questions such as whether developer clients understood the importance of comprehensive stormwater management, and whether robust SuDS solutions require fully ‘holistic’ design – achieved via collaborative approaches. We asked respondents which were their favoured green stormwater management methods, but also which ‘grey’ methods they were specifying instead, and importantly, which they were
ADF MAY 2023
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
