EWSC at Futurebuild Conference 2025
Isabel Thompson, Policy Offer at CIWEM, reflects on Futurebuild Conference 2025, how placemaking and water resources featured at this event, and what it means for Enabling Water Smart Communities project going forward.
Futurebuild is three-day event of workshops and talks that brings together all stages of the building supply chain to discuss ways to create a more sustainable built environment and meet net zero goals.
CIWEM and EWSC had an important presence at this year’s event, attending sessions at Futurebuild’s Placemaking Stage including spongy and smart cities, delivering water management and resilience with blue roofs, and best practice in water efficiency and reuse in housing.
Spongy and smart cities
The building sector faces significant water challenges that are expected to worsen due to climate change, with projections showing a 4.6-billion litre per day deficit by 2050 and 6.3 million homes at risk of flooding.
The session on ‘spongy and smart’, chaired by Catherine Moncrieff, Head of Policy at CIWEM, painted a picture of how these issues can be addressed by integrating ‘spongy’ and nature-based solutions in development planning – i.e. features that absorb, store and filter rain close to where it falls.
She was joined by George Warren, Integrated Water Manager at Anglian Water and EWSC project member, who explained work being done through EWSC to mainstream stormwater capture and reuse in new developments – addressing both flooding and water scarcity challenges.
Anglian Water’s George Warren discussing Rainwater and Stormwater harvesting costings
London, with its high population density, ageing infrastructure, and poor alignment of stakeholder constituencies is one of the regions at highest risk of surface water flooding, and would benefit hugely from the ‘sponge cities’ concept.
This had led to the implementation of the ‘London Surface Water Strategy’, created so that London has a more prepared, joined-up approach to tackling future large rainfall events. This goes alongside London’s new ‘dig-once’ approach, which involves fixing and checking several utilities with one trench, and replacing hard surfaces with spongy solutions on competition..
Anthony Barron, Senior Sustainability Manager at Thakeham Group, shared case studies of successful practice with sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) at different scales in new developments, including at the London Wetlands Centre. They will be introducing a new guide with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the summer.
This all tied into the key question posed in the session: what if overland flow pathways are considered right from the start of planning? This would allow for cost-effective, spongy solutions such as green roofs, rainwater storage, wetlands and sustainable drainage solutions to be considered alongside the implementation of water supply/treatment and other utilities, and integrated into place-making.
Green and blue roofing
In the next session, led by the Green Roof Organisation (GRO), the new ‘blue roof’ guidance was introduced. Paul Shaffer, Director of Projects at CIWEM, spoke about how blue roofs can contribute to integrated water management in developments, addressing multiple water issues.
CIWEM’s Paul Shaffer speaking about Blue Roofs
A blue roof is designed to collect falling rainwater, before gradually and steadily releasing this rainwater over a 24-hour period, thus helping to guard against excess water and flooding. Blue roofs also absorb heat, helping to decrease avoidable deaths due to heatwaves in urban regions. They can also provide a potential source of water, whilst also increasing attractiveness and adding to property value. Substrate planting on blue roofs can be used to improve thermal and water storage properties.
Good Homes Alliance ‘water efficient homes’ guidance
Sticking with the theme of challenges faced by too much (or too little) water, the Good Homes Alliance hosted a session that explored best practice in water efficiency and reuse in new housing. Tom Dollard (PTE) and EWSC team member Saffron Corcoran from Thames Water introduced a project developing practical guidance for water efficient homes, funded by EWSC and the UK Water Efficiency Collaboration Fund. The guide will support the achievement best practice water efficiency targets and reuse in new and retrofitted homes. You can read more about that Good Homes Alliance guide here.
“You can’t have growth without water”
During this session, Catherine Moncrieff shared new research published by CIWEM, EWSC and Public First that explores the impact of water scarcity on the Government's economic and housing targets. Public First’s research shows that, by implementing water-smart homes that embrace water reuse, we can unlock 61,000 homes potentially delayed due to a lack of water in the south and east.
This would help to avoid the estimated £25 billion economic loss over a five-year period, of homes not being built due to water scarcity. One particular area of concern is the ‘OxCam’ arc - also known as Europe’s ‘Silicon Valley’- which will require large numbers of new homes and also vast amounts of water-cooling systems for AI and other technology housed there.
CIWEM’s Cat Moncrieff presenting EWSC’s case for water smart homes.
EWSC research into public perceptions around onsite water recycling was also shared in this session. Onsite water recycling is where rainwater or greywater from sinks, showers and washing machines is treated and reused within the development and then used to flush toilets or for outdoor uses such as watering. This helps to reduce water taken from mains supply, meeting the requirements of water companies to reduce demand whilst also addressing water scarcity.
Research suggests that people are generally amenable to the idea to water recycling in their homes, but that it needs to be framed, communicated and managed in the right way. People showed a preference recycling rainwater, and for using recycled water for toilet flushing and outdoor use. Trust – in both the system technology itself and the governance/management arrangements of the system – was also found to be important to people. You can read more about this research here: link to PF report and University of Manchester research.
Analysis of the costs of installing reuse systems suggests that it’s more cost-effective to consider these systems at a community level, because the cost per plot decreases as the number of plots in the development increases.
This session also highlighted water industry regulations as a key blocker to water recycling. These allow only ‘wholesome’ (potable) water to be supplied to domestic residences, even for toilet flushing and garden use. Until this is resolved, there is the significant problem in many regions of how we supply water to new homes in the face of a water scarcity gap. Regulatory progress is expected in the coming year, however.
EWSC project team members George Warren, Saffron Corcoran, Cat Moncrieff and Paul Shaffer
Reflection on this year’s event
Whilst still relatively new to CIWEM, I found Futurebuild 2025 a really valuable and fascinating event. It’s clear that a lot of work has been done to find solutions and provide guidance for industry experts to at least start implementing solutions that would make both their development structures and the towns and cities in which we live better places.
A significant problem is perception; building companies are risk averse and not willing to be the first to try solutions they don’t know will pay dividends. But the dam will break soon, and people will realise the real benefit of spongy cities and water-smart homes. Perhaps, by focusing on value-based risk evaluation rather than a cost-focused one instead.
EWSC is hosting a Spring Webinar Series, running between May and June. The aim of the series is to share progress with and findings from the project’s ‘enabling actions’ which are seeking to overcome barriers to water smart communities. Learn more about the webinar series.