Research by topic: Sustainable water management

Projects underway

susdrain is an exciting community that provides up to date guidance, support case studies and photos as well as discussion forums and networking opportunities.

Guidance on the delivery of blue roofs

This project will develop guidance on blue roofs and the delivery of multiple benefits to improve confidence in their specification, design and delivery.

Guidance on natural flood management

This project will produce guidance which builds on existing case studies, high-level guidance and research (eg SEPA’s handbook, Environment Agency and NERC research) to present case studies, develop a design philosophy, design objectives and criteria

Delivering green infrastructure to enhance the performance of linear assets

This project seeks to produce a range of outputs for clients and planners, highlighting examples of good practice on implementing green infrastructure along the linear infrastructure network and in doing so help share good practice between ...

Project proposals

P3256 - Scoping the SuDS Manual update

This proposal will produce a scoping report detailing which sections of the SuDS Manual should be updated, how it should be refocused and restructured, and what information should be included.

P3255 - Getting SuDS right from the start

This project will provide principles for the cost-effective integration of SuDS within developments that makes efficient use of available land and informs the earliest stages of the development process.

P2802 - Accreditation and/or assessment of SuDS – scoping

This project will explore the potential and methodology for an accreditation and/or assessment scheme to asses SuDS designs and designers supporting both the approval process and the delivery of high quality multi-beneficial SuDS.

P3142 - SuDS adoption hierarchy and framework

This project will build on the SuDS Adoption and maintenance options (2015) fact sheet developed for susdrain by Arup. The guidance will explain current approaches for SuDS adoption, include case studies, provide some critical success factors in maki

P3043 - Scoping study on innovative funding and financing for Integrated Water Management

This project will scope out and provide guidance on national and international approaches that might support UK IWM delivery by different stakeholders (including organisations, individuals and the community).

P2866 - Guidance on the inspection and maintenance of SuDS

This project will assess the need for repackaging and representing guidance.

P3139 - Development of a consistent SuDS monitoring specification

This project will develop a specification for monitoring all SuDS components that provide baseline parameters and characteristics to enable robust and consistent comparisons.

P3083 - Resource pack to improve SuDS construction

CIRIA’s guidance on SuDS construction will be produced in the spring of 2017. It will be a guidance document, with an accompanying presentation that can be freely downloaded. Market research will be undertaken to inform the format of the resource pac

P3085 - Guidance on cost effective SuDS delivery

This project will create guidance expanding on the SuDS Manual, collating case studies and disparate research on costs to provide advice on practical approaches to improve the cost effectiveness of SuDS.

P3137 - Making B£ST better - improving functionality

This proposal sets out to develop guidance on blue roofs and the delivery of multiple benefits to improve confidence in their specification, design and delivery.

P3138 - Presenting the evidence base on SuDS performance

This project will collate previous literature reviews, information summarised as part of the SuDS Manual update (2015), and where relevant review other international databases as well as undertake engagement with UK universities to obtain relevant pe

P3219 - Asset management of blue green infrastructure – guiding principles

This proposal sets out to develop an asset management framework document for the efficient management of blue green infrastructure.

P3235 - Enabling community maintenance for FRM infrastructure

This project will explore approaches to enable and empower local community groups to undertake appropriate and routine maintenance of local flood risk management infrastructure