BRE EP98 PDF

Foreword

Flood risk in the built environment needs to be managed. We cannot avoid the issues stemming from changing climate and expanding urban environments. It is important then to have a range of clear, practical and helpful tools. This report offers substantial guidance for those involved in achieving flood risk management and sustainable development in new construction works. Its contents underpin the LifE Handbook and as such represent an overview of the technical detail and working methodology resulting from the LifE project.

Every professional discipline (landscape architecture, quantity surveying, services engineering, and so on) brings its own priorities to any development project. Each has its own language, modus operandi and culture. One characteristic of the ‘LifE approach' has been to take these independent sectoral priorities and to identify what levels of integration can take place between disciplines. It identifies methods and tools from the professions that are mutually reinforcing when applied at the development scale and therefore offer better value in the long term.

For example, can we specify a green infrastructure that also provides fibre for biomass heat, as well as acting as an amenity space and a ‘sponge' for mopping up surplus water and ameliorating the urban heat island? Is it possible to identify where flood resilience needs to be part of a building's specification? Should community buildings be so designed and located to act as local refuges if a flood occurs? Where can investment be best focused for the most benefit for the majority of the population now and in the future?

For many working in the development industry, understanding and conveying information about these issues is difficult even for the technical specialist. The LifE Report illustrates the issues and indicates potential solutions. It considers the background context to flood risk management in the UK, sets out the LifE methodology, illustrates the approach through three case studies, addresses the potential solutions and sets out transferable ideas that can be used throughout the country.

The project included consultation with key stakeholders in its preparation, both at steering group level and through informed comment from statutory agencies. As such I believe that it should be of significant interest to a wide range of the development industry, local authorities and government departments. It is important to stress that the LifE project is not at odds with existing legislation, regulation and guidance but seeks to build on this foundation and to illustrate how developments can come forward in an holistic and integrated way.