Reflecting on my time as a member of the Engineering Sustainability Editorial Advisory Panel, which is about to come to an end as my term concludes, I am struck as always by the breadth and depth with which the articles cover their topics. In some ways this should not be a surprise in a journal that covers the entirety of ‘engineering sustainability’ but nonetheless their comprehensiveness is to be congratulated and I am very pleased to champion this themed issue on water plus health in the built environment for sustainability.
The issue’s theme and the majority of the articles emerged from the Water Efficiency in Buildings Network Conference 2020, held completely online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which showcased a range of approaches to sustainable water-management challenges. Layer onto that the connections amongst water, the built environment and health that were highlighted by the pandemic and the theme brings all the papers together in a collection that reinforces the importance of systems thinking, as well as hinting at regenerative systems – pointing to the emerging shift of regenerative sustainability. Perhaps a transition to ‘engineering regenerative sustainability’ is ahead? Either way, the articles demonstrate that the future requires understanding, evidence and action across system interdependencies to support decision making, whether the issue in hand relates to water-resilient communities, aging sewer networks, net-zero flood defences, arsenic pollution of groundwater, healthy community renovation or digital twins for healthcare.
To begin, Ward et al. (2023) take us on a journey in mobilising sustainable, water-resilient communities through the lens of co-creation in the UK, where the state of rivers and coastal waters is currently under extreme scrutiny. Sharing evidence and engagement approaches across scales, the article illustrates how individual and collaborative interactions catalyse infrastructural, social and environmental change and benefit. Community-focused nature-based solutions, sustainable drainage systems and events provide a connected, real-world ‘living laboratory’ showing what is possible and how to evaluate success.
In the second article, Hacker et al. (2023) focus on sewer networks, which are a related hot topic globally – whether aging or new, sewer networks require maintenance. This article presents a methodology to estimate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from maintenance activities, alongside a case study applying the approach. Results highlight that whilst current practice may yield the lowest emissions to 2035, the network condition may worsen – preventative maintenance plus circular economy thinking could be the answer to net-zero.
Continuing the focus on GHG emissions, Cload’s article compares GHGs from constructing flood protection versus flood defence schemes (Cload, 2023). Providing a method to estimate a carbon dioxide cost of repairs per flooded property, the article argues flood defences defend against future emissions. A case study illustrates GHG emissions need careful independent consideration alongside capital and operational expenditure on flood protection and defences in government appraisal processes.
From flood defence we move to arsenic contamination of groundwater in India, where not only the contaminated water presents a challenge, but so too does the toxic waste produced by the arsenic-treatment or arsenic-removal units (ATUs/ARUs depending on scale) used to treat the contaminated water. This article by Koley (2023) provides an extensive account of recent developments in stabilisation methods to deal with arsenic-containing sludge, such as within brick production, which are synthesised into a cost–benefit assessment of arsenic-mitigation and water-provision scenarios with public, environmental and societal health in mind.
Lu and Zhang (2023) extend the focus on health in the context of community renovation in China, examining how different parts of a community are impacted in different ways when spaces are changed and adapted. Proposing an adaptability evaluation system for community renovation, the article validates the analysis through three case studies using health sustainability (space health, environmental health, service health) as an outcome. A comprehensive set of indicators and hypotheses underpin the analysis, alongside a questionnaire survey with community residents, which revealed deep insights into the preference of communities and space health as a high priority though interconnected with environmental and service health including healthcare services.
Healthcare management brings us to the article by Lu et al. (2023), the final article in this themed issue, which positions digital technology front and centre. Through an exploration of the application of blockchain-integrated digital twins to interdependencies in and amongst hospital information systems, the authors provide a proof of concept for medical resource allocation based on three hospitals in London. Enhancing real-time patient-centric healthcare by way of physical and virtual data, model and system co-ordination, the article reinforces the importance of making evidence-informed decisions.
Finishing where we started, on evidence and action-based approaches, this themed issue on water plus health in the built environment for sustainability has shown their importance for the future, whether for engineering sustainability or regenerative sustainability.
