As part of the 2024 Moving Forward Report, the Consultative Council is exploring the topic of “Water and Sanitation Access and the Built Environment,” examining key concepts, challenges emerging from climate change impacts and population growth, and considerations that can help to inform decisions about how to plan for, mitigate, and potentially solve water access issues from the perspective of the built environment. This report focuses specifically on the way in which commercial and residential buildings access and use water resources.

The points below summarize the topics and recommendations discussed in this report.

• Data: Improve and increase data collection efforts regarding water access, quality, and use in households and buildings.
• Efficiency: Increase market share for WaterSense and other efficiency programs, expand use of alternate water sources, and bring increased focus to water efficiency as it relates to energy efficiency.
• Funding: Continue to increase funding for centralized and decentralized water and sanitation infrastructure, especially for projects in underserved communities, and support strong water treatment standards.
• Research: Support implementation of the newly authorized NIST Plumbing Research Program and increase the role of EPA, DOE, and other relevant Federal and industry stakeholders in collecting data on water usage, improving efficiency in system design, and identifying safe alternate water sources for use in the built environment, while maintaining public health and safety, especially in regions facing water scarcity and quality challenges due to climate change.
• Strategy: Develop a national strategy for providing sustainable water and sanitation services to rural and disadvantaged communities, particularly focused on those that rely on decentralized systems.
• Workforce: Increase funding for workforce programs for the water sector, to ensure a pipeline of future workers.

Download the report for the complete findings and recommendations from the Consultative Council.