Water is a resource that we typically take for granted, particularly here in the northeast. We love our lakes and coasts but also fear when storms bring too much of a good thing. Increased rain events that cause flooding, sea level rise, and ground water rise are all issues affecting buildings in our area. In other areas of the country and the world, water scarcity and poor water quality are the most pressing issues; just maintaining water to sustain life.

For the past few decades architects have been increasingly focused on energy and carbon-emission reduction. Incorporating electrification, renewable energy, and low-embodied carbon materials in our projects is now the baseline of how we design. Water, because it’s been fairly accessible and manageable for the vast majority of Americans, has not been top of mind.

The goal of a recent American Institute of Architects (AIA) study that Principal Alyssa Murphy participated in was to expand the lens of AIA climate action by deepening practice knowledge about the impact and opportunities of design choices surrounding water across the full spectrum of the AIA Framework for Design Excellence. The study reviewed the whole cycle of the built environment from material sourcing through urban design and end of product/building life. The summary of the three critical challenges and two key takeaways that architects need to be aware of are as follows:

Three Critical Challenges:

1. Water Scarcity – a health and equity crisis

A 40% gap between global water supply and demand is expected by 2030. Universal access to clean freshwater is a major concern impacting human health and hindering economic growth. Potable water is becoming scarcer and more precious.

2. Exacerbating Climate Change – the full cost of water

10% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from water extraction, processing, use, and distribution. Excessive extraction causes subsidence and more volatile water vapor in the atmosphere means more intense storms and droughts.

Responses in our Region

One example of how water is being managed in New England comes from our colleagues at gbArchitecture in Burlington, VT. Their design for One Taylor Street, in Montpelier, VT was recently put to the test when the state capital experienced historic flooding in 2024. The project, a multi-modal transit center with affordable housing, was designed to provide crucial transportation and housing infrastructure downtown in this small city and revitalize a brownfield adjacent to the waterfront.

Through careful planning for catastrophic flooding, the waterfront park was able to absorb much of the water and the entrance to the building, set several feet above the flood plain, was above the high water mark. The bus line was able to return to service as soon as the water receded. Not only is the design resilient to flooding events, but provides a visual and physical connection to the water front that forms the heart of the city.

Our own work at Strawbery Banke Museum addresses similar issues, with the added complication of coastal sea-level and ground-water level rise. We know that storms will affect us more and more in coming years; this resilience work is crucial to preserve our communities sand cultural heritage. But limiting our future planning to resilience doesn’t address the other threats to our water supply. This brief study of how water is affected by the built environment shows that reducing energy and protecting water supplies are both just as important to maintaining the water for all species to thrive.

Water policy is complex and the water cycle doesn’t respect national or state boundaries. But eliminating energy sources with greenhouse-gas emissions, toxic materials that pollute waterways, and planning for safe onsite water treatment are all parts of the puzzle that architects can directly affect. We must continue to scrutinize how our projects interact with water and work toward producing effects that regenerate natural systems, rather than degrading them.