1.0 Introduction The global water crisis is an escalating problem that demands urgent attention. It is predicted that by 2030 there will be a 40% gap between global water supply and demand. 1 With buildings and construction estimated to be responsible for around 15% of the freshwater use, 2,3,4,5 it is imperative to assess the role of the built environment in contributing to and mitigating this crisis. This paper has been developed by WorldGBC in collaboration with a network of 26 Green Building Councils around the world, our partners Brightworks Sustainability, CBRE, Foster + Partners, WSP, Kingspan, ARKANCE (formerly VinZero) and Arup, and a network of 40 individual experts. This paper highlights the urgent challenge with water in the built environment by presenting the magnitude of the global water crisis and outlining the role of the built environment as a contributory sector. We also reveal the four challenges of the global water crisis and present both the contribution and the critical role the built environment sector must take in mitigating them. Through this publication we aim to support policymakers, planners, developers, designers and manufacturers to recognise the urgency to develop sustainable strategies to promote water conservation, efficiency and equitable access through circularity principles such as prevent, measure, reduce, reuse and restore. 15% of freshwater use comes from buildings and construction 3
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