Water efficiency rarely gets the attention energy efficiency receives in facilities management strategy, despite often delivering faster, more measurable returns. A case study published by Colliers on Harrison Street Asset Management's retrofit programme across 12 senior living facilities in the northeastern United States makes that gap difficult to ignore. The numbers are specific and verifiable: average water usage fell by 43%, saving an estimated 15 million gallons annually, with a payback period of under seven months and a roughly $5 million increase in portfolio net asset value. For FM leaders managing ageing building stock anywhere, including Ireland, the underlying lesson is not about senior living specifically. It is about how much avoidable cost sits inside fixtures that nobody has audited in years.

The retrofit itself was unremarkable in scope. Harrison Street financed and rolled out a toilet replacement programme across its joint venture portfolio with LCB Senior Living, working closely with the operator and installation vendor to minimise disruption to residents. What made the result striking was not the technology but the fact that it had simply never been done. Director of Asset Management Tyler Raine noted that even newer buildings often harbour hidden inefficiencies that go unaddressed because water, unlike energy, rarely triggers a dedicated capital review.

That inattention is becoming considerably more expensive to sustain in Ireland. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities approved a 9.8% increase to non-domestic water and wastewater tariffs effective from 1 October 2025, and Uisce Éireann's bill capping arrangements for non-domestic customers are due to be fully unwound by 30 September 2026, meaning businesses currently shielded from the full cost of water usage will shortly face it directly. Separately, new harmonised trade effluent charges take effect from October 2026, bringing further cost exposure to facilities with significant water discharge.

Three actions allow FM teams to capture savings of the kind Harrison Street achieved before regulatory cost increases land in full. First, commission a fixture-level water audit across ageing portfolio assets now, prioritising buildings that have not had plumbing fixtures assessed since original construction or last major refurbishment. Second, build leak detection into any retrofit programme, not as an add-on but as a core specification, since the Colliers case study shows detection capability protects against costly water damage and insurance claims well beyond the initial efficiency gain. Third, use Uisce Éireann's Advanced Water Stewardship Programme, delivered with Water Stewardship Ireland and the Sustainable Enterprise Skillnet, to build the internal business case and technical baseline needed to secure capital sign-off.

Harrison Street's result is a reminder that water efficiency investments often pay for themselves faster than almost any other facilities upgrade. With Irish non-domestic water costs rising and capping protections being withdrawn, the case for acting now is considerably stronger than the case for waiting.

(The views expressed by the writer are his/her own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of BusinessRiver.)