Smarter Water Use in Commercial Real Estate: Ecolab Partners with CBRE

Ecolab and CBRE are teaming up to help commercial buildings use water more efficiently and responsibly.

October 7, 2025
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Water is essential to how buildings operate, especially in fast-growing industries like data centers, life sciences and advanced manufacturing. That's why Ecolab is partnering with CBRE, the world's largest commercial real estate services firm, to help clients improve water efficiency and quality across their portfolios.

Together, we're bringing Ecolab's water expertise to CBRE's expansive network of managed properties-nearly 8 billion square feet globally. CBRE estimates the properties it manages use more than 100 billion gallons of water used each year.1 By combining forces, we're helping clients reduce water use, improve water quality, cut costs and enhance operational performance.

A Holistic Approach to Water Management

Through this partnership, CBRE clients will gain access to Ecolab's proprietary water technologies and services-delivered alongside CBRE's integrated real estate solutions. It's a full-circle approach to water management that helps businesses unlock value and drive measurable impact.

"Water is central to operational impact and profitable growth for many businesses," said Emilio Tenuta, Ecolab's senior vice president and chief sustainability officer. "In manufacturing, up to 75% of energy flows through water systems. That makes water efficiency-and water quality-a powerful lever for climate resilience and business performance."

Ecolab's programs have already helped thousands of companies save billions of gallons of water, conserve energy and reduce emissions-demonstrating that sustainability and performance can go hand in hand.

Meeting the Moment for High-Impact Industries

Water availability, quality and efficiency are top priorities for industries that rely on precision and uptime-like data centers and semiconductor manufacturing. Many of these companies already use smart water systems to protect operations and meet sustainability goals. The CBRE-Ecolab partnership helps align those goals with real estate strategies, creating positive environmental and economic outcomes.

Corporate buildings

Expanding CBRE's Sustainability Capabilities

Ecolab joins a growing list of partners helping CBRE expand its sustainability offerings. Recent moves include collaborations with climate risk analysis platform Climate X and sustainability data intelligence platform Deepki, and the acquisition of the renewable energy advisory group from NRG.

“We are focused on creating value for our clients by solving their biggest sustainability challenges, and water is increasingly important, especially in sectors like data centers, life sciences and advanced manufacturing,” said Rob Bernard, chief sustainability officer, CBRE. “The combined expertise and scale of CBRE and Ecolab creates an advantage for companies in addressing their end-to-end water needs and has the potential to transform water use in the industry.”

References

  1. Based on ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager benchmark averages for commercial building water use.

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