BELGIUM: After two and a half years of construction, the €140 million Daikin Development Center (EDC) in the EMEA region has begun operations.
The 31,000 m² facility brings together over 350 research engineers from Daikin’s existing European research centers in Ghent and Ostend.
Located in the Tech Lane Ghent – Campus Ardoyen science park, the new R&D center places Daikin at the heart of a dynamic ecosystem. The site is home to two campuses of Ghent University, R&D centers of various international companies, public research institutes and emerging high-tech companies.
The investment in this facility significantly expands Daikin’s R&D capabilities in the field of heating, cooling, air conditioning and ventilation (HVACR). In addition to researching and developing low-carbon heating, cooling, refrigeration and ventilation technologies, the company will also explore intelligent control systems.
The new 14-storey building integrates a range of Daikin technologies, including geothermal water systems, water-cooled VRV, heat recovery VRV and water-cooled fan coils.
The R&D center boasts an extensive testing infrastructure, including 12,000 m² of laboratories and test chambers cooled by Daikin Tewis chillers. These include an EMC test chamber, one of the few in the HVACR industry with such advanced in-house testing capabilities.
Also included are sound test rooms and dedicated rooms for testing products with “natural refrigerants” and low global warming potential (GWP) alternatives.
Striving for innovation through partnership, Daikin works closely with Ghent University through guest lectures, student events and broader research collaboration.
The building is designed according to nearly zero energy (nZEB) standards and has received a BREEAM Excellent certificate.
“With the opening of our new research center in Ghent, we are accelerating our collaboration with Ghent University and the city of Ghent in areas such as district heating and the circular economy,” said Laurent Van Tournut, deputy director general of the center. “It is also an opportunity to strengthen our collaboration with other external academic and governmental institutions.”
The new building is Daikin’s second largest R&D center in the world, behind the Technology Innovation Center in Osaka, Japan.
https://www.coolingpost.com/world-news/daikin-europe-opens-e140m-rd-centre/