Press information Open Construction Day at Daikin Europe's European Development Center EDC in Ghent, Belgium
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On the annual Open Construction Site Day organized by the Belgian building industry in May 2023, Daikin Europe’s construction site of its EMEA Development Center (EDC) in Ghent was open to visit by the public. Many visitors passed by at the Technology Park Zwijnaarde to witness how one of the most innovative and sustainable Research & Development centres in Europe is being built.
140 million euro investment
Ghent, Brussels, May, 2023 – Daikin Europe’s 140 million euro investment to establish a centralized knowledge center in Ghent, will bring together all R&D activities for low-carbon heat pump heating and cooling for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Known as the Daikin EDC, this state-of-the-art facility is set to start operations in the summer of 2024.
"During Belgium’s Open Site Day, hundreds of interested parties had the opportunity to take a look inside the new construction of our energy-neutral R&D centre. Visitors experienced up close how we are testing our innovative heat pumps," said Laurent Van Thournout, Deputy General Manager EMEA Development Center at Daikin Europe. "Daikin is growing rapidly with the increasing demand for low-carbon emission heat pumps. This year, we are hiring more than 120 new engineers and technical profiles in Ghent, including recent graduates. We notice a lot of enthusiasm for our vacancies, because candidates want to contribute to a better planet with their next career move."
Highlights at the construction site
Visitors were welcomed to the construction site with precast structure and concrete finishes in progress and where retaining steel sheet piles are being removed. A virtual tour showed a preview of the end results. The visiting groups got an exclusive glimpse into the state-of-the-art test rooms. They experienced tests that are performed on Daikin heat pumps to ensure maximum quality under extreme conditions. Daikin engineers explained future R&D activities.
As Daikin Europe will fill 5,000 new positions by 2025 including vacancies in Ghent, Ostend and Brussels the Open Construction Site Day was the perfect occasion for candidates to get in contact with Daikin employees to talk about job opportunities and career paths in a successful leading company and discover these further through Augmented Reality.
Looking for new opportunities?
Candidates can apply for specific job vacancies on careers.daikin.eu
Daikin recruitment policy contact: Greet Velghe Tel. +32 495 489647
Key facts about Daikin Europe’s EDC
Investment: 140 million euro
Total land area: 30,600 m²
- 12,000 m² for laboratories and 23 test rooms, spread over 6 floors
- 13,000 m² for office space, divided over 14 floors with 2 underground parking levels
- Remaining space is for supporting infrastructure
Energy-neutral building meets most advanced energy-efficiency standards
- nZEB and BREEAM Excellent label
Infrastructure for 500 employees
- for all Daikin R&D employees from Ostend and Ghent
- and 120 new colleagues to be recruited by 2023
Start of testing activities in spring 2024
Completion of entire site in summer 2024
Move of all R&D activities to the new building: autumn 2024
Photo copyrights: Daikin Central Europe
About
Daikin Europe N.V.
Daikin Europe is a subsidiary of Daikin Industries Ltd. and the leading provider of heating, cooling, ventilation, air purification and refrigeration solutions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The company designs, manufactures and brings to market a broad portfolio of equipment, as well as tailor-made solutions for residential, commercial and industrial purposes. To date Daikin Europe has over 12,000 employees working at more than 59 consolidated subsidiaries. It has 12 major manufacturing facilities based in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Austria and the UK. The headquarters of the Daikin Europe group are in Belgium, Ostend. The company was established in 1972, production in Europe started in 1973.
About Daikin Industries Ltd.
Based in Osaka, Japan, Daikin Industries employs over 89,000 people worldwide. The global company is market leader for heat pump and air conditioning systems, as well as air filtration. It is the only manufacturer in the world that develops and manufactures heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, as well as the refrigerants in-house. The company achieved € 23.7 billion sales turnover in financial year 2021 (1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022).
Daikin Airconditioning Central Europe
Daikin Airconditioning Central Europe was founded in 1999 with headquarters in Vienna, Austria, as a subsidiary of Daikin Europe N.V. The company's portfolio comprises products and solutions for heating, cooling, ventilation, air purification and refrigeration. More than 700 employees and 2,500 partners are responsible for sales and service activities in 16 countries in Central and Eastern Europe (Austria, Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, Moldova, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia). With Your Daikin World at the Vienna headquarters, the HVAC-R industry and the construction sector have access to a modern experience center for co-creating tailor-made solutions for hotels, retail, offices, and large commercial applications. It also includes one out of nine training centers in the region of Daikin Central Europe.
Read more on www.daikin.eu and https://www.daikin-ce.com/en_us/about.html.
Media contact
Daikin Europe N.V., EMEA
Sofie Sap – T.: +32 472 580482, Mail: sap.s@daikineurope.com
Daisuke Kakinaga – T.: +32 465 462321, Mail: kakinaga.d@bxl.daikineurope.com
Daikin Central Europe
Doris Passler
Corporate Communications Central Europe
Daikin Airconditioning Central Europe HandelsgmbH
Lemböckgasse 59/1/1, 1230 Vienna, Austria
T: +43 (0) 664 24 56 444
M: passler.d@daikin.at
