Daikin Europe opens €140m R&D centre
22nd August 2025
BELGIUM: After two and a half years of construction, Daikin’s €140m EMEA Development Centre (EDC) is now operational.
The 31,000m² facility brings together over 350 R&D engineers from Daikin’s existing European R&D facilities in Ghent and Ostend.
Located at the Tech Lane Ghent Science Park – Campus Ardoyen, the new R&D centre places Daikin at the heart of a vibrant ecosystem. The site is home to two University of Ghent campuses, the R&D centres of various international companies, public research institutes, and high-tech growth companies.
The investment in this facility significantly boosts Daikin’s R&D capabilities for HVACR applications. In addition to researching and developing low carbon heating, cooling, refrigeration and ventilation technologies, it will also research smart controls.
The new 14-storey building integrates a range of Daikin technologies, including geothermal water systems, water-cooled VRV, heat recovery VRV, and fan coil units on water systems.
The R&D hub boasts extensive test infrastructure, with 12,000m2 of laboratories and test chambers, cooled by Daikin Tewis chillers. These include an EMC test chamber, one the few in the HVACR industry with such advanced internal testing capabilities.
Also included are sound test rooms and special rooms for testing products with “natural refrigerants” and low GWP alternatives.
Committed to innovating through partnerships, Daikin is working closely with Ghent University through guest lectures, student events, and broader research collaboration.
The building is designed to achieve nearly Zero-Energy Building (nZEB) standards and to obtain an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM certification.
“With the opening of our new R&D centre in Ghent, we are accelerating our collaboration with Ghent University and the city of Ghent in areas such as district heating and circular economy,” said Laurent Van Thournout, the centre’s deputy general manager. “It’s also an opportunity to strengthen our cooperation with other external academic and governmental institutions.”
The new building is Daikin’s second largest R&D centre globally, behind the company Technology Innovation Centre in Osaka, Japan.
