Daikin breaks ground on new campus

HOUSTON – Daikin Industries, Ltd., a manufacturer of heating, cooling and refrigerant products, recently held their ground-breaking ceremony at the future location of their new, consolidated HVAC equipment engineering, manufacturing and logistics campus in Waller, Texas.

Over the next several years, Daikin will be building a state-of-the-art campus that consolidates much of the current footprint from Daikin, Goodman and Amana brand operations in Texas and Tennessee, while adding expansion capacity to accommodate projected growth.

Members of the Daikin team from the home office in Japan were in attendance in support of their largest major investment in HVAC manufacturing operations in North America, totaling approximately $417M. Employment figures at the facility are expected to reach up to 4,000. Several senior staff from Houston represented the Daikin, Goodman and Amana brands, and several city council members attended from surrounding communities.

“The new business campus will provide many outstanding benefits to our customers,” stated Takeshi Ebisu, President and CEO of Daikin North America. “The operational efficiencies we achieve will be reflected in the superb quality of our high-efficiency, energy-saving heating and cooling systems. As the leading global HVAC manufacturer, we are excited about the outstanding value that this move will bring to our current and future customers. We see this new business campus as a strong, long-term commitment to our customers in North America.”

Operations that will be relocated to the new business campus include engineering, logistics, procurement, manufacturing and marketing. This consolidation directly reflects Daikin’s global commitment to local, in-country manufacturing.

The new campus is projected to be operational mid-2016. When complete, it is where Daikin will manufacture the full range of energy-efficient ducted residential and light commercial products, as well as commercial VRV products currently imported from other inter-company business units located outside North America.

Ducted systems are typical of conventional North American construction, with VRV and ductless systems being more prevalent elsewhere in the world. However, VRV and ductless systems have gained rapid acceptance in the North American marketplace and represent one of the fastest growing HVAC market segments.