Xylem innovation centre

US-based water technology company Xylem has opened a new multi-million Euro Xylem Innovation Centre in Montecchio Maggiore in northern Italy, to accelerate the development of next-generation pumping technologies for residential and commercial buildings.

The centre was said to have been specifically designed to further the understanding of how system efficiency can be optimised by analysing a pump’s connectivity with a building control system.

This comes in response to EU regulations that are placing ever-stricter demands on the environmental design of products, which is particularly relevant to the construction market since it has been identified as a core driver in improving energy efficiency. Specifically, the EU’s Energy-related Products Directive requires new levels of efficiency from commercial building equipment, including motors, pumps and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) circulators.

Amedeo Valente, director of innovation and technology at Xylem, said, “The opening of this innovation centre marks an important milestone in our R&D (research and development) journey. As green buildings become the rule rather than the exception, it is crucial to help our customers understand the environmental and economic benefits of ensuring entire systems are highly efficient, and not just individual components.”

Valente emphasised the need for components to communicate with each other in order to make real-time adjustments to deliver greater efficiency.

It was said that the new centre would build on Xylem’s existing research capabilities, led by R&D centres in Sweden, Germany and Italy, and would enable the company to bring new technologies to its customers.