The Chemours Company formally opened its new innovation center, The Chemours Discovery Hub, on the University of Delaware’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus.
The facility now houses more than 300 of the company’s top researchers and scientists, consolidating most of the company’s U.S. innovation efforts into one location to maximize collaboration and efficiency, a release stated.
The Chemours Discovery Hub is 312,000-square feet, contains more than 130 individual laboratories and was built over the course of 24 months without a single lost-time safety incident.
Chemours will deepen its research partnership with the University of Delaware and perform experiments alongside professors and students to develop new applications for its products. Additionally, the company will use its facility to attract and recruit potential interns, co-ops and employees.
“This is about so much more than a new R&D facility; it’s about our company’s investment in young minds who will be introduced to chemistry at the Discovery Hub, our continued investment in Delaware, and our investment in an innovation pipeline that will empower our customers and change the world for the better,” said Mark Vergnano, CEO of Chemours. “The Chemours Discovery Hub is a living symbol of the company we are becoming – open, collaborative, imaginative, and focused on the future. We are thrilled to see what innovations our team will dream up in this building, all within the creative environment of a public university.”
The Chemours Discovery Hub is one of the largest R&D centers in the state of Delaware and one of the largest R&D facilities within the chemical industry.
Some of the company’s own products were used in the building’s construction. The 4,000 tons of chiller capacity is enabled by Opteon refrigerants, and the building is insulated with 96,000 pounds of Opteon spray foam. More than 2,800 gallons of paint, containing Ti-Pure titanium dioxide, were used in the building’s coatings. Teflon fluoropolymers were used to insulate the building’s 112 miles of networking cable.
More than 2,000 windows line the Discovery Hub, maximizing the use of natural light through the building’s open floorplan. More than 1.4 million pounds of ductwork and 26 miles of piping and tubing were installed to serve the Discovery Hub’s laboratory spaces.
The building has achieved a Three Globes rating from the Green Globes sustainable building rating system.
