BEFESA

Befesa’s R&D center

In 2009 Befesa launched a new R&D center that will centralise the company’s R&D activities. The center, which is located in Dos Hermanas (Sevilla), is an important milestone in the company’s history and will be a fundamental element in achieving Befesa’s ambitious innovation objectives.

The facilities have state-of-the-art and sustainable infrastructures equipped with scientific and technological resources that will give Befesa a leading technological position as well as making it an international leader in industrial waste treatment.

The building has been designed and constructed incorporating methods and features that make the center a model for sustainability:

• Energy and atmospheric sustainability: it includes systems for capturing solar energy, such as the orientation of the building, glazed areas to make use of natural light and high performance artificial systems; as well as the use of renewable energies with photovoltaic solar panels and heating systems for sanitary hot water.
• Interior environmental quality: high performance air conditioning using the thermal inertia of the ground and thermal insulation in the building, as well as water curtains to reduce the thermal load on the building.
• Water efficiency: systems to reduce water consumption, treatment of clear grey water and its reuse in cisterns, including the collection and treatment of rainwater for reuse in onsite irrigation.
• Recycled resources and materials: Ferrosite in partition walls, galvanised external cladding made from recovered zinc oxide.
• Site sustainability: habitat protection, maximisation of the open space, prevention of heat island effect.
• Facilities control and management system: intelligent control of the building’s facilities to save energy. Inventory of CO₂ emissions in order to reduce them.

The Center also has extensive office areas and other innovative spaces designed to showcase Befesa’s activities in a simple and visual way. The Center is distributed over two storeys and includes the following areas:

• A visitor reception and exhibition area. The objective is to provide an illustrative and dynamic explanation of what Befesa is and the activities it carries out, providing solutions that contribute to sustainable development. The exhibition room has therefore been fitted with visual elements (posters, plasma screens, photographs) and materials (samples of products and examples of technology).
• Control room. This area is equipped with sophisticated technology that holds all the information required to remotely monitor the operations of the plants or systems Befesa operates worldwide.
• Experimental area. This is where all the experimentation equipment is housed and is where all the experimental pilot experiments are conducted in general, including demonstrations of the R&D projects currently being developed by Befesa.
• Multiuse room. This room can seat 130 people and is equipped with audiovisual equipment, including a simultaneous translation booth.
• Analysis and classification laboratories. This is where clean water, waste water and other wastes are comprehensively analysed and classified. It has an independent capacity for physical, chemical and microbiological analysis of the main parameters for the base materials involved in Befesa’s activities, for different types of water and wastes. The instrumentation is state-of-the-art.
• Offices. For R&D researchers and personnel.
• Workshop. For constructing and assembling R&D pilot plants for projects. It has all the necessary mechanical and lifting equipment.
• Services area for the Experimentation area. It includes the water and waste storage and distribution systems for the pilot plants, the power supply with different voltages and currents, etc.