Bosch Breaks Ground on European R&D Center

Robert Bosch GmbH has broken ground for a $160 million research and development center in Renningen, Germany, that will contain 14 buildings on 247 acres.

With nearly 1.2 million sq. ft. of floor space, the campus will open in spring 2014 with an initial staff of about 1,200 employees. Bosch says the center will join the company's global network of eight such facilities.

The Renningen complex will centralize work currently being conducted at three locations in metropolitan Stuttgart. Bosch says the campus should encourage knowledge transfer among its business units.

The center's design includes such "green" technologies as solar panels, grass-covered roofs and a heat recovery system expected to provide about 50% of the site's heating needs. A membrane water treatment system will reclaim about 7.9 million gallons of drinking water per year.