Ryan Companies US, Inc. has completed the construction of a new 147,000-square-foot Community Nutrition and Food Distribution Center for Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB). NIFB has moved into its new space, located at 273 Dearborn Ct., Geneva, Ill., which is essentially double the size of its former headquarters in St. Charles, Ill.
Northern Illinois Food Bank, a member of Feeding America, is a non-profit organization that provides food to hungry people in 13 Illinois counties through its more than 600 partner agencies. NIFB acquires, gathers, handles and distributes donated, government and purchased food to more than 60,000 different people each week through local food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, youth activity centers and other food assistance sites. In Fiscal Year 2011, NIFB distributed more than 34.8 million pounds of food, the equivalent of 29 million meals.
In working toward achieving LEED-NC Gold status, NIFB and its design and construction team has incorporated a variety of sustainable and energy-saving elements into the new building, includinga white roof, air-cooled heat pumps, motion-controlled lighting, high-performance glass, an energy-efficient envelope and recycled and re-used products, among other things. The facility’s HVAC system uses the rejection heat emitted from the refrigeration and freezer systems to heat the warehouse. Bike racks as well as preferred parking for electric and hybrid cars and carpooling encourage alternative transportation.
The facility’s 11-acre site is situated north of Illinois State Route 38, between Kirk and Kautz Roads, within the Geneva Business Park. Additionally, it is immediately west of the DuPage Airport, and just south and west of Pheasant Run.
The new refrigerated food warehouse and distribution center features 47,000 square feet of office space, 60,000 square feet of dry storage, 20,000 square feet of freezer/cooler space and20,000 square feet of volunteer circulation area.
The new building, as compared to the NIFB’s former facility, doubles the dry storage and triples freezer capacity; increases the number of docks and provides refrigerated dock space; and includes a “clean room” for safe repacking of food. It also provides a commercial demonstration kitchen and classrooms where healthy cooking and nutrition classes can be hosted for NIFB’s partner feeding programs and community groups. There also were future considerations built in, including the option for building out a production kitchen that would allow foods to be packaged and prepared for hungry people in northern Illinois.
