Northern Illinois Food Bank

A new facility enables food bank to increase food distribution To meet the growing needs of the hungry in northern Illinois, Northern Illinois Food Bank (NIFB) chose Ryan to build its new and improved distribution facility. Ryan constructed the 147,000-square-foot food-handling facility on 10.83 acres of land in Geneva, Illinois. The building features 47,000 square feet of office space, 60,000 square feet of dry storage, 20,000 square feet of freezer/cooler space and 20,000 square feet of volunteer circulation area. The new building also includes refrigerated dock space, a “clean room” for safe repacking of food and a commercial demonstration kitchen and classrooms.

The project was Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certified. One LEED strategy the team pursued is a Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) HVAC system. The offset heat from the refrigeration system will be used to heat the warehouse, provide hot water and fuel a frost prevention system.

Northern Illinois Food Bank, a non-profit charity organization and member of Feeding America, was founded in May 1983 in Wheaton, Illinois. NIFB has grown tremendously—distributing nearly 35 million pounds of food in 2011 and serving more than 600 agencies in 13 northern Illinois counties. The Feeding America network of food banks named NIFB the 2010 Member Food Bank of the Year.