Testa Produce Distribution Center in Chicago IL is one of five projects announced as winners of the Edie (Economic Development in Illinois) Award. The annual award is given jointly by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Development Council (IDC) to recognize economic development projects finished in the prior year throughout Illinois.
In 2011, Testa expanded its operations to a restored brownfield site in the Back of the Yards Neighborhood—previously Chicago’s historic Stockyards Corridor. Testa is a 100-year-old family-owned-and-operated wholesale produce distributor servicing the foodservice industry throughout Chicagoland and surrounding areas. The company’s 91,000-square-foot facility is equipped with 180 photovoltaic solar panels and a 238-ft freestanding wind turbine—the first of its kind in Chicago—that will generate 30% of the building’s energy needs. On-site energy generation offsets the equivalent of about 80 homes’ worth of energy each year.
The water management system consists of a retention pond, bio swales, an internal rainwater-harvesting cistern, and a 45,000-sq-ft barreled vegetated roof. This system is designed to reduce water demand by more than 40%. Testa’s building meets requirements of the US Green Building Council, and as a result the firm has been named the first LEED Platinum refrigerated foodservice facility in the United States.
The Illinois Chamber and IDC asked for nominations from across the state for projects completed in 2011. An awards committee reviewed the nominees and determined which projects were worthy of an Edie Award. The Edies will be formally presented June 8 at the Illinois Chamber’s annual meeting in Chicago.
For more details on the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, visit www.ilchamber.org. To learn more about the IDC, go to www.ildevelopmentcouncil.org.
