Rainier Valley Food Bank
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The Rainier Valley Food Bank is the primary emergency food resource in Seattle’s most racially and economically diverse neighborhood. Their renovation project involved constructing a two-story addition to their existing building. Programming expanded the grocery and food processing spaces and added community spaces and a kitchen. New staff office area was situated on the second floor. The building is occupied and operated by a full-time staff and a rotating team of volunteers.
Demolition of the east portion of the existing building took place to accommodate the new addition. The portion of the existing building that was saved not only saved the owner from added demolition, new material and construction costs, but also contributed LEED points to the project through the Building Life-Cycle Reduction credit. Overall, there was just over 45% building and material reuse.
We conducted energy modeling for the project team at three stages of design, including schematic design (for the IP effort), design development and construction documents. The mechanical system is made up of multiple ERVs providing outside air to the spaces while FCUs condition the zones. A 5.88 kW PV system was also included in the building. We opted to use the Electrification ACP to successfully maximize the return on the LEED energy credits of this all-electric building. The project achieved LEED Silver certification in May of 2026.
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Location: Rainier Valley, Seattle, WA
Square Footage: 11,120 SF
Owner: Rainier Valley Food Bank
Project Design: Schemata Workshop
Contractor: Buchanan General Contracting Company
Project Photography by Schemata Workshop