Dairy Farmers of America

The Project

The Dairy Farmers of America in Garden City is not only a milk powder plant, it’s a farm-to-table facility. DFA was built to meet the growing demand from both the domestic and international markets.

It receives four million pounds of raw milk each day from 12 member farms in Kansas and turns it into 500,000 pounds of dry milk powder. At 267,000 square feet, it is the largest facility of its kind in the world, and it operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Designed and built by Shambaugh & Son, the facility uses more than 344,000 square feet of Kingspan insulated metal panels.

Designing a Sustainable Facility

Sustainability was a priority in designing the facility, with a focus on reducing, reusing and recycling wherever possible. First is its location – the proximity to local farmers reduces the miles and time that trucks spend on the road, as well as conserving fuel and other resources.

The plant’s wastewater treatment facility was designed to utilize all the water extracted from the milk during processing, so it can be used to clean tanks as well as by the city as a non-potable water source.

Metal Panels Help this Milk Plant Go Green

The DFA facility was named the 2018 Sustainable Plant of the Year by Food Engineering magazine.

Kingspan insulated metal panels (IMPs) contribute to the mission of sustainability by reducing thermal bridging by providing continuous insulation, which helps curb energy consumption by dramatically reducing heating or cooling loss. Kingspan IMPs can be used as walls and/or ceilings, and their high R-value is especially important in cold storage and food processing facilities like the Dairy Farmers of America plant. IMPs also serve as both an air and water vapor barrier, so they replace multiple products in a building.

Built for Cold Storage

The exterior of the facility utilizes Kingspan KS Shadowline Wall Panels, which are designed to provide the highest R-value for controlled environment and cold storage needs. The panels meet USDA guidelines and the standard finish is White Siliconized Modified Polyester, which makes it an ideal choice for food processing environments. KS Shadowline panels are available with QuadCore™ Technology, Kingspan’s next generation self-blended hybrid insulation core.

Kingspan products used on this project:

KS Shadowline

LOCATION

Garden City, KS

BUILDING OWNER

Dairy Farmers of America

MANUFACTURER

Kingspan Insulated Panels

SIZE

267,000 square feet