University of Illinois, Illinois Fire Service Institute

Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

The Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI) has long been a resource for training fire fighting personnel in Illinois and the United States. This Learning Resource and Research Center was a 24,000 square foot addition to the existing IFSI Class/Office building and was designed and built to be compatible with existing structures at the Institute. The addition enhanced the existing Fire Service Institute Library, the State’s only library dedicated to fire and emergency services, from 1,200 to 6,000 square feet. A portion of the addition houses a NIMS compliant, full-scale, hands-on training facility for Emergency Operations Center and Unified Command Center training. This portion of the facility utilized the latest in communications and information sharing technology. There is a 1,500 square feet dedicated to a Firefighter Memorial Hall/Museum to augment the Library and research labs and to serve as a learning resource center for known firefighter fatality situations. 

The project included utility infrastructure upgrades to connect the IFSI facility to the UIUC Campus fiber optic communications and electrical power distribution systems. Mechanical systems for the addition were designed to maintain proper temperature and humidity levels to protect the library collections. Energy efficiency of the Learning Resource and Research Center was critical as the addition was submitted for LEED Silver certification.

Henneman Engineering was responsible for complete mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineering design.