The next time you’re flying out of Chicago’s O’Hare airport, take a look out your window and see if you can spot Abt. If you’re not sure how to identify us (we’re the giant building right next to the expressway), just look for our rooftop logo! You’ll also see a few other interesting things, including our rooftop solar farm and a small (but soon to be expanded) wildflower garden.
First painted in 2010, the rooftop logo was starting to look a little weathered. The recent stretch of beautiful weather gave us the perfect opportunity to repaint it, and when it was done, of course we had to get some pics. So we tapped Grant, our small electronics specialist and resident certified drone pilot, to do a flyover with a DJI Phantom 4 Pro to grab videos and photos of the roof. While we were in the air, we also grabbed some pics of the solar panel array and the new deck built to accommodate the occasional tour groups that get to view the solar panels, along with aerial views of The Design Center and the new construction happening at the north end of the store.
The Design Center at Abt is home to a Kohler Store, Clark & Barlow Cabinetry and Hardware, Visions by Exotic Marble, Studio 41 Home Design, Lighting by Fox, and Jolane’s Restaurant & Bar.
The construction at the north end of our property will give us space to park more of our trucks, as well as an expanded service bay to help us keep them maintained. As we continue to grow, so does our delivery fleet, and this will help us keep things moving smoothly.
The solar array went live in October 2016. It’s comprised of 1500 340-watt panels, and each year it produces enough energy to power 80 single family homes. It helps us reduce our dependence on grid energy. The vegetation is our first application of a green roof, which helps keep the building cool and minimizes rainwater run-off. We hope to expand it to neighboring sections of the rooftop soon!
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