Sources: CP staff; Rabine Group, Schaumburg, Ill.
An ambitious sequence of in-service concrete pavements, including thin or ultra-thin whitetopping, pervious, pattern stamped and conventional, full-depth slabs, was unveiled during a late-July dedication of the Rabine Group headquarters.
Founder and CEO Gary Rabine noted how the company, specializing in concrete and asphalt pavements and related services for commercial and residential customers, plus roofing systems, has grown nearly 20-fold over the past nine years, and seen headquarters space requirements expand from 14,000 sq. ft. to 20,000 sq. ft. since 2010. The company acquired a five-level, 100,000-sq.-ft. office building in the high-growth, northwest Chicago suburb of Schaumburg two years ago.
Early on, it mapped out energy and environmental upgrades that would net LEED Silver for Existing Buildings certification, confirmation of which occurred two days before the headquarters dedication.
The LEED certification goal for the Class A property spurred improvements to a 200-stall parking lot with the dual purpose of rating points and creating major design center elements. Rabine crews finished approximately 25,000 sq. ft. of the company’s branded UltraLot Whitetopping on existing asphalt, the new surface helping reduce lighting costs up to 40 percent and lowering the original blacktop’s heat island effect. Placed in 1.5- to 4.5-in. thickness, UltraLot features sawcut horizontal and longitudinal joints at 4-ft. spacing. Other pavement types added since Rabine Group occupied the property are traffic-grade, colored, pattern-stamped concrete (main entrance driveway); colored, pervious concrete (traffic lanes); 4- to 8-in. plain, jointed concrete (traffic, parking areas); and 4- to 7-in. asphalt overlays or porous asphalt (parking area).
The headquarters also features the Rabine Roofing Design Center, with 15 different roof types geared toward educating clients, partners and employees of the advantages of energy efficiency and renewable energy generation. A rooftop walking path allows observers to examine various material options and treatments, including the Rabine LiveRoof vegetative garden system. The path also aligns with much of the headquarters’ solar array, consisting of 294 Monocrystalline panels and individual micro inverters. The 69.09 kW photovoltaic system produces 76,000 kWh annually, potentially offsetting 5 percent of the total building’s energy consumption.