Nathan_Kipnis_FAIA
Evanston, Illinois, United States
Member
Nathan Kipnis is a fellow of the AIA and is principal of Kipnis Architecture + Planning, recognized as one of Chicago’s premier sustainable architectural practices. The firm specializes in residential, restaurant, office and airport facility designs.
Mr. Kipnis currently serves as the co-chairman of the AIA’s national 2030 Commitment Working Group, whose goal is to help architects move toward designing carbon neutral buildings by 2030.
Mr. Kipnis received his Master of Architecture with an emphasis in Energy Conscious Design from Arizona State University in 1985 and his Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1983. He has been strongly focused on energy efficient architectural design since entering college, and designed his first solar home in Boulder in 1983 when he was just 21 years old.
Mr. Kipnis lectures frequently on topics related to sustainable design and renewable energy, and his opinions and projects have been extensively sought for publication. He was one of 25 environmental ‘Giants’, and the only architect, featured in the 2016 documentary ‘Green Giants’.
NextHaus Alliance is a new, premium design/build concept lead by Mr. Kipnis to provide turnkey, ‘net zero’ sustainable and resiliently designed homes in the Chicagoland area.
Recent Q&A
Performance Difference between Vintage Double Hung Windows and New Casements
We are currently working on a renovation for a 1911 craftsman brick building with original wood double hung windows. In the renovation, the building is being converted all electric, so…
Insulating a Masonry Building from the Interior
We are working on an existing home that is 2 wythe brick masonry construction, with existing 3/4" furring and drywall on the interior. On the exterior, the existing brick is…
Basement window wells in a foam-sheathed house
We typically design houses with continuous insulation on the exterior side of the wood sheathing, install vertical furring strips and then siding or other finished material, creating a rain screen…
Insulating the underside of precast concrete slab garage
I am designing a garage using precast concrete slabs to allow for the space underneath to be used as conditioned living space. The garage floor will consist of a waterproof…
Ice Storage for residential cooling
We have a project in a 5a climate zone and another option for cooling that we are considering is an ice storage system (like Ice-Energy/ Ice Bear used to have)…
Residential Desiccant Cooling
We are designing a house in a 5A climate zone and am wondering if anyone has any experience using a desiccant wheel system for residential cooling?
Retractable pool enclosure up against an existing house
We are in a 5A climate zone, near Chicago. We wanted to add a retractable pool enclosure up against an existing house that would be used year round. http://www.libart.com/evolution-lean-to-structures The…
Tightening up a 1949 mid-century modern
I just bought a really cool 1949 mid-century modern 2200 s.f. split-level home in the Chicago area (Zone 5) and will be doing a bit of work to it. The…
Extremely humid interior atmosphere
We are currently working on a project in the Chicagoland area at a water reclamation district. We are re-roofing a building that enclosed the water filtration pools with extremely high…
Has anyone ever set up a solar thermal system to essentially run backwards for Night Sky Radiation Cooling (NSRC)?
I have read a little about it on the internet, but I was curious if anyone has experience with it. I am interested in alternative methods of cooling, and this…