With the help of Nathan Kipnis, one ranch-home owner turned a mildewy relic into a 21st century beacon. The home, originally 1675 sf, was completely renovated to include 1600 sf of basement space, nearly doubling the living area. The addition of carefully selected architectural and construction elements transformed the home from dank and dark to airy, comfortable, and energy efficient.

“Little Big Home” was coined to describe this 3,050-square-foot home, designed around a young family of four. From the insulated concrete foundation to the green roof, the home incorporates features aimed at practical comfort for a busy family.

Wight’s educational mission for sustainability does not end with plaques about green roofs and dual flush toilets (which had to be imported from Australia because no such thing existed in the US at the time of construction), but extends into the day to day operations of the firm itself. The firm offers LEED training classes to aid those preparing for the exam, Green Bag lunches to learn about products and technologies, and a Sustainability Forum encompassing Research and Development, the Green Library, Community Outreach, and the living laboratory that is the Darien office (the firm is constantly experimenting with different green building products and currently has seven different green roof plots on its roof in Darien).

The Grossinger City Autoplex at 1500 N. Dayton is, first and foremost, an example of large-scale, urban adaptive reuse. The project is the reimage a building that once played host to a jukebox manufacturer and most recently a Home Depot EXPO Design Center. The new Grossinger City Autoplex, currently under construction, will house a multi-line automotive retail sales and service center for three manufacturers, including Toyota, Cadillac and Chevrolet. Thanks in part to TIF requirements, the facility has been designed to meet LEED-NC Version 2.2 LEED Silver certification, and has successfully participated the City of Chicago Green Permit process.

Jewel-Osco is seeking LEED® certification for its first green grocery and drug store. The store opened on September 26, 2008 at 370 N. Desplaines St. in Chicago’s Fulton Market District. The store has been in development for 5 years due to the complexity of the design and pre-qualification requirements for LEED® Certification. The completed building features energy-efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, water-saving features, energy-efficient lighting, and even an on-site chef who cooks with locally-grown and produced foods.

The Gurnee Chipotle sucessfully achieved LEED® Silver Certification by opening day, and is now among the first LEED®-Certified restaurants in the nation. In addition to the wind turbine, the building includes green construction materials including fly-ash in the concrete. Fly-ash, a byproduct of coal combustion that is usually disposed of as waste, is used to strengthen the concrete and make it more durable.