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.

Come February, the non-profit ReBuilding Exchange will open its doors in the Brighton Park neighborhood, just a few blocks from the Kedzie Orange Line stop. The organization’s facility will serve as a clearinghouse for salvaged building supplies that will, among others, divert waste from landfills, conserve energy-intensive resources, create jobs for the underemployed and provide affordable materials to an underserved community.

Since 1877, the Pacific Garden Mission has been helping the homeless find a safe haven. The Pacific Garden Mission aims to get homeless men and women back on their feet and back into the working world. Last October, the mission relocated to a facility that combines the men’s and women’s into one, 156,000 square foot mission, located on 14th and Canal. The Mission will house 1,000 nightly occupants and serve food to 1,800 people over three shifts per meal.
In addition to being a socially responsible agency, the Mission is taking steps to make the new mission environmentally responsible as well.

With the help of friends and family, the pair has been transforming the vintage house into a green home. Features of the La Fleur home include PowerZoning air recirculation, a tankless water heater, soy foam insulation, and an exterior rain barrel. Since the home is a partial renovation of an old house, it is ineligible for LEED® certification.

Unlike other high rise projects in the area, Winthrop Club has garnered ample sales to clear its financing hurdle. Due to the current gridlock in the credit markets high- and mid-rise condominium programs in Evanston, akin to the rest of the region, have taken it on the chin of late. Through the third quarter of this year, there were a total of twelve net sales among eight new-construction condominium programs in Evanston, four of which either lost sales or recorded no new contracts thus far this year.