Chicago and Northshore architect, Nathan Kipnis, has been named one of the six recipients of Chicago Magazine’s fifth annual Green Awards.  He will be featured in the April 2011 issue, which comes out March 17.

Readers, community leaders and the staff at Chicago Magazine recommended more than 150 nominees for the Green Award and Kipnis was chosen because of his inventive and sustainable work.

“We are delighted to recognize such an illustrious group for our fifth annual Green Awards,” said Richard Babcock, editor of Chicago Magazine. “This year’s winners are truly changing Chicago and beyond for the better. They have big ideas, and are making an even bigger impact.”

According to the Nathan Kipnis Architects Inc. (KNAP) website, Kipnis’ interest in designing green buildings began in 1979 at the University of Colorado where he began his architectural studies.

Kipnis’s homes are highly based on energy efficiency but KNAP doesn’t believe that the architectural design should be abandoned in the process. One of the many green ideas Kipnis has come up with was the concept for designing a home with two roofs that channel rainwater down to a garden below.

PR Newswire reported that even though Kipnis is focused on energy efficiency, he also uses many contemporary designs in his homes also such as finishes that release low to no emissions, high-efficiency furnaces, and radiant flooring.

For the past few years Kipnis has been working pro bono with Citizens’ Greener Evanston to build the concept for the first Midwest offshore wind farm. Although the plan has ignited some discussion, Kipnis believes that the farm could conceivably power every house in Evanston and could create an immense opportunity.