Michelle Kaufmann Designs, Founder + Chairman

Michelle Kaufmann founded Michelle Kaufmann Designs in 2002.

Growing up in Iowa, Michelle has always had a deep understanding of the relationship between humankind and the environment. This awareness is engrained in all that she does. She believes that how we develop our landscape is such an integral part of our culture and that what we build, and how we build, should improve the environment rather than harm it.

When Michelle relocated to Northern California, she found a lack of affordable, sustainable, well-designed homes. Michelle soon realized she could make a difference through her architecture. In 2002, she founded Michelle Kaufmann Designs and began the crusade to make thoughtful, sustainable design accessible to all.

Named the Henry Ford of green homes by Sierra Club Magazine in 2007, Michelle, a member of the Ecological Design Collaborative and known as a "green guru", is a leader in the green design community. Her commitment to sustainable living and design remains constant throughout all of her work, including her thoughtful, sustainable home designs the Glidehouse®, Sunset Breezehouse™, mkSolaire®, and mkLotus®, as well as through designing custom homes and holistic, green communities.

Michelle's work is widely published, and her own book, Prefab Green, was released in February 2009. Her homes have been showcased in a number of museums including the National Building Museum, the Vancouver Art Center, and MOCA in Los Angeles. Most recently, Michelle debuted the first mkSolaire® as part of the "Smart Home: Green and Wired" exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. Named to Business 2.0 magazine's list of "100 People Who Matter Now", Michelle was recently honored with the National Association of Home Builders' Green Building Award for the 2009 Advocate of the Year. MKD was listed as one of "The Green 50" by INC magazine and awarded residential architect magazine's TOP FIRM AWARD in 2008.

Michelle received her undergraduate degree from Iowa State University, and her Masters from Princeton University. She has been a lecturer and keynote speaker for numerous events, and has taught at Iowa State University and Woodbury University. Prior to founding Michelle Kaufmann Designs, Michelle was an Associate with Frank O. Gehry.

Michelle and her husband, Kevin, live in their Glidehouse home in Marin County with their 2 dogs.

Michelle is an architect licensed in the State of Hawaii.