At some time in the dim past, Mark Kelley, Steve Stuntz, and Bruce Hampton worked together at Acorn Structures, producing high-end residential buildings, mostly in the New England area. Then one day, Mark (having consulted widely on energy issues already by this point) got a call from the US Department of Energy asking if Acorn was interested in responding to an RFP for something called the Building America Initiative, an idea dedicated to developing energy-efficient technologies in residential buildings.

Steve said absolutely no. However, Steve then went and broke his leg in three places, so his opinion didn't count any more. Mark persisted, and found Anna Lee Court to write the proposal. Steve relented… and as acorns become - well, hickories, so the Hickory Corporation was created in 1994, with Mark, Anna, and Steve leading the way.

But hold on - Deck House bought Acorn, and suddenly Hickory lacked the industry partner required by the D.O.E. for the contract. After some thrashing around for a new Acorn, Epoch, a modular manufacturer in New Hampshire, agreed to take on this role. Presently, other parties joined forces in the research and development agenda that was now established: Ted Benson, a post-and-beam manufacturer in New Hampshire, and Amos Winter. Art Klipfel and Gwen Noyes, two Cambridge developers interested in sustainability, also joined the group, and with several consultants now taking part in the Hickory activities (and the DOE contract, which was a go), things began to look like a Consortium.

Some time earlier, Mark had helped pull together Energy Crafted Homes, which eventually became the Energy Star program. Bruce designed the Elm Street Townhouses, green housing built with Epoch modules. Anna wrote more grant proposals, and Marjorie Ford kept the books. Paul Raymer joined to add ventilation system manufacture expertise to the group, and was talked into becoming the HC treasurer. Gail Vittori and Pliny Fisk brought the weight of materials research and building techniques research to the mix, plus the affiliation of the University of Texas in Austin. Other university affiliations followed: MIT, Harvard, and the University of Florida via Hickory member Mike Mullens. Josie Carothers brought market research to the group, and then Stella Tarnay, a PR writer, was asked to make the Hickory Consortium with its sprawling range of activities intelligible to others. Bill Reed brought a national perspective on the culture of green building. Jesa Damora joined to help create new projects and develop new business. Cambridge Co-Housing was built, the Modular Task Force was set in motion, and many products, innovations, and applications were delivered to the D.O.E.

With the building of Erie Ellington, the Hickory Consortium realized that green affordable housing held promise for the development of all green housing. We also felt that urban renovation and new urban building projects were intrinsically more sustainable than tract housing. We looked for more opportunities to build in the urban core. With an overworked Mark at the helm, we invited others in. Jennifer Pinck brought construction management expertise to the group; Ash Richards brought the builder's viewpoint; and Dick Gregor supplemented Mark's engineering expertise by providing cryptic e-mails and rocket science. Bruce's docket exploded with urban projects, many affordable. Always mavericks in the Building America Program, HC began to stretch the DOE contract to include more in this domain. It snapped.

We did not. The Consortium continues its' activities, having restructured its offerings this last year as are revealed in these pages. Jesa became Executive Director, while Mark and Dick have brought new clients and programs to the Consortium. Steve has said "no" again and is busy running Greentech Housing which, with lots of support from Hickory, seems to be revolutionizing modular construction. We have become a non-profit, with Karen Byron writing grants and John Bailes weighing in on financial matters, and are moving with great excitement towards becoming a 501c-3 as the Hickory Institute.

Where are we headed? Hickory continues to be focused on catalyzing sustainability in housing and other building types. This has led to exciting projects in many cities and also to adventures with new technologies. Hickory has developed a simple, integrated HVAC system for multifamily projects that can provide comfort ventilation and hot water from a single source - a great advance over previous approaches. Hickory is exploring multifamily, commercial and residential photovoltaic systems with some of the largest projects in New England. We are also working on biofuels, with the first biodeisel turbine cogeneration unit due to go in a low income multifamily building this year. Several other biofuel projects are underway, and an innovative PV roofing system is being brought to life through a Hickory facilitated joint venture. With so many leading edge projects in our repertoire, opportunities for producing the best buildings through a systems approach to construction are plentiful for Hickory, and we anticipate a bright future. Please check in periodically for the continuing saga.