A Journey Begins With a Simple Vision

What began as a simple decision by one family desiring to “downsize” and demonstrate a more environmentally friendly lifestyle launched a five-plus-year journey that morphed into an alliance between unlikely partners, led to South Carolina’s adoption of a green building standard and yielded a unique and complex fund-raising project that includes local government, business and multi-national corporations. … read more …


In “The 21 Most Powerful Minutes in a Leader’s Day,” John Maxwell speaks of the ability for leaders to see “their destination, … understand what it will take to get there, know who they’ll need on the team to be successful, and recognize the obstacles long before they appear.” What a picture of leadership! Yet, that's not how this venture began.

The idea behind what has become known as Upstate House had very modest beginnings. It stemmed from some middle-aged thoughts about an approaching empty nest, a desire to simplify life and to put into action many of the concepts and commitments that are part of professional life as a forester and wildlife biologist. Those thoughts took premature flight in early 2000 when at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the newly chartered not-for-profit, Upstate Forever (www.upstateforever.org) , I suggested that we consider a demonstration project that would help others to understand our concepts of “sensible growth” and sustainable development and perhaps provide a unique fundraising opportunity for the fledgling organization. I even boldly stated my interest in being the guinea pig for the project thus taking away the biggest obstacle for any such project – a financial backer.

As Ecclesiastes states' and my life has so often taught, “there is a time and a season for everything.” The spring of 2000 wasn’t to be the time nor would it be the season for me demonstrate anything except patience in the face of change. Less than 60 days after beginning to think through how such a project might be done, my life was turned upside down by a hostile corporate takeover. From what appeared to be a relatively successful life as a Vice President with a Fortune 500 company, I quickly moved to uncertainty and finally self-inflicted unemployment when I chose not to accept a position with my new employer.

As I tried to get my working life back together the idea of a green demonstration house moved to the back burner, or more aptly, cold storage. There it stayed for two years until two others decided to resurrect the idea. Then came that fateful call when Brad Wyche, Upstate Forever’s Executive Director suggested I join a meeting that he was having with Scott Johnston, principal of Johnston Design Group, and Mark Augspurger, a partner with Pinnacle Consulting Group. Once there I learned that these gentlemen wished to pursue the idea of a green demonstration home ... yet they were lacking one simple element – someone to shoulder the bulk of the financial load. I recall saying, “And I’ve been invited to this meeting to what end?”

The concept was once again alive. We extended the group to include marketing expertise to help think through how to ensure that the project could have some educational and broader market impact. Then we tabbed a builder who was working in the “in-fill” market. In each case we asked those involved to share their time and talent pro-bono for the greater cause.

After a flurry of meetings we agreed on some broad concepts:

1. The project would be called “Upstate House” with a goal of “demonstrating environmentally friendly living;”
2. We’d look for an in-fill building site to highlight the gains from taking advantage of existing infrastructure and services and avoiding further sprawl; and
3. We’d develop a design that would help point the way to a more cost effective, energy efficient future.