Heartwood was founded in 1983 to create environmentally responsible buildings. It has evolved through the years and successfully pursued many opportunities in real estate development, business consulting and renewable energy, all with the goal of helping to create a more environmentally and economically sustainable society.

Since "going virtual" over a decade ago, company founder Fred Unger has been organizing teams of independent professionals on a project by project basis for both real estate and renewable energy development efforts. Though we do take on other clients and projects, over the last several years our efforts have focused primarily on developing solar energy projects with Boston Community Capital, a non‐profit financial institution dedicated to building healthy communities where low‐income people live and work. That work recently won BCC a White House award as a "champion of change" for creating one of the largest portfolios of solar projects serving affordable housing in the nation.

In 2003, Heartwood founded an information technology company in the energy industry that was later merged with a competitor to create the nation’s leading provider of remote monitoring of renewable energy projects. We have also advised and been investors in other renewable energy firms. Heartwood has also provided feasibility analyses, permitting and development services for several wind energy projects.

With policy such a key driver in the transformation of our energy sector toward clean technologies, Unger has been engaged in the policy arena, serving in leadership roles for several professional and advocacy organizations. He has been active in promoting clean energy policy at the state level in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

In the building and real estate development arena, Heartwood has created affordable housing opportunities, preserved large parcels of open space and done historic restoration. Our building projects address the fundamental principles of building science and green building to create healthy, energy efficient, environmentally friendly buildings. As consultants in the building industry, we have helped leading firms grow their businesses and led the repairs of several prominent buildings that were experiencing significant building systems failures. Photos of our design and construction projects have been featured on the covers of three magazines.

We have teamed with some of the best engineering, construction, architectural, environmental, legal, permitting, financial, public relations, design and other specialists in the country on previous successful efforts and view our role as team builders and project managers as the key part of the service we provide.

Any sustainable development effort must be financially sound. Our experience is well suited to guide development toward sustainability and financial success. We help provide critical reality testing early in a project’s design and offer creative solutions that improve environmental performance and profitability from design through construction and commissioning. Having managed hundreds of design and construction projects over the decades, we take pride in bringing quality projects in on time and on budget.