How We Started

There has always existed within IBACOS a passion for homebuilding innovation. This passion was clear even in 1989 when the idea of building better homes was just a spark.

In the late 1980's, Michael Dickens and Mark Tilley worked in Pittsfield, MA, for General Electric in its Plastics division researching new housing technologies for GE's Living Environments program. Spurred by a desire to generate better ideas for building homes, Dickens and Tilley decided to extend their research beyond the Living Environments demonstration home. In 1990, they convinced GE to help them assemble a consortium of companies to continue this R&D quest. One of those companies was United States Gypsum (USG), whose technical champion in this consortium was Brad Oberg.

The consortium began in early 1991 in Pittsburgh, PA. Eventually becoming known as IBACOS—Integrated Building and Construction Solutions—the innovation alliance explored the relationships between a home's systems and investigated improved methods of design and construction. By late 1991, both Dickens and Oberg had relocated to Pittsburgh to spearhead IBACOS' strategic and technical programs.

In 1992, Dickens and Oberg traveled to the White House to campaign their common cause with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). They received financial support from the DOE to further IBACOS' work, eventually helping establish what is now Building America. The Building America program continues to be an important part of IBACOS' and the DOE's mission of improving the energy efficiency of the nation's homes.

In 1994, Tilley left GE and joined Dickens and Oberg full-time. Together, the three business partners lead IBACOS activities to this day. Their passion to improve the quality and performance of homes has also led to the creation of two sister companies, EQA Landmark Communities and BuildIQ.

EQA Landmark Communities was born from the recognition that many times builders can be tough to convince to build better homes. The partners turned to community developers to determine if they might have more influence and interest in the idea, and sure enough, they did. In 1997, EQA became IBACOS' first spin-off company, led by Partner Brett Malky, with a mission to deliver high performance homes on a community scale.

In 2001, a second sister company was created to focus on web-based learning for the homebuilding industry. Over the years, IBACOS had recognized that training was a key deficiency in the market. In response to this need, BuildIQ was created to provide builders with internet-based training, tools, and information on homebuilding Best Practices®.

In the late 1990's, IBACOS branched out to work with homebuilders on a consulting basis, providing them with design and forensic engineering services. This new work led to a distinction between the company's two core focuses, calling them Services and Research. Services' roots are in Research, so these teams work closely together, sharing their knowledge and experience.

While the original spark of an idea flamed into three separate companies, each with its own goals, the vision of the three remains the same: to enable the homebuilding industry to deliver homes that are designed and built to new standards of quality and performance.