Architect Gregg Lewis Takes New Energy Job

Jennifer and Gregg Lewis

Salem architect Gregg Lewis, owner with his wife Jennifer, of SmithLewis Architecture, has been named director of Community Housing Partners’ new Energy Alliance of Southwest Virginia in Christiansburg. The appointment is so fresh, says Lewis, that he hasn’t figured out everything he will be doing yet.

Here’s what he says about the job: “I don’t start for another week. I got formal notice that it’s a go today (about 5 hours ago). We are winding down SmithLewis, closing out existing projects." (Jennifer Lewis, Gregg's wife and business partner, has a new job as project manager/architect for the Western District of Virginia U.S. District Court.)

Lewis continues: "Since before my MBA, I have been looking for a real 'impact' opportunity and I believe this is it. It is extremely exciting and has extraordinary potential to tackle a significant portion of our energy issues (among other things). There are a lot of moving parts and I’m not sure I’m prepared yet to describe them with an appropriate level of accuracy to make it clear to your audience what is entailed.

"To start, this will be all about energy efficiency in the residential sector. This is a pilot project that is intended to be taken to scale, nationally in 2013.

"Virginia is part of a four state consortium (Massachusetts, Washington State, Alabama) that is working to develop an [energy efficiency] standard that is measurable, cost-effective, and scalable. There are a wide variety of partners nationally, regionally, and locally. There’s a lot more to it but I want to be sure I’ve got my Ts crossed, etc., before talking about the details (unless, of course somebody else has already done so)."

Though the job is based in Christiansburg, he says, "a significant amount of my initial activity will be in the City of Roanoke and the Town of Blacksburg."