Staff spotlight: Chris Lewis

Chris Lewis, VP of Engineering at GreenerU

Normal people believe that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain’t broke, it doesn’t have enough features yet.

Engineering jokes aside, GreenerU’s engineering team takes decarbonization and energy efficiency matters very seriously—even as they bring warmth, wit, and intelligence to the role.

That team is led by Chris Lewis, GreenerU’s Vice President of Engineering. Chris has a variety of experience in the energy efficiency arena, specializing in projects for higher education, multi-family apartment buildings, and nonprofit organizations—including Historic New England, which has engaged GreenerU to develop a set of engineered plans to decarbonize Casey Farm in Rhode Island.

Since joining GreenerU in 2012, Chris has worked on developing and implementing energy efficiency projects and programs at client campuses, covering a wide range of efficiency measures and capital projects. He also leads client engagement for project development and provides technical guidance for GreenerU’s climate action and decarbonization planning processes. 

GreenerU’s new Director of Programs Craig Altemose sat down with Chris in April 2025 to get to know him a bit better.

Craig: Starting simple, what would you say is the best part of your job?

Chris: I get to learn something new every day. I work with amazing colleagues, customers, and partners, and there is constantly something new to discover about the challenges and opportunities in our industry. So many smart people are tackling these big challenges in different ways. I love hearing these different innovations and perspectives and do my best to share knowledge with others in the field as well.

Craig: Is there a new green design trend or innovation you learned about recently that you’re excited about?

Chris: More and more products are coming to market that will make decarbonizing existing buildings more feasible and cost effective. We’ll need a lot of tools in the toolbox to solve emissions across a wide array of existing buildings—critical care facilities, laboratories, and other unique spaces have different needs requiring a range of solutions. Heat pumps are advancing and other technologies help us reduce and manage loads. A greater variety of solutions means more cost competition, better products, and better performance.

I’m also excited to see decarbonization planning making its way into the common language of facilities management and planning. People are recognizing that in order to make optimal investments in the facility, they need to have a plan. We have had an opportunity to work with a couple of institutions on their decarbonization planning efforts and it’s been exciting to see how different stakeholder groups are coming together to come up with solutions that work best for their unique sets of circumstances.

Craig: What’s the first step you take when you’re starting a new engineering project?

Chris: We always start by talking with the customer about their needs. It’s crucial to understand all of the different factors involved in a potential project and make sure our designs are aligned. Engineers like to focus on technical solutions—systems, equipment, therms, and kilowatt hours. But buildings are for people, so our solutions always need to be people-centric.

One example of this was when we were selected to work with Swarthmore College. They had originally hired an engineering firm to develop a full campus decarbonization plan. While the plan may have been technically feasible, it was shown not to align with the many other considerations that were important to that campus. So they scrapped that plan and started over with GreenerU and the engineering firm Introba. We were brought on to be that go-between: we could speak the language of engineers and translate that for other stakeholders whose job was to ensure that Swarthmore’s priorities and values were also included in that decision-making process when developing the new plan.

At the end of the day, there’s a lot of progress that needs to be made outside of the traditional renovation and construction cycle—you need to do a lot of listening to understand what your parameters are before designing and implementing solutions.

Craig: Is there anything that can make a project particularly challenging to execute?

Chris: The hardest type of project is one with unclear or inconsistent objectives. Decarbonization may be a motivating factor, but ultimately any project needs to be evaluated against a range of criteria, which can include financial, operational, or occupancy considerations. If a project starts with one objective, but later gets evaluated against another, an owner won’t end up happy. That’s why our job is to get to the bottom of that from the beginning.

Craig: Taking a look at the other side of the coin, what’s a project you’re particularly proud of?

Chris: One of our long-standing customers is the MSPCA Angell Animal Medical Center, a nonprofit organization with a large facility in Boston. We started working with them when they needed a plan to update an antiquated heating system and cut down on energy spending. They actually had snow coming through their windows and really chilly operating rooms—the staff was pretty uncomfortable. So we helped them develop and implement a suite of conservation measures, such as all new windows, and a heating system conversion to heat pumps. Now their building heating and cooling systems are as sophisticated as their animal care equipment.

They were happy enough with our work that now—eight years later—we’re still helping them with other kinds of facilities improvements from plumbing to parking lots. That level of customer satisfaction makes me proud of what we do.

Craig: You’ve been working at GreenerU for 12 years now. What’s kept you hanging around for so long?

Chris: I believe in the mission of this company. The customers we’re helping are leading efforts to make positive change in the world. We’ve broadened our scope from working with higher-education clients and K12 schools to now working with nonprofit organizations and affordable housing and houses of worship and more. There’s so much we can do to help these clients help others. Our contribution may not be the most visible, but we play a critical role in supporting organizations doing really important work. And at the end of the day, we are reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fighting climate change. What’s not to love?

Craig: Lastly, what do you do for fun in your free time?

Chris: Most of my spare time is spent with my wife and two young boys. We like to get out to the beach or any of the other beautiful places in Massachusetts and New England. I also enjoy running, playing basketball, cooking, gardening, fishing, and rooting for the Celtics.

Chris Lewis and his amazing engineering team are ready to listen—even to another bad engineering joke.

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