James L. Coggins

James Lawson Coggins

Jim died September 16, 2021 at age 83 of cancer at his home in Riderwood Village, Silver Spring, Maryland.  Born in Brundidge, Alabama, he was first in his engineering class at the University of Alabama, then received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at MIT.  He and Winifred Martin Hersh met in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and married in 1966. Jim served as an Army Engineer company commander in Vietnam in 1966-67.

In 1976 he and his family moved to Columbia, Maryland, where he lived for forty years before moving to Riderwood in 2016. In 1977 he founded Energy Applications, Inc. (EAI), focusing on the efficient use of energy in buildings, and indoor air quality. Major clients were Anne Arundel County and Howard County Public Schools, University of Maryland Medical System, NIH, DOE, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, and Hazleton Laboratories. He was elected an ASHRAE fellow in 1999, serving on committees developing national IAQ standards.  In 2000 EAI was bought by Select Energy Services, Inc., the ESCO Subsidiary of Northeast Utilities. Dr. Coggins remained with SESI for five years.

In retirement, he enjoyed expanding his non-technical side, taking up woodworking, visiting museums and supporting classical music as a board member of Candlelight Concerts, Columbia, Md.  He also had a passion for travel, visiting thirty-three countries on six continents. He leaves his wife of fifty-five years, Winifred Coggins, two sons, and three grandchildren.

He will be interred at Ramah Cemetery in Josie, Alabama, joining four earlier generations of Lawsons buried there.