DB Engineering

Trusted advisor to the Built Environment since 1999.

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About the firm

DB Engineering is a Bellevue, Washington-based engineering and technology consulting practice specializing in smart buildings, mechanical systems, and data-driven building performance. Founded in 1999 by Douglas Blome, DB Engineering partners with owners of large commercial, corporate, retail, and airport real estate portfolios to deliver strategy, digital building transformation, specialty mechanical engineering, and technical program management. Its subject matter expertise spans HVAC, refrigeration, thermal engineering, building automation systems (BMS/OT), commissioning, fault detection and diagnostics, and IoT-driven building intelligence. The practice operates with a team of over 50 dedicated professionals.

Established
1999
Team
Midsize
Firm type
Mechanical Engineering · Automation & Controls · Owner's Engineer

Capabilities

Digital Building Services

Service website

Strategic planning and deployment of smart building technology, spanning building management systems, operational technology, and internet-of-things integrations to optimize environmental controls and building intelligence.

  • Smart Building Strategy & Roadmap

    Provides roadmap development, capability assessment, and technology visioning to guide smart building initiatives.

  • BMS / OT Control Consulting

    Optimizes environmental controls and building management systems to improve operational efficiency and reliability.

  • Smart Building Infrastructure

    Designs data-forward infrastructure strategies and technology frameworks to support connected facility systems.

  • Fault Detection and Diagnostics

    Implements automated diagnostics and analytics to identify, prioritize, and respond to operational issues.

  • Building System Standards Development and Governance

    Creates technology compliance requirements and rules for third-party vendors to guarantee consistent integration.

Specialty Engineering

Service website

High-performance mechanical design and consulting for complex environments, utilizing thermodynamic and fluid dynamic principles to solve challenging heating, ventilation, and refrigeration requirements.

  • HVAC Engineering

    Applies thermal science and fluid dynamics to design and analyze environmental comfort and process ventilation systems.

  • Refrigeration Engineering

    Designs specialized cooling systems and mechanical components for commercial, industrial, and retail applications.

  • Thermal & Heat Transfer Engineering

    Analyzes thermodynamics and psychrometrics to solve complex heat exchange and energy distribution challenges.

  • New Construction Peer Review

    Performs independent third-party evaluations of engineering designs from concept to completion to ensure quality and code compliance.

  • Existing Building Optimization

    Implements strategic retrofits and mechanical adjustments to balance sustainability with cost-efficiency.

Building Commissioning Services

Service website

Systematic validation of facility systems to enhance functionality, verify performance, and achieve peak operational standards for mechanical and control equipment.

  • New Construction Commissioning

    Validates newly installed mechanical, electrical, and control systems to ensure they meet design intent and operational requirements.

  • Existing Building Commissioning

    Performs retro-commissioning to restore degraded system performance and optimize energy usage in active properties.

Data Centric Strategy

Service website

Advanced analytics and information architecture designed to capture, process, and analyze environmental data, enabling real estate teams to make informed decisions.

  • Energy Optimization

    Applies data-driven analytics to maximize building system capabilities and reduce resource consumption.

  • Sustainability Initiatives

    Designs and implements programs to reduce the environmental footprint of large real estate portfolios.

Technical Program Management

Service website

Coordination of complex real estate technology programs, ensuring that technical projects align with strategic business objectives and vendor standards.

  • Owners Representation

    Acts as an extension of the client team to manage vendor networks, consultants, and integrators, ensuring projects achieve desired outcomes.

  • Engineering Staff Augmentation

    Provides experienced engineering professionals to expand team capacity and accelerate project timelines.

Industries

Commercial · Retail · Airports · Data Centers

Projects

Smart Corporate Campus

Commercial

Project details

Implemented a building intelligence system and data analytics platform across a 15-million-square-foot corporate portfolio to provide reliable comfort and maximize efficiency. Supported the development of corporate data strategy standards, including device capabilities, communication protocols, data models, ontologies, and network architectures, achieving $20,000,000 in energy savings over five years while handling over 500 million daily data transactions.

Smart Airport Roadmap

Airports

Project details

Developed and implemented an infrastructure improvement roadmap encompassing BMS, OT infrastructure, and mechanical equipment and systems. Created program requirements and standards for technology infrastructure, and provided program governance to ensure all third-party vendors adhered to the standards.

Retail Fleet Equipment End-of-Life Financial and Logistical Modeling

Retail

Project details

Developed financial and logistical modeling to support the sunsetting and replacement of HVAC and refrigeration systems across 5,500 retail locations. The scope of work included capital allocation, delivery schedule planning, a refrigerant banking model to manage stored legacy refrigerants during conversions, and automated EPA refrigerant leak reporting delivered via a dashboard interface.

Smart Building Technology Deployments

Commercial

Project details

Oversaw large-scale technology deployments and onboarding activities using digital modeling to integrate BMS, lighting, fire safety, and IoT sensors into an independent data platform. Supported the evaluation of new vendors and technologies for compliance with client IoT standards, helping to develop the Digital Buildings Ontology (DBO) and achieving over 8 million kWh in energy savings between 2020 and 2022.

DB Engineering - Engineering Firms