About

David R. Olson, PE, LEED AP, FASHRAE

Dave grew up in Colorado. He attended University of Colorado – Boulder and studied Civil Engineering in the late 1970’s. During his college days his studies included fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, solar engineering and heat transfer. Dave was invited to join Tau Beta Pi and Chi Epsilon, both engineering honor societies resulting from his success during his student activities in Boulder.

After graduating from CU, Dave joined an consulting firm in Lakewood, Colorado. He developed his talents as an HVAC, Plumbing and Fire Protection Engineer. Dave gained valuable experience designing and specifying commercial, institutional, industrial and residential projects, and learning the tools of the construction trade as a Project Manager.

David launched Integrated Mechanical Systems, a full-service mechanical engineering firm in 1986. During his tenure with IMS, he and his staff designed thousands of new and remodeled building projects. David oversaw a staff of dedicated engineers, designers and draftsman and earned a reputation for performing solid engineering, detailed and accurate plans, and always conducting business in an ethical, professional, and enthusiastic manner. During this time Dave had the opportunity to teach an HVAC design course at University of Colorado – Denver for three years in the mid-1990’s.

After about 3-1/2 decades of mechanical design and engineering, Dave redirected his focus to forensic consulting. He is well suited to this focus, having successfully designed mechanical systems for buildings of nearly every type, purpose, size and complexity. Dave is very detail oriented. He is not opposed to climbing above or below buildings to discover the facts about existing mechanical installations up close. With his vast experience, he understands what he is looking at. Many have appreciated and complemented Dave on his detailed and organized written reports. He provides clear and understandable testimony during depositions or court appearances. He understands the importance of defending all statements and opinions offered within his verbal and written communication.

Dave is quite knowledgeable in the governing building codes and standards – both current editions, and quite often, previous editions. He has performed thousands of building code plan reviews for various city, county and state building departments. David is an ICC certified Mechanical and Plumbing Plans Examiner. He has also performed numerous mechanical peer reviews, carefully reviewing and critiquing work prepared by engineering colleagues in a cooperative and non-threatening manner. His knowledge of mechanical systems and installations makes him well prepared to perform mechanical due diligence building assessments and historic structure assessments.

Dave has given freely of his time and talents to various professional societies and institutions. He is currently a member of ASHRAE, ASPE, ICC and NFPA. These activities broaden his position within the construction industry, and have provided opportunities for seminars, training sessions and networking with colleagues in the Denver and Rocky Mountain Region engineering communities. He has served as a judge for DOE’s semi-annual Solar Decathlon and has acted as a mentor for senior engineering students within their capstone engineering course at CU-Boulder for many years. Dave completed a three-year term as a member of the ASHRAE Board of Directors and was the General Chairman for the 2013 ASHRAE Annual Conference held in Denver. He also was invited and served as a Public Member on the State of Colorado Electric Board for six-years between 2014 and 2019.