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Chapter Member Spotlight - Doug Simpson, PE

This month I would like to share about Doug Simpson, PE, another one of our senior chapter members and also my good friend. 

Doug is the retired former president of United Engineering Group (acquired by McKim & Creed in 2013).  United Engineering was known for its high-quality engineering work on many high-profile projects across our region.  Doug is very well known for the number, variety, and complexity of engineering projects he has designed over his 50+ year career.  These projects have spanned across many diverse types including educational, religious, logistical, commercial, and institutional projects with every imaginable mechanical systems type. 

Mr. Simpson designed schools for 5 counties in North Carolina.  His primary design goal beyond the essential goal of occupant comfort was energy efficiency.  One school, in Enka, NC (in the mountains near Asheville) had as their goal to create the most efficient school in the system.  This was accomplished by reclaiming passive solar heat gain from vaulted ceilings in south-facing corridors in the winter and using that heat to warm the classrooms and other adjacent areas.  The energy consumption was monitored, and the result was energy costs that were 15% less than the next most efficient Buncombe County school on a cost-per-square-foot basis.  This project also incorporated light shelves to utilize daylighting for the classrooms.  The design is notable because it was commissioned in 1986 – prior to the state’s adoption of ASHRAE 90.1.

Doug has had a substantial impact on the HVAC industry, having designed many hundreds of buildings with all types of Heating and Air Conditioning systems, always using ASHRAE criteria.  Having experienced the energy crisis of the early 1970’s, he employed energy efficiency practices in his designs before standards addressing energy efficiency were commonly used in our industry.

Another significant contribution Mr. Simpson has made to advance the art of HVAC&R was his work as one of 12 members on the Energy Ad-Hoc Committee of the North Carolina Building Code Council that produced North Carolina’s first energy code.  Again, this was prior to NC’s adoption of the ASHRAE 90.1 standard.

Designing hundreds of successful projects that include a variety of HVAC system types over the span of one’s career is an admirable accomplishment in itself, but Doug has also been very successful in passing along his knowledge and belief in the value of ASHRAE standards, guidelines, and society participation to young engineers. 

Many of these young people are now licensed engineers responsible for excellent HVAC designs which utilize ASHRAE criteria.  Doug has truly passed the torch of ASHRAE.

Next time you see Doug at an ASHRAE meeting, extend your hand and say hello to this local chapter icon.