Daniel Colombini

Principal, Multidisciplinary Design Lead, Program Manager including Design-Build, Director of Plumbing & Fire Protection

Dan Colombini is an expert at leading multidisciplinary design initiatives, involving engineering and architecture, among other disciplines. Those initiatives—for commercial and institutional clients—often consist of large-scale programs of multiple projects. For government agencies, they frequently involve the Design-Build approach to project delivery. Most recently, Dan has served as Design Manager for the Design-Build replacement of 19 elevators across eight subway stations for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

Dan has extensive experience working with many of the largest commercial and institutional clients in the Greater New York City area. He manages all mechanical engineering upgrades for Empire State Properties (five million square feet in all) and has been Project Manager for MEP engineering services in numerous historic buildings and cultural institutions. For the MTA, he has designed and implemented projects for the agency itself, including consulting on capital planning, as well as for its subsidiaries, including the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, and New York City Transit.

Dan recently won multiple accolades for his LEED Platinum “Passive House” in Westchester County, NY, including the US Department of Energy’s Blazing the Trail Grand Award. The national award recognizes “the builder with the most innovative use of technologies, materials, sensors, automation, and advanced controls to optimize the performance of the home.”

Dan’s experience grows out of his earlier focus on plumbing and fire protection engineering for which he received national recognition as a member of Building Design + Construction’s 2020 Class of 40 Under 40 and as Plumbing Engineer’s Engineer of the Year in 2018.

Career highlights

​Among other renowned institutions for which Dan has provided engineering services are Carnegie Hall, the Empire State Building, Hospital for Special Surgery, Morgan Library & Museum, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, NYU College of Arts and Science, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Scholastic Inc., the Hudson Theatre (Broadway’s oldest), and the St. James Theatre (long the home to Disney’s blockbuster “Frozen”).

Dan managed Scholastic’s upgrading of its SoHo headquarters buildings (one landmarked; the other by architect Aldo Rossi), and he oversaw the complex fire protection modeling for Audible’s Innovation Cathedral in Newark, NJ. For NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, he designed plumbing and fire protection for a radiation oncology expansion, a gamma knife and nuclear accelerator, medical gas systems for cardiac catheterization, fit-out of a microbiology lab and a genetics lab, and upgrades for eight pharmacy labs and six radiology rooms.

Dan initiated performance-based design at Goldman Copeland and created the firm’s first in-house fire modeling. He has developed creative fire protection and sustainable design solutions for major New York City properties – and some of the city’s most iconic buildings – across a diverse portfolio of projects including new construction, additions, and renovations of office buildings, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, laboratories, performing arts centers, and historic structures.

He uses performance-based design and computer-based fire modeling to prove the suitability of innovative designs to preserve and sustain historic properties. Performance-based – rather than regulation-based – design is typically allowed by building codes but often overlooked. Computer-based fire modeling enables specific fire scenarios to be anticipated and addressed, giving all stakeholders a better understanding of possibilities to be prevented. Together these approaches represent a major advance in fire protection engineering, addressing both “passive” fire protection (how a building is constructed) and “active” protection (systems that respond to fire). The two approaches have special importance to historic buildings, whose key aesthetic features may only be saved by such innovative approaches.

Dan has championed and advanced energy sustainability in his home county of Westchester, NY. He is a member of the Village of Croton-on-Hudson’s Sustainability Committee, which was chartered to help reduce the climate impacts of the Village’s municipal operations. Croton-on-Hudson was recently named one of the 10 greenest, eco-friendly towns and cities in New York, and cited for leading in green energy initiatives. Dan was recently recognized by the local State Senator and State Representative for his leadership on these initiatives.

Dan recently oversaw the design and construction of his family’s new home, the first LEED Platinum “Passive House” in New York State. The single-family three-bedroom house in Ossining, NY, is also “Zero Energy” – as certified by the US Department of Energy – and is both net zero and carbon neutral, including the home’s energy consumption and electric vehicle charging. The award-winning house offers a new model for sustainable, energy-efficient, and cost-effective residences and has been recognized by the US Department of Energy, Westchester County Office of the Executive, Westchester County Department of Environmental Facilities, City & State New York, and Green Builder magazine.

Education
  • BS – Mechanical Engineering, University of Vermont
  • MS – Fire Protection Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic
Licenses and Certifications
  • Professional Engineer
  • LEED Accredited Professional
  • AEE Certified Energy Manager
  • Design Build Institute of America Designated Design-Build Professional
Memberships and Affiliations
  • Croton on Hudson Sustainability Committee
  • American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), Fire Protection Code Committee
  • ACEC NY Legislative Committee
  • Society of Fire Protection Engineers
  • National Fire Protection Association
  • American Society of Plumbing Engineers
  • ASHRAE
  • Design Build Institute of America
Awards and Recognitions
  • City & State New York – Trailblazers in Clean Energy (2025)
  • Green Builder Magazine – Green Builder’s Green Home of the Year: Above and Beyond: Net Zero Plus Energy Award (2025)
  • Westchester County Office of the Executive, Certificate of Achievement (2025)
  • Westchester County Department of Environmental Facilities EcoAward (2025)
  • US Department of Energy – Blazing the Trail Grand Award (2024)
  • US Department of Energy – Housing Innovation Award (2024)
  • Building Design + Construction: Class of 40 Under 40 (2020)
  • Plumbing Engineer: Engineer of the Year (2018)
Published Commentaries
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