PAE Engineers
PAE Engineers is a 405-person sustainable MEP engineering consultancy founded in 1967, designing high-performance mechanical, electrical, plumbing, lighting, and technology systems for healthcare, education, government, and commercial clients across 12 U.S. offices.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1967
- HeadquartersPortland, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What PAE Engineers does
PAE Engineers is a privately held mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and technology engineering design consultancy founded in 1967 in Portland, Oregon, with approximately 405 employees across 12 U.S. offices spanning the West Coast to Boston. The firm specializes in high-performance, sustainable building systems design, including mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, technology, and architectural lighting (LUMA), with deep expertise in Living Building Challenge, Passive House (PHIUS), LEED Platinum, net-zero energy, all-electric, and regenerative design certifications. PAE has engineered 17 Living Buildings, 54 net-zero energy projects, 93 all-electric projects, and 108 LEED Platinum projects, and operates its own certified Living Building headquarters as a working demonstration project.
The firm's core technology includes proprietary methodologies for net-zero water systems, Red List material compliance, and semantic modeling for smart buildings developed in collaboration with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the Linux Foundation, and the Coalition for Smarter Buildings. PAE generates revenue through professional engineering and design consulting fees billed on a project-by-project basis for architectural and construction projects, serving clients across healthcare, higher education, K-12, government/civic, commercial office, laboratories, aviation, housing/hospitality, and mission-critical sectors. Customer concentration spans federal agencies (GSA), municipalities, universities (Georgia Tech, UW, UC Berkeley), nonprofit foundations (Bullitt Foundation, Rocky Mountain Institute), and enterprise clients (Microsoft, Terwilliger Plaza).
In June 2026, Hennick & Company completed a strategic partnership with PAE providing capital for talent, geographic expansion, technology, and acquisitions while preserving PAE's existing leadership and operating model. The firm holds B Corp certification (renewed 2025), JUST 3.0 Label (2025), and is a signatory of the MEP 2040 Challenge, with a self-reported history of carbon neutrality since 2008 and carbon-negative operations since 2019. PAE's go-to-market is enterprise field sales through direct engagement with architects, developers, owners, and government agencies on major construction projects.
PAE Engineers firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- PAE Engineers
- Legal name
- PAE Engineers
- Website
- https://pae-engineers.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1967
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- PAE Engineers is a 405-person sustainable MEP engineering consultancy founded in 1967, designing high-performance mechanical, electrical, plumbing, lighting, and technology systems for healthcare, education, government, and commercial clients across 12 U.S. offices.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
PAE Engineers industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Engineering Consulting Services
- NAICS
- Engineering Services (54133), Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413)
- SIC
- Services-Engineering Services (8711)
- akta.pro primary industry
- MEP (Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing) Engineering Consulting (BPAHAIAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Construction Engineering & Constructability Consulting (BPAHAIAN)
Keywords
Where PAE Engineers is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Portland
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices12 records
Markets served
PAE Engineers business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Engineering and Design Consulting Services: PAE generates revenue through professional engineering and design consulting fees for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, lighting, technology, and fire protection systems design. Projects are typically billed on a fee-per-project basis for architectural/engineering services on construction projects.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Professional engineering consulting services for construction projects |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels7 records
PAE Engineers product offering
Product offeringCore offering
PAE Engineers is a mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineering firm that provides consulting engineering services for commercial, institutional, and mission-critical building projects. The firm specializes in sustainable building design, energy-efficient systems, and integrated engineering solutions. It also offers lighting design and high-performance building systems consulting for architects, developers, and building owners.
Product overview
PAE Engineers is a sustainable building engineering and design firm offering integrated mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineering services alongside specialized consulting practices. The portfolio includes core engineering services (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire Protection, Technology Design), sustainable design consulting (Energy Analysis, Carbon Consulting, Green Building Certification, Distributed Energy Systems, Sustainable District Planning), and specialized offerings including LUMA Lighting Design, the Regenerative Design Group, and Diversity Partnership Program. PAE also operates community programs including the Solar Equity Grant and Diversity in Engineering Scholarship, demonstrating their commitment to extending impact beyond client projects.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) Engineering
Quantifiable outcome
- PAE Living Building achieves 61% energy savings over code and generates 113% of energy needs, with an EUI of 16.2 vs Portland average of 41.5
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use PAE Engineers
Customer profileNamed customers17 records
Segments11 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
PAE Engineers technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability3 records
Feature4 records
PAE Engineers partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.
- Twende SolarcorePartnered with Twende Solar to deliver PAE's first Solar Equity Grant project in Bompaso, Ghana. Twende Solar led a two-week training program for community members on solar and battery system installation and maintenance.
- PACE GhanacorePartnered with PACE Ghana to help close a critical funding gap for the 10 kW off-grid solar PV system with battery storage serving approximately 600 residents in Bompaso, Ghana.
- Linux FoundationstrategicCollaborative research initiative through PAE's internal R&D program to explore open platform capabilities for smart building systems. The project aims to enable seamless communication across building systems (solar, battery, HVAC, water heating) using open, adaptable protocols.
- Coalition for Smarter Buildings (C4SB)strategicResearch collaboration on open smart building platforms enabling interoperable systems for energy optimization in commercial buildings.
- SkycentricsstrategicTechnology partner in open smart building platform research initiative for building automation and energy management systems.
- PadistrategicTechnology partner in smart building interoperability research using open platforms for building systems communication.
- OnumastrategicPartner in R&D initiative to advance open, adaptable platforms for smart building systems using building information modeling and system integration.
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)strategicResearch collaboration to advance semantic modeling approaches that bring clarity to complex building systems, creating machine-readable frameworks for diagnostics, commissioning, and digital twin applications aligned with ASHRAE 223P standards.
- Architecture Foundation of Oregon (AFO)corePartnership with AFO to administer the PAE Diversity in Engineering Scholarship supporting climate-focused engineering students. The scholarship is open to undergraduate students marginalized by ethnicity and/or gender pursuing engineering with passion for climate justice.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
PAE Engineers competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- CannonDesign: CannonDesign is an integrated architecture and engineering firm with deep healthcare, higher education, and science & technology practices. It competes with PAE on large institutional building projects where integrated design and high-performance engineering are required.
- Buro Happold: Buro Happold is a global engineering consultancy with strong sustainability, MEP, and building performance expertise, including net-zero and Living Building work. It is a broader incumbent serving similar institutional and developer clients as PAE Engineers.
- Arup: Arup is a global engineering, design, and consulting firm with strong sustainability credentials and a portfolio of Living Building and net-zero projects. While it operates at much larger scale and broader scope than PAE, it is the most directly comparable broad incumbent on sustainability-led MEP and building services design.
- SmithGroup: SmithGroup is an integrated design firm offering architecture, MEP engineering, planning, and sustainability consulting across healthcare, higher education, and science & technology. Its integrated architecture-plus-engineering model and sustainability portfolio overlap with PAE's sector focus.
Direct peers
- Atelier Ten: Atelier Ten is an MEP engineering consultancy specializing in environmental design, building physics, and high-performance sustainable buildings, including Living Building Challenge work. Its services (mechanical, electrical, plumbing, lighting) and client base (architects, developers, institutions pursuing deep sustainability) are nearly identical to PAE Engineers.
- AKF Group: AKF Group is an MEP, fire protection, and technology engineering firm with offices across the U.S. It serves healthcare, higher education, science/technology, and commercial real estate clients — overlapping directly with PAE's primary segments.
- Affiliated Engineers (AEI): AEI is a nationally recognized MEP engineering design firm serving research, healthcare, higher education, and cultural facilities. Like PAE, AEI competes for large institutional building projects on the basis of technical depth in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems design.
- ME Engineers: ME Engineers is a boutique MEP and audiovisual/technology engineering firm focused on performing arts, cultural, sports, and high-performance commercial buildings. It competes with PAE on MEP-led projects for marquee architects and institutional clients.
- Syska Hennessy Group: Syska Hennessy Group is a national MEP, fire/life safety, and technology engineering consultancy serving healthcare, science & technology, higher education, and mission-critical clients. Its service mix, project types, and target segments are directly comparable to PAE Engineers.
- Introba (formerly Integral Group): Introba is a global MEP and building engineering consulting firm with deep focus on net-zero, Living Building Challenge, and high-performance design. Its project portfolio, sustainability credentials, and integrated MEP + sustainability consulting model closely mirror PAE Engineers' positioning, making it the closest direct comparable.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
PAE Engineers social profiles
Digital presencePAE Engineers compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance6 records
PAE Engineers financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
PAE Engineers leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
PAE Engineers funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
PAE Engineers M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about PAE Engineers
What does PAE Engineers do?
PAE Engineers is a mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineering firm that provides consulting engineering services for commercial, institutional, and mission-critical building projects. The firm specializes in sustainable building design, energy-efficient systems, and integrated engineering solutions. It also offers lighting design and high-performance building systems consulting for architects, developers, and building owners.
Is PAE Engineers a public or private company?
PAE Engineers is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was PAE Engineers founded?
PAE Engineers was founded in 1967. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is PAE Engineers based?
PAE Engineers is headquartered in Portland, United States, in the North America region.
How does PAE Engineers make money?
One revenue line is on record: engineering and Design Consulting Services.
Who are PAE Engineers's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are CannonDesign, Buro Happold, Arup and SmithGroup. Direct peers are Atelier Ten, AKF Group, Affiliated Engineers (AEI), ME Engineers, Syska Hennessy Group and Introba (formerly Integral Group).
Does PAE Engineers have an API?
No public API is recorded for PAE Engineers.
What industry is PAE Engineers in?
PAE Engineers's product category is Engineering Consulting Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAIAE, MEP (Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing) Engineering Consulting, with a secondary code of BPAHAIAN, Construction Engineering & Constructability Consulting. Its NAICS code is 54133 and its SIC code is 8711.