Les Norford
Professor, Building Technology
Norford specializes in energy studies, controls, and ventilation and is seeking to improve the way buildings use the earth’s resources. With Tabors Caramanis and Associates, he consults in the areas of electric utility energy conservation, electricity pricing, and control of thermal storage systems. Before his appointment to the school’s faculty in 1988, Norford was for four years a lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. At that time he was a research engineer at the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Princeton University. From 1974 to 1979 he was a nuclear power engineer with the US Navy and the US Department of Energy.
Among his recent publications are "Electronic Office Equipment: The Impact of Market Trends and Technology on End-Use Demand for Electricity," in L. K. Norford, A. Rabl, J. Harris, and J. Roturier, eds., Electricity: Efficient End-Use and New Generation Technologies and Their Planning Implications (Lund University Press, 1989); "Peak Load Reduction by Preconditioning Buildings at Night," with A. Rabl, in Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Symposium on Improving Building Energy Efficiency in Hot and Humid Climates (Houston, 1988); and "Fan Energy Savings: Analysis of a Variable Speed Drive Retrofit," with S. Englander, in Proceedings of the 1988 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings (Pacific Grove, CA, 1988).
Norford earned his BS in engineering science from Cornell University in 1973 and his PhD in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University in 1984. As a graduate student, he received the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni Award for outstanding teaching. He is a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Airconditioning Engineers.
