Leslie Norford is the George Macomber (1948) Professor in Construction
Management in the Department of Architecture at MIT. His research
focuses on reducing building energy use and associated resource
consumption and carbon emissions and his teaching includes project-based
efforts to improve schools in developing countries and promote the use
of simulation-enhanced building design workflows. He has developed fault
detection and optimal control strategies for HVAC equipment and
conducted measurement campaigns and numerical analyses of building
energy consumption in Russia, China, Pakistan, the UK and Norway. The
ongoing research of his group in the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research
and Technology (SMART) includes measurements and models of urban
microc limates, with a focus on identifying strategies to reduce the
urban heat island effect and improve urban air quality. Working with
mechanical and electrical engineering students at MIT, he is identifying
how control of HVAC systems can help electric utilities mitigate the
impact of power fluctuations associated with wind and PV systems through
provision of such services as power reserves and frequency regulation.
This event is related to:
Architectural Design Program
Sustainable Design and Construction Programs