Papers of George O.G. Lof

George O.G. Lof was a pioneer in solar research and its applications. Lof founded the Solar Energy Applications Laboratory at Colorado State University in 1972.

George Lof was born in Aspen, Colorado, on December 13, 1913, and later moved to Denver with his family. He earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Denver, and his master's and doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lof first became involved with solar energy while at MIT. He married Laura Davadell Scobey and had three children.

Beginning in the 1940s, his career in solar thermal, building analysis, and HVAC systems earned him worldwide recognition as one of the early leaders of solar research. In 1957, he built the first solar heating system for his own residence in Denver. Lof joined Colorado State University part-time in 1967 and was appointed as a faculty member in the Department of Civil Engineering in 1971. In 1972, he founded the Solar Energy Applications Laboratory (SEAL) on the Foothills Campus. SEAL was established to carry out experiments in solar heating and cooling of buildings and solar water heating. When the lab's first structure, Solar House I, was built in 1974, it was the first house in the world engineered to be both heated and cooled with solar energy. Lof retired from CSU in 1987, but maintained his connections to campus by serving as senior adviser to SEAL and part-time instructor in civil engineering.

Lof was a consultant for the United Nations, the State Department, and various organizations. He was involved in exchange programs and projects in the former Soviet Union, China, Poland, Israel, Libya, Australia, and South Africa. In addition to solar energy conversion, his specialties included fluid mechanics, hydraulics, sanitary engineering, environmental engineering, and water desalting. He served as board member and president (1973-1975) of the International Solar Energy Society and on the board of the American Solar Energy Society.

In addition to CSU, Lof taught at the University of Denver, where he directed the Industrial Research Institute, and at the University of Wisconsin. Outside of academia, he designed, manufactured, and installed home solar heating systems for the Solaron Corp. George Lof died on October 12, 2009.