Shetland recently lost one of her most talented sons when George Henderson B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc died peacefully in St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK, after a short illness. He had a distinguished career in physics and instrumentation, becoming a world authority on energy use in buildings. The results of his work are now becoming increasingly important in the light of the rising price of energy and environmental concerns such as global warming.

George Henderson was the eldest of three children of Maud and the late James Henderson of Longfield, Dunrossness. He grew up in Shetland and attended the Anderson High School before going to the University of Aberdeen in 1963 to study Physics or ‘Natural Philosophy’ as it was then known. He was a gifted student and graduated B.Sc. with First Class Honours in 1967. He was invited to stay on for a further year to complete a M.Sc. in ‘Principles of Instrument Design.’ This was a new course that had been established by the head of department, Prof R.V. Jones whose teaching of instrumentation was to prove invaluable to George in his subsequent career.

After university, George moved to St Albans and worked for Marconi Instruments for a number of years before joining the instrumentation section of the Building Research Establishment (BRE) at Garston. He was involved in pioneering work on measuring the energy efficiency of buildings and went on to develop a Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) that is now carried out on all newly built homes in the UK. In recognition of the importance of this work, George and two colleagues were awarded the Esso Energy Award by The Royal Society in 1995.

George was very active in Europe and was one of the founder members of the eceee. After having served on the board, he was a highly regarded member of the group’s advisory committee. When eceee opened up for individual memberships in 1999, George was the very first person to sign up.

Apart from his technical skills, his people skills were highly valued by all who worked with him. He was a quiet, sensitive and very modest person - a typical Shetlander. He was an excellent mentor, particularly good at helping those who were struggling. He was active in the social side of BRE, taking part in sports such as running, football, table tennis and volleyball.

George is survived by his wife Kay (also from Shetland) daughter Anne, son John, daughter-in-law Alma and granddaughter Kaira.

A large congregation of family, friends and former colleagues attended his funeral on 17 August at Garston, close to BRE. George asked for his ashes to be scattered in Colsay Sound, thereby completing the circle back to Shetland, the place that he held so dear.

J.T.M. Stevenson