“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.”
– George Bernard Shaw
Related:
 
    “There is no love sincerer than the love of food.”
– George Bernard Shaw
Related:
Current Referenda | Ballotpedia
Perspective:
“The cure for high prices, is high prices” — They say.
Today we explore fiscal runaway in the US education “industry” with particular interest in the financing instruments for building the real assets that are the beating heart of culture in neighborhoods, cities, counties and states. We steer clear of social and political issues. The marketing of these projects — and how the loans are paid off — provides insight into the costs and benefits of this $100+ billion industry; the largest non-residential building construction market in the United States.
We cannot do much to stop the hyperbolically rising cost of administrative functionaries but we can force the incumbents we describe in our ABOUT to work a little harder to reduce un-used (or un-useable) space and reduce maintenance cost. Sometimes simple questions result in obvious answers that result in significant savings.
More recently hybrid teaching and learning space, owing the the circumstances of the pandemic, opens new possibilities for placing downward pressure on cost.
Regulation or Money-Laundering?
After Architect-Engineers and Building Construction Contractors (many of whom finance election advocacy enterprises) the following organizations are involved in placing a bond on the open market:
These organizations collectively contribute to the process of issuing, selling, and managing school and university bonds in the United States, allowing educational institutions to raise the necessary funds for their capital projects and operations. The specific entities involved may vary depending on the size and location of the educational institution and the nature of the bond issuance.
Bond issuances affect local property values.
We track action in the catalog of this consortia standards developer because we continually seek ways to avoid spending a dollar to save a dime; characteristic of an industry that is a culture more than it is a business.
While not an ANSI accredited the FASB/GASB standards setting enterprise’s due process requirements (balance, open-ness, appeal, etc.)* are “ANSI-like” and widely referenced in education enterprise management best practice. Recent action in its best practice bibliography is listed below
ACCOUNTING STANDARDS UPDATES ISSUED
For obvious reasons, we have an interest in its titles relevant to Not-For-Profit Entities
WHAT IS THE FASB NOT-FOR-PROFIT ENTITY TEAM
Inside the latest PCC meeting: a closer look at what’s shaping the Council’s current priorities. 🎥 Watch the update: https://t.co/VZ02TZwcVu
— FASB, GASB, and FAF (@FAFNorwalk) October 28, 2025
 
At present the non-profit titles are stable with the 2020 revision.  That does not mean there is not work than can be done.  Faculty and students may be interested in the FASG program linked below:
Also, the “Accounting for Environmental Credit Programs”, last updated in January, may interest colleges and universities with energy and sustainability curricula. You may track progress at the link below:
EXPOSURE DOCUMENTS OPEN FOR COMMENT
We encourage our colleagues to communicate directly with the FASB on any issue (Click here). Other titles in the FASB/GASB best practice bibliography are a standing item on our Finance colloquia; open to everyone. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.








Issue: [15-190]
Category: Finance, Administration & Management, Facility Asset Management
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben
What do you think: Do investors need a clearer picture of non-financial donations made to not-for-profits?#FASB needs your feedback to help help the Board determine how to move forward. Share your thoughts by April 10.#giftsinkind #charitablegivinghttps://t.co/MBMhEOFUlE pic.twitter.com/o4pdMC0yXq
— FASB, GASB, and FAF (@FAFNorwalk) March 31, 2020
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, or simply the Carnegie Classification, is the framework for classifying colleges and universities in the United States. Created in 1970, it is named after and was originally created by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, but responsibility for the Carnegie Classification was transferred to Indiana University‘s Center for Postsecondary Research, in 2014.
The framework primarily serves educational and research purposes, where it is often important to identify groups of roughly comparable institutions. The classification includes all accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities in the United States that are represented in the National Center for Education Statistics Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education ®
Pumpkin Research at Ohio State University
Ex-Google CEO: What Artificial Superintelligence Will Actually Look Like
Trending | Engagements, Weddings & Births | Sport News | Carillons
100 years ago, the Supreme Court made it clear in Pierce v. Society of Sisters: raising children is the responsibility of parents, not the government.
100 years later, the Trump Administration remains committed to protecting parental rights. pic.twitter.com/yduXdLShty
— Secretary Linda McMahon (@EDSecMcMahon) June 1, 2025
“…O chestnut tree;, great rooted blossomer,
Are you the leaf, the blossom or the bold?
O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?”
— Among Schoolchildren, 1933 William Butler Yeats
We sweep through the world’s three major time zones; updating our understanding of the literature at the technical foundation of education community safety and sustainability in those time zones 24 times per day. We generally eschew “over-coding” web pages to sustain speed, revision cadence and richness of content as peak priority. We do not provide a search facility because of copyrights of publishers and time sensitivity of almost everything we do.
Readings:
“The Advancement of Learning” Francis Bacon (1605)
“The Allegory of the Cave” 380 BCE | Plato’s Republic, Book VII
Thucydides: Pericles’ Funeral Oration
IEEE Access: Advanced Deep Learning Models for 6G: Overview, Opportunities, and Challenges | Xidian University
“Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination” (2002) Peter Ackroyd
“Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” Satoshi Nakamoto
“Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” (1841) | Charles Mackay
Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Study of Mind
“Kant’s Categorical Imperative” | Hillsdale College Introduction to Western Philosophy
“The Natural History of Stupidity” (1959) Paul Tabori
“The College Idea: Andrew Delbanco” Lapham’s Quarterly
Distributed Representations of Words and Phrases and their Compositionality | Google, Inc. et, al
Our daily colloquia are typically doing sessions; with non-USA titles receiving priority until 16:00 UTC and all other titles thereafter. We assume policy objectives are established (Safer-Simpler-Lower-Cost, Longer-Lasting). Because we necessarily get into the weeds, and because much of the content is time-sensitive and copyright protected, we usually schedule a separate time slot to hammer on technical specifics so that our response to consultations are meaningful and contribute to the goals of the standards developing organization and to the goals of stewards of education community real assets — typically the largest real asset owned by any US state and about 50 percent of its annual budget.

1. Leviathan. We track noteworthy legislative proposals in the United States 118th Congress. Not many deal specifically with education community real assets since the relevant legislation is already under administrative control of various Executive Branch Departments such as the Department of Education.
We do not advocate in legislative activity at any level. We respond to public consultations but there it ends.
We track federal legislative action because it provides a stroboscopic view of the moment — the “national conversation”– in communities that are simultaneously a business and a culture. Even though more than 90 percent of such proposals are at the mercy of the party leadership the process does enlighten the strengths and weakness of a governance system run entirely through the counties on the periphery of Washington D.C. It is impossible to solve technical problems in facilities without sensitivity to the zietgeist that has accelerated in education communities everywhere.
Michigan can 100% water and feed itself. Agriculture is its second-largest industry.
2. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
3. American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
4. Fast Forward
5. Rewind
6. Corrigenda
“The world will never starve for want of wonders;
but only for want of wonder.”
The post-pandemic #WiseCampus transformation requires significant capital to meet the sustainability goals of its leadership. Campuses are cities-within-cities and are, to a fair degree, financed in a similar fashion. Tax-free bonds are an effective instrument for school districts, colleges and universities — and the host community in which they are nested — for raising capital for infrastructure projects while also providing investors with, say $10,000 to $100,000, to allocate toward a tax-free dividend income stream that produces a return in the range of 2 to 8 percent annually.
An aging population may be receptive to investment opportunities that protect their retirement savings from taxation.
Curious about the municipal bond market? Check out the MSRB’s new resource “Municipal Market Basics” to start your journey through the MSRB’s newly updated Education Center: https://t.co/BIMBxWpKGkhttps://t.co/PLhtaXzdD9 pic.twitter.com/FVARkkYZAD
— MSRB (@MSRB_News) November 28, 2023
Once a month, we walk through the prospectuses of one or two bond offerings of school districts, colleges and universities and examine offering specifics regarding infrastructure construction, operations and maintenance. We pay particular attention to details regarding “continuing operations”. Somehow the education industry has to pay for its green agenda. See our CALENDAR for the next Finance colloquium; open to everyone.
The interactive map provided by Electronic Municipal Market Access identifies state-by-state listings of tax-free bonds that contribute to the construction and operation of education facilities; some of which involved university-affiliated medical research and healthcare delivery enterprises.
If you need help cutting through this list please feel free to click in any day at 11 AM Eastern time. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our hope page. We collaborate with subject matter experts at Municipal Analytics and UBS.
Issue: [Various]
Category: Administration & Management, Finance, #SmartCampus
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, John Kaczor, Liberty Ziegahn
*We see the pandemic as a driver for a step-reduction in cost in all dimensions of education communities. We coined the term with a hashtag about two years ago.
*College and university infrastructure projects are classified with public school districts under the rubric “municipal bonds” at the moment. CLICK HERE for more information.
Good question. pic.twitter.com/FtW0eSaQs7
— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) January 27, 2025
More:
Duke Law Review: Don’t ‘Screw Joe the Plummer’: The Sausage-Making of Financial Reform
Gallery: School Bond Referenda
As of January 2022, there were a few municipalities in the United States that allowed non-citizens to vote in local elections, but no entire states. These municipalities included:
San Francisco, California: Non-citizens are allowed to vote in school board elections.
Chicago, Illinois: Non-citizens are allowed to vote in school board elections.
Takoma Park, Maryland: Non-citizens are allowed to vote in local elections.
It’s worth noting that these policies may change over time as local governments make decisions regarding voting rights. For the most up-to-date information, it’s best to consult the specific laws and regulations of each municipality or state.
School bond elections — either at county or district level — are processes through which communities vote to authorize the issuance of bonds to fund various projects and improvements in their local school districts. The elections determine the quality of educational settlements –new school buildings, renovating existing facilities, upgrading technology, and improving safety measures. The outcomes of these elections directly affect the quality of education and learning environments for students within the county. Successful bond measures can stimulate economic growth by creating jobs and attracting families to the area.
Community involvement and voter turnout are essential in determining the allocation of resources and shaping the quality of life for its citizens. In recent years, however, voter ambivalence about the education “industry” in general, the rise of home schooling and other cultural factors, complicate choices presented to voters.
“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena,
it will make more progress in one decade
than in all the previous centuries of existence.”
| 
 
 | 
University of Michigan Student IEEE Chapter received Honorable Mention at Michigan State University October 18th at the IEEE Regional Michigan Meeting
University of Michigan Student Chapter to receive Outstanding Chapter Award at Michigan State University | October 18 (East Lansing)
IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee October 14 Agenda Ω Electrical Power System Research
NFPA Electrical Standards Landing Page Ω NFPA Standards Council Ω NFPA Fire Safety Landing Page
ASHRAE Landing Page | Soon: ASTM Electrical & Telecommunication Standard Development
Draft IEEE Paper Abstracts | Mike Anthony Short Biography | Electrical Industrial Conglomerates
We examine the proposals for the 2028 National Electrical Safety Code; including our own. The 2026 National Electrical Code where sit on CMP-15 overseeing health care facility electrical issues should be released any day now. We have one proposal on the agenda of the International Code Council’s Group B Committee Action Hearings in Cleveland in October. Balloting on the next IEEE Gold Book on reliability should begin.
Policy:
OUTERNET: Crossing over data gap using cubesats
Department of Energy Portfolio Analysis & Management System
Department of Energy Building Technologies Office
FERC Open Meetings | (Note that these ~60 minute sessions meet Sunshine Act requirements. Our interest lies one or two levels deeper into the technicals underlying the administrivia)
| Federal Energy Regulatory Commission | Federal Communication Commission | Michigan Public Service Commission | 
| August 7 Open Meeting | ||
| July 24 Open Meeting | July 25 Open Meeting | |
| June 16 Open Meeting | January 22: Newly Appointed FCC Chairman Announces Staff Changes | June 12 Open Meeting | 
| May 15 Open Meeting | May 15 Open Meeting | |
| April 17 Open Meeting | April 24 Open Meeting | |
| March 20 Open Meeting | ||
| February 20 FERC Open Meeting | March 3 Open Meeting | |
| January 16 FERC Press Conference | February 27, 2025 Open Meeting | |
January 23: NARUC Congratulates New FERC, FCC and NRC Chairs
January 22: Newly Appointed FCC Chairman Announces Staff Changes | Related: Falsus in uno, Falsus in omnibus
January 6: City of Ann Arbor Postpones Phase II Study to Municipalize DTE Energy distribution grid
January 27, 10 AM Low-Income Energy Policy Board Meeting: Michigan Public Service commission
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: January 16, 2025 Open Meeting
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Notice of Request for Comments (Posted November 25, 2024)
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission | November 21, Open Meeting
Michigan Public Service Commission Meetings
Michigan Public Commission Meeting February 27, 2025
MPSC DTE CMS Electric Power Reliability Case No. U-21305
Michigan Electrical Administrative Board Meeting February 13, 2025
FCC Open Meeting | November 21
Technical: (Also Electrical Power System Research)
Empower Pre-Trained Large Language Models for Building-Level Load Forecasting
Uptime Institute (via NEXT DC) : AI Inference in the Data Center
Majorana Nanowires for Topological Quantum Computing
Linearized Data Center Workload and Cooling Management
Oxford Researchers Discovered How to Use AI To Learn Like A Genius
Lex Fridman: DeepSeek, China, OpenAI, NVIDIA, xAI, TSMC, Stargate, and AI Megaclusters
IEEE: Experts Weigh in on $500B Stargate Project for AI
IEEE: AI Mistakes Are Very Different Than Human Mistakes . We need new security systems designed to deal with their weirdness
High-Performance Tensor Learning Primitives Using GPU Tensor Cores
Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York
Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei City, Taiwan
First Draft Proposals contain most of our proposals — and most new (original) content. We will keep the transcripts linked below but will migrate them to a new page starting 2025:
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-1
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-2
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-4
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-5
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-10
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-11
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-12
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-13
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-15
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-16
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-18
Related:
N.B. We are in the process of migrating electric power system research to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers bibliographic format.
Recap of the May meetings of the Industrial & Commercial Power Systems Conference in Las Vegas. The conference ended the day before the beginning of the 3-day Memorial Day weekend in the United States so we’re pressed for time; given all that happened.
We can use our last meeting’s agenda to refresh the status of the issues.
IEEE E&H Draft Agenda 28 May 2024
On site conference agenda:
IEEE E&H Conference Agenda 21 May 2024
We typically break down our discussion into the topics listed below:
Codes & Standards:
While IAS/I&CPS has directed votes on the NEC; Mike is the only I&CPS member who is actually submitting proposals and responses to codes and standards developers to the more dominant SDO’s — International Code Council, ASHRAE International, UL, ASTM International, IEC & ISO. Mike maintains his offer to train the next generation of “code writers and vote getters”
Performance-based building premises feeder design has been proposed for the better part of ten NEC revision cycles. The objective of these proposals is to reduce material, labor and energy waste owed to the branch and feeder sizing rules that are prescriptive in Articles 210-235. Our work in service and lighting branch circuit design has been largely successful. A great deal of building interior power chain involves feeders — the network upstream from branch circuit panels but down stream from building service panel.
Our history of advocating for developing this approach, inspired by the NFPA 101 Guide to Alternative Approaches to Life Safety, and recounted in recent proposals for installing performance-based electrical feeder design into the International Building Code, appears in the link below:
Access to this draft paper for presentation at any conference that will receive it — NFPA, ICC or IEEE (or even ASHRAE) will be available for review at the link below:
Toward Performance-Based Building Premise Feeder Design
NFPA 110 Definitions of Public Utility v. Merchant Utility
NFPA 72 “Definition of Dormitory Suite” and related proposals
Buildings:
Renovation economics, Smart contracts in electrical construction. UMich leadership in aluminum wiring statements in the NEC should be used to reduce wiring costs.
Copper can’t be mined fast enough to electrify the United States
Daleep asked Mike to do a Case Study session on the NEC lighting power density change (NEC 220-14) for the IAS Annual Meeting in October. Mike agreed.
Exterior Campus & Distribution:
Illumination. Gary Fox reported that IEEE 3001.9 was endorsed as an ANSI accredited standard for illumination systems.
2024-ICPSD24-0012 PERMANENT DESIGN OF POWER SYSTEMS Parise
This paper details primary considerations in estimating the life cycle of a campus medium voltage distribution grid. Some colleges and universities are selling their entire power grid to private companies. Mike has been following these transactions but cannot do it alone.
Variable Architecture Multi-Island Microgrids
District energy:
Generator stator winding failures and implications upon insurance premiums. David Shipp and Sergio Panetta. Mike suggests more coverage of retro-fit and lapsed life cycle technicals for insurance companies setting premiums.
Reliability:
Bob Arno’s leadership in updating the Gold Book.
Mike will expand the sample set in Table 10-35, page 293 from the <75 data points in the 1975 survey to >1000 data points. Bob will set up meeting with Peyton at US Army Corps of Engineers.
Reliability of merchant utility distribution systems remains pretty much a local matter. The 2023 Edition of the NESC shows modest improvement in the vocabulary of reliability concepts. For the 2028 Edition Mike submitted several proposals to at least reference IEEE titles in the distribution reliability domain. It seems odd (at least to Mike) that the NESC committees do not even reference IEEE technical literature such as Bob’s Gold Book which has been active for decades. Mike will continue to propose changes in other standards catalogs — such as ASTM, ASHRAE and ICC — which may be more responsive to best practice assertions. Ultimately, improvements will require state public utility commission regulations — and we support increases in tariffs so that utilities can afford these improvements.
Mike needs help from IEEE Piscataway on standard WordPress theme limitations for the data collection platform.
Mike will update the campus power outage database.
Healthcare:
Giuseppe Parise’s recent work in Italian power grid to its hospitals, given its elevated earthquake risk. Mike’s review of Giuseppe’s paper:
Harvard Business School: Journal of Healthcare Management Standards
Mike and David Shipp will prepare a position paper for the Harvard Healthcare Management Journal on reliability advantages of impedance grounding for the larger systems.
The Internet of Bodies
Forensics:
Giuseppe’s session was noteworthy for illuminating the similarity and differences between the Italian and US legal system in handling electrotechnology issues.
Mike will restock the committee’s library of lawsuits transactions.
Ports:
Giuseppe updates on the energy and security issues of international ports. Mike limits his time in this committee even though the State of Michigan has the most fresh water international ports in the world.
A PROPOSED GUIDE FOR THE ENERGY PLAN AND ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF A PORT
Other:
Proposals to the 2028 National Electrical Safety Code: Accepted Best Practice, exterior switchgear guarding, scope expansion into ICC and ASHRAE catalog,
Apparently both the Dot Standards and the Color Books will continue parallel development. Only the Gold Book is being updated; led by Bob Arno. Mike admitted confusion but reminded everyone that any references to IEEE best practice literature in the NFPA catalog, was installed Mike himself (who would like some backup help)
Papers in Process:
Impedance Grounding Papers 1 and 2 with David Shipp. Previous Discussion:
https://ieeetv.ieee.org/channels/ieee-region-events/uc-berkeley-s-medium-voltage-grounding-system
Over Coffee and Beers:
Mike assured Christel Hunter (General Cable) that his proposals for reducing the 180 VA per-outlet requirements, and the performance-base design allowance for building interior feeders do not violate the results of the Neher-McGrath calculation used for conductor sizing. All insulation and conducting material thermal limits are unaffected.
Other informal discussions centered on the rising cost of copper wiring and the implications for the global electrotechnical transformation involving the build out of quantum computing and autonomous vehicles. Few expressed optimism that government ambitions for the same could be met in any practical way.
Are students avoiding use of Chat GPT for energy conservation reasons? Mike will be breaking out this topic for a dedicated standards inquiry session:
Workspace IEEE 1366: Guide for Electric Power Distribution Reliability Indices
Largest U.S. Electric Utility Companies Ranked by Generation Capacity For IEEE 493 update we seek outage data from the 100 largest campus power system experts.
Today we refresh our understanding of energy-related best practice literature according to the topical tranches we have deployed since 2023:
Energy 200: Codes and standards for building premise energy systems. (Electrical, heating and cooling of the building envelope)
Energy 300: Codes and standards that support the energy systems required for information and communication technology
IEEE Energy Efficiency in Data Centers
ISO/IEC 30134 Series | CENELEC EN 50600 Series
ASHRAE 90.4 Energy Standard for Data Centers
ENERGY STAR Data Center Storage
European Code of Conduct for Data Centres Energy Efficiency
TIA-942 Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers
BICSI 002: Data Center Design and Implementation Best Practices, including energy management
Uptime Institute Annual Global Data Center Survey
Energy 400: Codes and standards for energy systems between campus buildings. (District energy systems including interdependence with electrical and water supply)
A different “flavor of money” runs through each of these domains and this condition is reflected in best practice discovery and promulgation. Energy 200 is less informed by tax-free (bonded) money than Energy 400 titles.
Some titles cover safety and sustainability in both interior and exterior energy domains so we simply list them below:
ASME A13.1 – 20XX, Scheme for the Identification of Piping Systems | Consultation closes 6/20/2023
ASME Boiler Pressure Vessel Code
ASME BPVC Codes & Standards Errata and Notices
ASHRAE International 90.1 — Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings
2018 International Green Construction Code® Powered by Standard 189.1-2017
NFPA 855 Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems
IEEE Electrical energy technical literature
ASTM Energy & Utilities Overview
Underwriters Laboratories Energy and Utilities
There are other ad hoc and open-source consortia that occupy at least a niche in this domain. All of the fifty United States and the Washington DC-based US Federal Government throw off public consultations routinely and, of course, a great deal of faculty interest lies in research funding.
Please join our daily colloquia using the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
ICYMI – here is our 50th anniversary lecture from Professor Helen Thompson on the 1970s energy crises and what we can learn from it, with some great questions from our audience! https://t.co/9XUqc3fx5f pic.twitter.com/zHvqY8HYL1
— Clare College (@ClareCollege) March 9, 2023
More
United States Department of Energy
International Energy Agency World Energy Outlook 2022
International Standardization Organization
Energy and heat transfer engineering in general
Economics of Energy, Volume: 4.9 Article: 48 , James L. Sweeney, Stanford University
Helmholtz and the Conservation of Energy, By Kenneth L. Caneva, MIT Press
NRG Provides Strategic Update and Announces New Capital Allocation Framework at 2023 Investor Day
From our video archive:
Ask me why pic.twitter.com/zQIpuI7vCh
— Grace S. Vanderhei (@GraceMVanderhei) August 23, 2023
New update alert! The 2022 update to the Trademark Assignment Dataset is now available online. Find 1.29 million trademark assignments, involving 2.28 million unique trademark properties issued by the USPTO between March 1952 and January 2023: https://t.co/njrDAbSpwB pic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
— USPTO (@uspto) July 13, 2023
Standards Michigan Group, LLC
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Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA
888-746-3670
