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Birds of a Feather Flourish Together
Development and Preliminary Validation of the Lovebird Scale
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@UAZPublicHealth held its inaugural Public Health & AI Summer School starting June 9, a four-day program featuring workshops and hands-on training on how AI can be applied in public health. More: https://t.co/mUQ16pSroF pic.twitter.com/iufHjlsnCQ
— University of Arizona Health Sciences (@UAZHealth) June 27, 2025
Graduation, Dating, Engagements, Weddings, Births & Obituaries
Commercial Cooking Operations
Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations
Food Science & Technology | University of California Davis
We’ll be getting down into the weeds today; starting with these transcripts:
First Draft Public Input Report
Second Draft Public Comment Report
Related:
More than 4,000 cadets gather for lunch inside Mitchell Hall at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., Aug. 10, 2009. A staff of 200 food service professionals prepare nearly 13,000 meals per day for cadets throughout the academic year. (U.S. Air Force photo/Ann Patton)
Elevators & Lifts
The first elevator in the United States was installed at Harvard University in 1874. It was not a passenger elevator as we typically think of today, but rather a freight elevator used to move heavy items within a building. The installation of this elevator marked an important development in building technology and transportation within multi-story structures. It was based on the design of Elisha Otis, who is famous for inventing the safety elevator with a safety brake system that prevents the elevator from falling if the hoisting cable fails. Otis’ innovation played a pivotal role in making elevators safe and practical for everyday use, leading to their widespread adoption in buildings around the world.
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Elevator design by the German engineer Konrad Kyeser (1405)
Education communities are stewards of 100’s of lifts, elevators and moving walks. At the University of Michigan, there are the better part of 1000 of them; with 19 of them in Michigan Stadium alone. The cost of building them — on the order of $50,000 to $150,000 per floor depending upon architectural styling — and the highly trained staff needed to operate, maintain and program interoperability software is another cost that requires attention. All building design and construction disciplines — architectural, mechanical and electrical have a hand in making this technology safe and sustainabile.
We start with international and nationally developed best practice literature and work our way to state level adaptations. Labor for this technology is heavily regulated.
Its a rarefied and crazy domain for the user-interest. Expertise is passionate about safety and idiosyncratic but needs to be given the life safety hazard. Today we review o pull together public consultation notices on relevant codes, standards and regulations today 11 AM/EDT.
Московский государственный университет имени
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NFPA 70 Article 620 Elevators, etc.
NEC Article 620 | David Herres
International Building Code Chapter 30: Elevators and Conveying Systems
Inside Higher Ed: Tragedy in an Elevator
University of Michigan Elevator Recall Control Wiring Schematic
University of Michigan Elevator Shaft Lighting Schematic
Lifts, escalators & moving walks
At the 1853 New York World’s Fair Elisha Otis amazed a crowd when he ordered the only rope holding the platform on which he was standing cut by an axeman. The platform fell only a few inches before coming to a halt; thus proving the safety locking mechanism he had invented will work. These elevators quickly became the type in most common usage and made vertical living possible.
Elisha Graves Otis shows his first elevator in the Crystal Palace, New York City, 1853. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS
Most large research universities have 100 – 1000 elevators that are highly regulated, maintained by highly regulated service personnel and inspected by highly trained conformance operatives; thus our primary interest in state-specific regulations. We have a secondary interest in innovation in the technology generally. Many sustainability goals urged in academic circles — which include greater population density in smaller areas — are challenged by mobility issues.
From the project prospectus:
“…The main feature of these products is that they are an integral part of industrial, residential or public buildings. Consequently, they should be adaptable to the technical and architectural constraints of such buildings. They must also meet the capacity requirements imposed by the intended use of the building. These products are considered as means of transport and therefore represent an essential component of the functional life of the buildings in which they are installed. Contrary to most public means of transport, they are intended for free use and operation by their passengers, which makes the integration of safety an essential concern…”
STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN ISO/TC178: Lifts, escalators and moving walks
The Association française de normalisation (AFNOR) is the global Secretariat. ANSI’s US Technical Advisory Group Administrator is the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Stakeholders in US-based education communities are encouraged to communicate directly with ASME; CLICK HERE.
We maintain the work products of this committee on the standing agendas of our Mechanical, Elevator and Global colloquia; open to everyone. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting.
Michigan Stadium — the largest collegiate stadium in the world — has 19 elevators.
Issue: [11-50]
Category: Mechanical, Mobility, Global
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Larry Spielvogel
Floor & Pathway Safety
— Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu
“Road to Versailles at Louveciennes” 1869 Camille Pissarro
Today and its Slip and Fall season everywhere. Accordingly, at the usual hour, we review best practice literature for the safety and sustainability of the surfaces beneath our feet; with special focus on the risk aggregation in educational estates.
Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977)
Related coverage:
Heat tracing is a process used to maintain or raise the temperature of pipes and vessels in order to prevent freezing, maintain process temperature, or ensure that products remain fluid and flow through the system properly.
Heat tracing works by using an electric heating cable or tape that is wrapped around the pipe or vessel, and then insulated to help retain the heat. The heating cable is connected to a power source and temperature control system that maintains the desired temperature by regulating the amount of heat output from the cable. Heat tracing is commonly used in industrial applications where temperature control is critical, such as in chemical plants, refineries, and oil and gas facilities.
There are several types of heat tracing, including electric heat tracing, steam tracing, and hot water tracing, each of which have their own unique advantages and disadvantages. The selection of the appropriate type of heat tracing depends on the specific application and the required temperature range, as well as factors such as cost, maintenance, and safety considerations.
The literature for snow and ice management (and enjoyment) produced by these standards-setting organizations:
Accredited Snow Contractors Association
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
ASTM International
Destructive Deep Freeze Strikes Cold and Hot Regions Alike
Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers
Electrical Heat Tracing: International Harmonization — Now and in the Future
Indiana University.
The most beautiful college campus in the country covered in snow. pic.twitter.com/Tp33cQgKuq
— Alex Paul Photo (@alexpaulphoto) January 11, 2025
International Code Council
International Building Code: Chapter 15 Roof Assemblies and Rooftop Structures
National Electrical Contractors Association
National Fire Protection Association
Winter is Coming: Is Your Facility Protected? (Holly Burgess, November 2022)
National Electrical Code: Articles 426-427
National Floor Safety Institute
Snow and Ice Management Association
Underwriters Laboratories
Manufacturers:
Chromalox Electrical Heat Tracing Systems Design Guide
It is a surprisingly large domain with market-makers in every dimension of safety and sustainability; all of whom are bound by state and federal regulations.
Join us at 16:00 UTC with the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
Red surely made the most of his snow day! 🛷 ☃️
Who’s team snow on campus? ❄️ pic.twitter.com/F03KX1XyaR
— The Catholic University of America (@CatholicUniv) January 14, 2025
There have been several recent innovations that have made it possible for construction activity to continue through cold winter months. Some of the most notable ones include:
- Heated Job Site Trailers: These trailers are equipped with heating systems that keep workers warm and comfortable while they take breaks or work on plans. This helps to keep morale up and prevent cold-related health issues.
- Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs): ICFs are prefabricated blocks made of foam insulation that are stacked together to form the walls of a building. The foam insulation provides an extra layer of insulation to keep the building warm during cold winter months.
- Warm-Mix Asphalt (WMA): WMA is a type of asphalt that is designed to be used in colder temperatures than traditional hot-mix asphalt. This allows road construction crews to work through the winter months without having to worry about the asphalt cooling and becoming unusable.
- Pneumatic Heaters: These heaters are used to warm up the ground before concrete is poured. This helps to prevent the concrete from freezing and becoming damaged during the winter months.
- Electrically Heated Mats: These mats are placed on the ground to prevent snow and ice from accumulating. This helps to make the job site safer and easier to work on during the winter months.
Overall, these innovations have made it possible for construction crews to work through the winter months more comfortably and safely, which has helped to keep projects on schedule and minimize delays.
Somewhat related:
Capturing snow flakes as the fall out of the sky
[📹 Dmitry Dotsenko / dots_foto]pic.twitter.com/e3rwNUGLmK
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) January 29, 2025
Elevator Safety Code
Today, special attention to managing elevator passengers trapped in elevators during power outages. Incident management involves the following:
- Automatic battery-lowering systems (standard in modern elevators) gently descend the car to the nearest floor and open the doors within minutes.
- Backup generators or UPS units keep lights, intercoms, and ventilation running.
- Mandatory two-way communication and remote monitoring allow instant contact with 24/7 response teams.
- Fire-service phase II keys and firefighter overrides ensure rapid rescue.
- Clear emergency instructions and regular maintenance of brakes and overspeed governors prevent falls.
These redundancies, required by ASME A17.1 codes in most jurisdictions, have made prolonged entrapments extremely rare and almost never dangerous.
CMP-12 Public Input Transcript | CMP-12 Public Comment Transcript
Elevator, escalator and moving walk systems are among the most complicated systems in any urban environment, no less so than on the #WiseCampus in which many large research universities have 100 to 1000 elevators to safely and economically operate, service and continuously commission. These systems are regulated heavily at state and local levels of government and have oversight from volunteers that are passionate about their work.
These “movement systems” are absorbed into the Internet of Things transformation. Lately we have tried to keep pace with the expansion of requirements to include software integration professionals to coordinate the interoperability of elevators, lifts and escalators with building automation systems for fire safety, indoor air quality and disaster management. Much of work requires understanding of the local adaptations of national building codes.
Some university elevator O&M units use a combination of in-house, manufacturer and standing order contractors to accomplish their safety and sustainability objectives.
In the United States the American Society of Mechanical Engineers is the dominant standards developer of elevator and escalator system best practice titles; its breakdown of technical committees listed in the link below:
C&S Connect: ASME Proposals Available for Public Review
Public consultation on a new standard for electrical inspector qualifications closes May 27th.
ASME A17.7/CSA B44.7 – 20XX, Performance-based code for elevators and escalators (280 pages)
Safety Code for Existing Elevators and Escalators
Guide for Inspection of Elevators, Escalators, and Moving Walks
Guide for Elevator Seismic Design
As always, we encourage facility managers, elevator shop personnel to participate directly in the ASME Codes & Standards development process. For example, it would be relatively easy for our colleagues in the Phoenix, Arizona region to attend one or more of the technical committee meetings; ideally with operating data and a solid proposal for improving the A17 suite.
University of Wisconsin Stadium Elevator
All ASME standards are on the agenda of our Mechanical, Pathway and Elevator & Lift colloquia. See our CALENDAR for the next online teleconferences; open to everyone. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
Issue: [11-50]
Category: Electrical, Elevators, #WiseCampus
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel
More:
Bibliography: Elevators, Lifts and Moving Walks
ISO/TC 178 Lifts, escalators and moving walks
Beautiful Building Entrances
ICC Means of Egress | NFPA Means of Egress
Classical architects, drawing from ancient Greek and Roman traditions (as codified by Vitruvius), regarded building entrances as the primary expression of venustas (beauty), alongside strength and utility. Entrances served as grand thresholds, symbolizing transition from the profane exterior to the ordered interior.They achieved beauty through harmonious proportion, symmetry, and the golden ratio, ensuring visual delight.
Porticos with elegant columns (Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian), entablatures, and pediments framed doorways, creating majestic first impressions. These elements conveyed prestige, invited reverence, and embodied ideal order, making the entrance the façade’s focal point of timeless elegance and civic or domestic dignity.
We present improvements that are possible on the University of Michigan Ann Arbor campus. We acknowledge that interior design and functionality may have to change.
Mason Hall South Entrance NOW | University of Michigan
Standards of beauty for building entrances in architecture emphasize creating a welcoming, harmonious, and memorable first impression. Core principles draw from timeless design tenets like proportion, scale, balance, and emphasis, ensuring the entrance feels appropriately sized relative to the overall structure and surroundings—neither overwhelming nor insignificant.
A beautiful entrance often features symmetry or thoughtful asymmetry for visual harmony, grand yet human-scaled elements like arches, columns, porticos, or recessed doorways that add depth and shelter. Materials matter: high-quality doors (glass for transparency, wood for warmth, or metal for modernity) combined with textures that complement the building’s style create tactile and visual appeal.
Ultimately, beauty arises from blending functionality (accessibility, security, weather protection) with emotional impact: an entrance that feels inviting, ordered, and reflective of the building’s purpose or cultural context.
Mason Hall South Entrance IMPROVED | University of Michigan
Means of egress rules, primarily from the International Building Code (IBC) and NFPA 101, dictate the number and sizes of exit doors to ensure safe evacuation.
Number of exits: Most spaces require at least two exits when the occupant load exceeds 49 (for many occupancies like assembly, business, or mercantile). Loads of 501–1,000 need three exits, and over 1,000 require four or more. Single exits are allowed for low-occupant areas (often ≤49 people) with limited travel distances.
Sizes: Exit doors must provide a minimum clear opening width of 32 inches (813 mm). Required total egress width is calculated from occupant load (typically 0.2 inches per person for nonsprinklered buildings or 0.15 inches for sprinklered), distributed across exits. Doors swing in the egress direction for loads over 50 and must remain operable without keys or special effort.
These ensure adequate capacity and redundancy during emergencies. We treat security standards separately. See our CALENDAR
Existing Southeast corner of Wyly Hall
Improved Southeast corner of Wyly Hall
print (“Hello World!”)
Data Points (2023 Estimates for 193 countable nations):
Global Gross Domestic Product (GGDP) ~ $106.17T
Anglosphere (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) ~ $31T (or ~32% of GGDP)
United States GDP $27T (or about 1/3rd of GGDP)
“Livres des Merveilles du Monde” 1300 | Marco Polo | Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Today we break down consultations on titles relevant to the technology and management of the real assets of education communities in the United States specifically; but with sensitivity to the global education markets where thousands of like-minded organizations also provide credentialing, instruction, research, a home for local fine arts and sport.
We steer away from broad policy issues and steer toward technical specifics of public consultations presented by national member bodies of the International Electrotechnical Commission, the International Organization for Standardization, the International Telecommunications Union and the American National Standards Institute. If there is a likelihood that the titles published by these workgroups will be incorporated by reference into public safety or sustainability legislation; or integrated into the cost structure of education communities in any other way, we will listen carefully and contribute meaningfully where we can.
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations | 1961
| “Even apart from the instability due to speculation, there is the instability due to the characteristic of human nature that a large proportion of our positive activities depend on spontaneous optimism rather than on a mathematical expectation, whether moral or hedonistic or economic. Most, probably, of our decisions to do something positive, the full consequences of which will be drawn out over many days to come, can only be taken as the result of animal spirits — a spontaneous urge to action rather than inaction, and not as the outcome of a weighted average of quantitative benefits multiplied by quantitative probabilities. Enterprise only pretends to itself to be mainly actuated by the statements in its own prospectus, however candid and sincere that prospectus may be. Only a little more than an expedition to the South Pole is it based on an exact calculation of benefits to come. Thus if the animal spirits are dimmed and the spontaneous optimism falters, leaving us to depend on nothing but a mathematical expectation, enterprise will fade and die; — though fears of loss may have a basis no more reasonable than hopes of profit had before.”
“The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money” — John Maynard Keynes, 1936 |
American National Standards Institute
2026 World Standards Week TBD. NEMA will host
Setting the standard: Grange members can be voice of rural users in standardization system
ISO/IEC/ITU coordination – Listing of New Work Items (New: Passwords Required)
New ANSI Education Initiative Supports the Next Generation of Standardization Leaders
International Code Council
2024/2025/2026 ICC CODE DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE (3/17/2023)
International Electrotechnical Commission
International Electrotechnical Commission | CDV Consultations
IEC Open Consultations: 20 December
IEC 87th General Meeting | Cairo, 22 – 26 October
Results from IEC General Assembly 2022 | San Francisco
Extended Versions Certain standards are required to be read in tandem with another standard, which is known as a reference (or parent) document. The extended version (EXV) of an IEC Standard facilitates the user to be able to consult both IEC standards simultaneously in a single, easy-to-use document.
International Telecommunications Union
The case for standardizing homomorphic encryption
Outcomes of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference
World Radiocommunication Conference
International Standardization Organization
How ISO codes connect the world
New partnership for ISO and ICC
Must-have skills for the green economy
A partial list of projects with which we have been engaged as an active participant; starting with the original University of Michigan enterprise in the late 1990’s and related collaborations with IEEE and others: (In BOLD font we identify committees with open consultations requiring a response from US stakeholders before next month’s Hello World! colloquium)
IEC/TC 8, et al System aspects of electrical energy supply
IEC/TC 22 Power electronic systems and equipment
IEC/TC 62 Electrical equipment in medical practice
IEC/TC 64 Electrical installations and protection against electric shock
IEC/TC 82 Solar photovoltaic energy systems
IEC/SYC Electrotechnical Aspects of Smart Cities
Standards Michigan Workspace for IEC/ITU Consultations
ISO/IEC JTC 1 Information Technology, et. al
ISO/TC 205 Building environmental design
ISO/TC 229 Nanotechnologies
ISO/TC 232 Education and Learning Services
ISO/TC 260 Human Resource Management
ISO/TC 267 Facility Management
ISO/TC 268 Sustainable cities and communities
ISO/TC 301 Energy management and energy savings
ISO/TC 304 Healthcare organization management
We collaborate with the appropriate ANSI US TAG; or others elsewhere in academia. We have begun tracking ITU titles with special attention to ITU Radio Communication Sector.
main( ) { printf("hello, world\n"); }
We have collaborations with Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Sapienza – Università di Roma, Universität Zürich, Universität Potsdam, Université de Toulouse. Universidade Federal de Itajubá, University of Windsor, the University of Alberta, to name a few — most of whom collaborate with us on electrotechnology issues. Standards Michigan and its 50-state affiliates are (obviously) domiciled in the United States. However, and for most issues, we defer to the International Standards expertise at the American National Standards Institute
ANSI INTERACTIVE MAP: INTERNATIONAL TRADE & DEVELOPMENT
Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
These three regions make up 50% of world GDP
More
Data Point: Global Construction Market is Expected to Reach $11 trillion by 2031
General Public Participation in ANSI ISO Activities
March 2021 edition of the TMB Communiqué.
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Consolidated ISO Supplement
International Electrotechnical Commission Annual Report 2019
ANSI Education & Training Overview
ITU Digital Technical Standards
* A “Hello, World!” program generally is a computer program that outputs or displays the message “Hello, World!”. Such a program is very simple in most programming languages (such as Python and Javascript) and is often used to illustrate the basic syntax of a programming language. It is often the first program written by people learning to code. It can also be used as a sanity test to make sure that a computer language is correctly installed, and that the operator understands how to use it.
What is a standard?
A standard is a common solution to a recurring problem. The purpose of standards is to create uniform and transparent procedures that we can agree on. It is in everyone’s interest to increase quality, avoid misunderstandings and avoid reinventing the wheel every time.
Standards pave the way for more efficient and resource-efficient production. They also make it easier to procure and sign contracts, as they ensure that buyers and suppliers speak the same language.
Advantages of using standards:
- Creates cost-effective processes
- Establishes a high minimum level
- Increases safety and quality
- Ensures compatibility
- Provides credibility both locally and globally
- Facilitates procurement
- Promotes trade and exports.
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
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