History of Western Civilization Told Through the Acoustics of its Worship Spaces

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History of Western Civilization Told Through the Acoustics of its Worship Spaces

March 29, 2024
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Abstract.  Insights into the history and future of western civilization are found by applying information theory to the acoustical communication channel (ACC) of its worship spaces. Properties of the ACC have both influenced and reflected the choice of message coding (e.g., speech or music) at various times. Speech coding is efficient for acoustically dry ACCs, but hopeless for highly time-dispersive ACCs. Music coding is appropriate for time dispersive (reverberant) ACCs. The ACCs of synagogues, early Christian house churches, and many Protestant churches are relatively acoustically “dry” and thus well suited to spoken liturgies. The spoken liturgy, dominant in synagogues, was carried over to early Christian churches, but became unworkable in Constantinian cathedrals and was largely replaced with a musical liturgy. After a millennium, the cathedral acoustic was altered to suit the doctrinal needs of reformation churches with its renewed emphasis on the spoken word. Worship forms continue to change, and the changes are reflected in the properties of the ACC. The pulpits of electronic churches may be evolving into radio and television performance spaces and naves into worshipers’ living rooms.

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Evensong “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?”

Sacred Spaces

National Youth Choir of Scotland “Love Divine”

Places of Worship

March 29, 2024
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“The Church is not a gallery for the exhibition of eminent Christians,

but a school for the education of imperfect ones.”

— Henry Ward Beecher

 

 

2024 International Building Code: Chapter 3 Occupancy Classification and Use

In the International Code Council catalog of best practice literature we find the first principles for safety in places of worship tracking in the following sections of the International Building Code (IBC):

Section 303 Assembly Group A

“303.1.4:  Accessory religious educational rooms and religious auditoriums with occupant loads less than 100 per room or space are not considered separate occupancies.”   This informs how fire protection systems are designed.

Section 305 Educational Group E

“305.2.1: Rooms and spaces within places of worship proving such day care during religious functions shall be classified as part of the primary occupancy.”  This group includes building and structures or portions thereof occupied by more than five children older than 2-1/2 years of age who receive educational, supervision or personal care services for fewer than 24 hours per day.

Section 308 Institutional Group I

“308.5.2: Rooms and spaces within places of religious worship providing [Group I-4 Day Care Facilities] during religious functions shall be classified as part of the primary occupancy.   When [Group I-4 Day Care Facilities] includes buildings and structures occupied by more than five persons of any age who receive custodial care for fewer than 24 hours per day by persons other than parents or guardians, relatives by blood, marriage or adoption, and in a place other than the home of the person cared for.

Tricky stuff — and we haven’t even included conditions under which university-affiliated places of worship may expected to be used as community storm shelters.

2024/2025/2026 ICC CODE DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE

Committee Action Hearings on the Group A tranche of titles will happen in Orlando, April 7-16.

Because standard development tends to be a backward-looking domain it is enlightening to understand the concepts in play in previous editions.  The complete monograph of proposals for new building safety concepts for places of worship for the current revision cycle is linked below:

 2021/2022 Code Development: Group B

A simple search on the word “worship” will reveal what ideas are in play.  With the Group B Public Comment Hearings now complete ICC administered committees are now curating the results for the Online Governmental Consensus Vote milestone in the ICC process that was completed December 6th.   Status reports are linked below:

2018/2019 Code Development: Group B

Note that a number of proposals that passed the governmental vote are being challenged by a number of stakeholders in a follow-on appeals process:

2019 Group B Appeals

A quick review of the appeals statements reveals some concern over process, administration and technical matters but none of them directly affect how leading practice for places of worship is asserted.

We are happy to get down in the weeds with facility professionals on other technical issues regarding other occupancy classes that are present in educational communities.   See our CALENDAR for next Construction (Ædificare) colloquium open to everyone.

Issue: [17-353]

Category: Chapels

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel


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Mobility 400

March 28, 2024
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Statement on the Electric Vehicle Zietgesit

Die Fachhochschule Wedel bei Hamburg

The Invention of the Wheel – The Journey to Civilization 

Today we amble through the literature providing policy templates informing school district, college and university-affiliated transportation and parking facilities and systems.   Starting 2024 we will break up our coverage thus:

Mobility 100 (Survey of both ground and air transportation instructional and research facilities)

Mobility 200 (Ground Transportation)

Mobility 300 (Air Transportation)

Mobility 400 (Reserved for zoning, parking space allocation and enforcement, and issues related to one of the most troublesome conditions in educational settlements)

March 28, 2024

This will be the last session during which time we will cover both land and air transportation codes, standards, guidelines and the regulations that depend upon all them.


Public consultation originates from the following organizations:

American Center for Mobility

International Code Council

Electric Vehicle Charging

International Electrotechnical Commission

SyC Smart Cities

International Organization for Standardization

Intelligent Transport Systems
Road Vehicles

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

 Intelligent Transportation Systems Society 

Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International)

Like many SDO’s the SAE makes it very easy to purchase a standard but makes it very difficulty to find a draft standard open for public review.  It is not an open process; one must apply to comment on a draft standard.  Moreover, its programmers persist in playing “keep away” with landing pages.

Technical Standards for Road Vehicles and Intelligent Vehicle Systems

 

International Code Council

National Fire Protection Association

Electric Vehicle Power Transfer

Association of Transportation Safety Information Professionals

International Light Transportation Vehicle Association

Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Accreditation Commission

Gallery: Electric Vehicle Fire Risk


Noteworthy:

The public school bus system in the United States is the largest public transit system in the United States. According to the American School Bus Council, approximately 25 million students in the United States ride school buses to and from school each day, which is more than twice the number of passengers that use all other forms of public transportation combined.

The school bus system is considered a public transit system because it is operated by public schools and school districts, and provides a form of transportation that is funded by taxpayers and available to the general public. The school bus system also plays a critical role in ensuring that students have access to education, particularly in rural and low-income areas where transportation options may be limited.

 

Something is always happening in this domain:

A Quiet Rollout: Electric Scooters on Campus

Notre Dame Police Department shares gameday parking restrictions, tips

Electric School Bus Market Size, Industry Share, Analysis, Report and Forecast 2022-2027

Non profit associations proliferate:

American School Bus Council

American Bus Association

Campus Parking and Transportation Association

National Association for Pupil Transportation

National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services

National School Transportation Association

School Bus Manufacturers Association

…and 50-state spinoffs of the foregoing.  (See our ABOUT for further discussion of education industry non-profit associations)

There are several ad hoc consortia in this domain also; which include plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.  Charging specifications are at least temporarily “stable”; though who should pay for the charging infrastructure in the long run is a debate we have tracked for several revision cycles in building and fire codes.

Because incumbents are leading the electromobility transformation, and incumbents have deep pockets for market-making despite the “jankiness” of the US power grid, we can track some (not all) legislation action, and prospective public comment opportunities.   For example:

S. 1254: Stop for School Buses Act of 2019

S. 1750 Clean School Bus Grant Program

S. 1939 / Smarter Transportation Act

Keep in mind that even though proposed legislation is sun-setted in a previous (116th) Congress, the concepts may be carried forward into the following Congress (117th).

Public consultations on mobility technologies relevant to the education facility industry are also covered by the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee which meets 4 times monthly in European and American time zones.

This topic is growing rapidly and it may well be that we will have to break it up into more manageable pieces.  For the moment, today’s colloquium is open to everyone.  Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

Standing Agenda / Mobility

Gallery: Campus Transportation and Parking

 

Campus Rail Transit

March 28, 2024
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The West Virginia University PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) system is a unique and innovative form of public transportation that serves the WVU campus and the city of Morgantown, West Virginia. The PRT system consists of a series of automated, driverless vehicles that operate on an elevated track network, providing fast and convenient transportation to key destinations on and around the WVU campus.

The PRT system was first developed in the 1970s as a solution to the growing traffic congestion and parking demand on the WVU campus. The system was designed to be efficient, reliable, and environmentally friendly, and to provide a high-tech, futuristic mode of transportation that would appeal to students and visitors.

The PRT system currently operates five different stations, with stops at key campus locations such as the Mountainlair Student Union, the Engineering Research Building, and the Health Sciences Center. The system is free for all WVU students, faculty, and staff, and also offers a low-cost fare for members of the general public.

The PRT system has been recognized as one of the most advanced and innovative public transportation systems in the world, and has won numerous awards for its design, efficiency, and environmental sustainability. It has also become an iconic symbol of the WVU campus, and is often featured in promotional materials and advertising campaigns for the university.

Standards West Virginia

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Federal Transit Administration

West Virginia Department of Education: School Transportation

“Evaluation of the West Virginia University Personal Rapid Transit System” | A. Katz and A. Finkelstein (Journal of Transportation Engineering, 1987) This paper evaluates the technical and operational performance of the WVU PRT system based on data collected over a six-year period. The authors identify several issues with the system, including maintenance problems, limited capacity, and difficulties with vehicle docking and undocking.

“Modeling of the West Virginia University Personal Rapid Transit System” by J. Schroeder and C. Wilson (Transportation Research Record, 2002) This paper presents a mathematical model of the WVU PRT system that can be used to analyze its performance and identify potential improvements. The authors use the model to evaluate the impact of various factors, such as station dwell time and vehicle capacity, on the system’s overall performance.

“Evaluating the Effectiveness of Personal Rapid Transit: A Case Study of the West Virginia University System” by K. Fitzpatrick, M. Montufar, and K. Schreffler (Journal of Transportation Technologies, 2013) This paper analyzes the effectiveness of the WVU PRT system based on a survey of users and non-users. The authors identify several challenges facing the system, including low ridership, reliability issues, and high operating costs.

Association for Commuter Transportation: Accreditation Standards

 

Electric Vehicle Charging

March 28, 2024
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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Edison electric vehicle | National Park Service, US Department of the Interior

 

Free public access to the 2021 edition of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) is linked below:

2021 International Energy Conservation Code

This title will be updated within a reconfigured code development cycle linked below:

2024/2025/2026 ICC CODE DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE

Keep in mind that many electric vehicle safety and sustainability concepts will track in other titles in the ICC catalog.   It is enlightening to see other energy related proposals tracking in the most recent Group A code revision cycle

The following proposals discussed during the Group A Hearings ended earlier this month are noteworthy:

IBC § 202 (NEW) | G66-21 |  Electrical mobility definitions

IBC § 1107.2, et al | E124-21 & E125-21 & E126-21 |  Electrical vehicle charging stations for R-2 occupancies.

From the Group B revision cycle — COMPLETE MONOGRAPH:

R309.6 Electric vehicle charging stations and systems. Where provided, electric vehicle charging systems shall be installed in accordance with NFPA 70. Electric vehicle charging system equipment shall be listed and labeled in accordance with UL 2202. Electric vehicle supply equipment shall be listed and labeled in accordance with UL 2594.

IBC 406.2.7 Electric vehicle charging stations and systems. Where provided, electric vehicle charging systems shall be installed in accordance with NFPA 70. Electric vehicle charging system equipment shall be listed and labeled in accordance with UL 2202. Electric vehicle supply equipment shall be listed and labeled in accordance with UL 2594. Accessibility to electric vehicle charging stations shall be provided in accordance with Section 1108.

TABLE R328.5 MAXIMUM AGGREGATE RATINGS OF ESS (Energy Storage Systems) – PDF Page 1476

Incumbents are socking in EV concepts all across the ICC catalog.  We refer them to experts in the Industrial Applications Society IEEE E&H Committee.

 

 

One of the more spirited debates in recent revision cycles is the following:

Who shall pay for electrical vehicle charging infrastructure?   

The underlying assumption is that the electrification of the global transportation grid has a net benefit.   We remain mute on that question; the question of net gain.

Of course, many proposals pointed the finger at the stakeholder with the deepest pockets.  Accordingly, new commercial building owners will be required to install charging stations for new buildings.   During 2018 and 2019 we tracked the action in the workspace below so that we could collaborate with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee:

2021 Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

Given that most higher education facilities are classified as commercial, the cost of charging stations will be conveyed into the new building construction budget unless the unit takes an exception.   Generally speaking, most colleges and universities like to display their electric vehicle credentials, even if the use of such charging stations remains sparse.

Cornell University

Issue: [11-40]

Category: Electrical, #SmartCampus

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey

* The education industry has significant square footage this is classified as residential; particularly on the periphery of large research campuses.


LEARN MORE:

ICC 2021/2022 Code Development Cycle

The Top 5 Energy Efficiency Proposals for the 2021 IECC

Archive / IECC Electric Vehicle Charging

 

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