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First Day of School

September 2, 2025
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Donegan Acoustics

Today we take a cross cutting review of all the literature (codes, standards, guidelines, laws)  that informs safe and sustainability occupancy load, means of egress, illumination, ambient air, plumbing, electric, communication and acoustics in classrooms.

1. Building Codes

  • International Building Code (IBC): Adopted by most states, it provides guidelines for the design and construction of buildings, including schools.
  • International Existing Building Code (IEBC): Provides standards for the renovation and repair of existing school buildings.
  • State and Local Building Codes: Many states and municipalities have additional or modified codes that must be followed.

2. Fire and Life Safety Codes

  • National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Codes:
    • NFPA 101: Life Safety Code – Sets requirements for egress, fire protection, and emergency planning.
    • NFPA 13: Installation of Sprinkler Systems – Specifies standards for automatic fire sprinkler systems.
    • NFPA 72: National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code – Covers fire alarm system installation and maintenance.
    • NFPA 70: National Electrical Code (NEC) – Outlines electrical wiring standards to prevent fire hazards.

3. Accessibility Standards

  • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA):
    • ADA Standards for Accessible Design – Ensures that school facilities are accessible to individuals with disabilities.
  • Architectural Barriers Act (ABA): Requires accessibility in buildings constructed with federal funds.

4. Environmental and Health Standards

Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy

  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regulations:
    • EPA Lead and Asbestos Regulations: Governs the handling of lead and asbestos in school buildings.
    • EPA’s Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools: Provides guidelines to manage air quality.

5. Structural Standards

  • American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE):
    • ASCE 7: Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures.
  • American Concrete Institute (ACI):
    • ACI 318: Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete.

6. Plumbing and Mechanical Codes

  • International Plumbing Code (IPC): Provides guidelines for plumbing system design and installation.
  • International Mechanical Code (IMC): Sets standards for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

7. Electrical Standards

  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standards: Includes various electrical safety and installation standards relevant to school facilities.

8. Educational Specifications and Guidelines

  • Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI) Guidelines: Provides best practices for school design that promote effective learning environments.
  • State-Specific Educational Specifications: Many states have their own guidelines for the design of educational facilities to meet state-specific educational needs.

9. Safety and Security Standards

  • Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) Guidelines: Suggests design strategies to enhance security in school environments.
  • School Safety and Security Standards (state-specific): Some states have additional requirements for school security measures.

10. Sustainable Design Standards

  • LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for Schools: Provides a framework for building green and energy-efficient schools.
  • Green Building Initiative (GBI) Standards: Focuses on sustainable and energy-efficient building practices.

11. Maintenance Standards

  • International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC): Provides guidelines for the maintenance of buildings, ensuring they remain safe and functional over time.

12. Other Relevant Standards

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Guidelines: Provides standards for building schools in disaster-prone areas (e.g., tornadoes, earthquakes).
  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Standards: Ensures workplace safety, including in schools, covering areas like chemical safety, electrical safety, and more.

Local Considerations

  • Local Zoning Laws and Ordinances: Schools must also comply with local land use regulations, which may affect building placement, size, and use.

Classroom Acoustics


 

 

Campus Surveillance

September 2, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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Big Brother is watching you.”

“Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, working or eating, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or in bed—no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters in your skull.”

“At any rate, they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.”

“It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away.”

“Fire at Full Moon” 1933 | Paul Klee

Hard upon conclusion of the fall semester, educational settlements ebb in population as students return to their home fires.

Today we pull together best practice in the systems — the people and the technologies — that sustain campus safety and stability during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year holidays.

Join us at 16:00 UTC with login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

Guide to Premises Security

Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986:

Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore Maryland

Heat Tracing

Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association A156.25 – 2023 Electrified Locking Systems

Shawnee Mission West High School

Places of Worship

Open Network Video Interface Forum

New York City Public Schools

Sacred Spaces

IEC 62676-1-1: Video surveillance systems for use in security applications

University of the District of Columbia Community College

Watch & Night Operations

ANSI C136 Series – Standards for Roadway and Area Lighting Equipment

Columbus City Schools Ohio

 

Campus Outdoor Lighting

Park Point University Campus Security

Strawberry Mansion High School | Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Outdoor Deicing & Snow Melting

Sisu

September 2, 2025
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Standards Michigan Upper Peninsula

The Finnish presence in Northern Michigan stems from mass immigration during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Between 1870 and 1929, over 350,000 Finns arrived in the U.S., with Michigan drawing about 40% due to its copper and iron mines, lumber mills, and farms.

Recruited from Norway’s mines starting in 1864, they settled in towns like Hancock, Calumet, Ishpeming, and Ironwood, drawn by the region’s harsh winters, long summer days, and forested terrain mirroring Finland’s.

By 1930, nearly 75,000 Finnish descendants lived there, forming the largest ethnic group in five northwestern UP counties (35% Finnish heritage per recent census). They built saunas, cooperatives, and Lutheran churches, including the Suomi Synod (1890) and Finlandia University (1896, since closed).

Cultural festivals like Heikinpäivä and pasties (adapted from Cornish miners) endure, sustaining a “Sauna Belt” legacy amid mining booms that rivaled California’s Gold Rush.

Home

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=618967290235062&set=pb.100063653885165.-2207520000&type=3

Copper Island Academy | Houghton County Michigan

Abiit sed non oblitus | Houghton County Michigan

Finland

Life Safety Code

September 2, 2025
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Educational and Day-Care Occupancies (July 23, 2025 Second Draft Transcript)

The Life Safety Code addresses those construction, protection, and occupancy features necessary to minimize danger to life from the effects of fire, including smoke, heat, and toxic gases created during a fire.   It is widely incorporated by reference into public safety statutes; typically coupled with the consensus products of the International Code Council.   It is a mighty document — one of the NFPA’s leading titles — so we deal with it in pieces; consulting it for decisions to be made for the following:

(1) Determination of the occupancy classification in Chapters 12 through 42.

(2) Determination of whether a building or structure is new or existing.

(3) Determination of the occupant load.

(4) Determination of the hazard of contents.

There are emergent issues — such as active shooter response, integration of life and fire safety systems on the internet of small things — and recurrent issues such as excessive rehabilitation and conformity criteria and the ever-expanding requirements for sprinklers and portable fire extinguishers with which to reckon.  It is never easy telling a safety professional paid to make a market for his product or service that it is impossible to be alive and safe.  It is even harder telling the dean of a department how much it will cost to bring the square-footage under his stewardship up to the current code.

The 2021 edition is the current edition and is accessible below:

NFPA 101 Life Safety Code Free Public Access

Public input on the 2027 Revision will be received until June 4, 2024.  Public comment on the Second Draft 2027 Revision will be received until March 31, 2026.

 

Since the Life Safety Code is one of the most “living” of living documents — the International Building Code and the National Electric Code also move continuously — we can start anywhere and anytime and still make meaningful contributions to it.   We have been advocating in this document since the 2003 edition in which we submitted proposals for changes such as:

• A student residence facility life safety crosswalk between NFPA 101 and the International Building Code

• Refinements to Chapters 14 and 15 covering education facilities (with particular attention to door technologies)

• Identification of an ingress path for rescue and recovery personnel toward electric service equipment installations.

• Risk-informed requirement for installation of grab bars in bathing areas

• Modification of the 90-minute emergency lighting requirements rule for small buildings and for fixed interval testing

• Modification of emergency illumination fixed interval testing

• Table 7.3.1 Occupant Load revisions

• Harmonization of egress path width with European building codes

There are others.  It is typically difficult to make changes to stabilized standard though some of the concepts were integrated by the committee into other parts of the NFPA 101 in unexpected, though productive, ways.  Example transcripts of proposed 2023 revisions to the education facility chapter is linked below:

Chapter 14 Public Input Report: New Educational Occupancies

Educational and Day Care Occupancies: Second Draft Public Comments with Responses Report

Since NFPA 101 is so vast in its implications we list a few of the sections we track, and can drill into further, according to client interest:

Chapter 3: Definitions

Chapter 7: Means of Egress

Chapter 12: New Assembly Occupancies

Chapter 13: Existing Assembly Occupancies

Chapter 16 Public Input Report: New Day-Care Facilities

Chapter 17 Public Input Report: Existing Day Care Facilities

Chapter 18 Public Input Report: New Health Care Facilities

Chapter 19 Public Input Report: Existing Health Care Facilities

Chapter 28: Public Input Report: New Hotels and Dormitories

Chapter 29: Public Input Report: Existing Hotels and Dormitories

Chapter 43: Building Rehabilitation

Annex A: Explanatory Material

As always we encourage front-line staff, facility managers, subject matter experts and trade associations to participate directly in the NFPA code development process (CLICK HERE to get started)

NFPA 101 is a cross-cutting title so we maintain it on the agenda of our several colloquia —Housing, Prometheus, Security and Pathways colloquia.  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

 

Issue: [18-90]

Category: Fire Safety, Public Safety

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Josh Elvove, Joe DeRosier, Marcelo Hirschler

More

ARCHIVE / Life Safety Code 2003 – 2018

 


Fire and Life Safety in Stadiums

Evensong “Knoxville: Summer of 1915”

September 1, 2025
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Michigan Central


Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA. Founded in 1793, it is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. The college was established through a bequest of Colonel Ephraim Williams Jr., a war hero who died in the Battle of Lake George during the French and Indian War. In his will, Colonel Williams left funds for the establishment of a free school on the condition that it be located in Williamstown.

Evensong “Last Rose of Summer”

September 1, 2025
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Wisconsin

“Mountain High Apple Pie”

September 1, 2025
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North Carolina State University Facilities

 

Kitchens 300

Standards North Carolina

Rhubarb Strawberry Pie

September 1, 2025
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Recipe

A dessert  popular in the United Kingdom, where rhubarb has been cultivated since the 1600s, and the leaf stalks eaten since the 1700s. Besides diced rhubarb, it almost always contains a large amount of sugar to balance the intense tartness of the plant. The pie is usually prepared with a bottom pie crust and a variety of styles of upper crust.

In the United States, often a lattice-style upper crust is used.  This pie is a traditional dessert in the United States. It is part of New England cuisine.  Rhubarb has long been a popular choice for pies in the Great Plains region and the Michigan Great Lakes Region, where fruits were not always readily available in the spring

Related

University of Missouri: Plant rhubarb, the pie plant, in March

University of Nebraska: Rhubarb Cream Pie

TU Dublin: Rhubarb Pie Using Sweet Shortbread Pastry

Strawberries

Kitchens 200

Food Safety

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