ALWAYS ON
Cornbread & Grandma’s Chicken Soup
"A feel-good study by one of UNMC’s top researchers has proven to be comfort food for the media for nearly 30 years. Several years ago, Stephen Rennard, MD, one of UNMC’s top scientists, decided it would be fun to put the old folk wisdom to the test. Cultures all over the world have some version of the credo that if you’re sick, you should eat chicken soup. It’ll make you feel better. Grandma says so! So it must be true."
“Kettle’s On” & Morning Shower
Most people step into morning shower and pour their first drink taking as read the water and energy standards that assure safety and reliability. Today at the usual hour we refresh our reading of the relatively stable stack of standards that are treated as given. With links to the Alice Parker invention of home heating. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
Plumbing & Sanitation
Today we slice horizontally through several vertical catalogs that interact, cross reference and are fairly dynamic in their best practice discovery and promulgation. Join us at the usual hour when we sort through the settled science and unsettled standards of care. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
Design and Construction of Frost-Protected Shallow Foundations
Links to best practice design, construction and maintenance.
Quadrivium: Winter
Educational settlements should be magical places. The stack informing the beauty of these "cities-within-cities" changes 100 to 1000 times per day globally. Titles are time-sensitive, copyright protected and land in public law. We monitor the action continuously to formulate response to public consultations. Topics appear on our CALENDAR and explored every day at 16:00 UTC. Recommend refresh of this web page once or twice to see timeliest information.
Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code
A central element of educational settlements are the energy technologies that support its central mission. Every elementary and secondary school has a boiler of some scale; college campuses have district energy plants that generate electricity for several, if not hundreds of buildings. Boilers provide warm water for cleaning and cooking. Public consultation on changes to the Section V of the BPVC regarding construction of heating boilers remains open until February 3.
Current Issues & Recent Research
We examine the proposals for the 2028 National Electrical Safety Code; including our own. Public comment on proposed changes will be received until March 24th. The 2026 National Electrical Code which has recently been released for public use (public input on the 2029 revision will be received until April 9, 2026).
Heat Tracing Product Standard
Winter weather pipe-breaking and subsequent water flooding incidents on educational campuses draw attention to UL 515 Standard for Electrical Resistance Trace Heating for Commercial Applications which was last revised in July 2015. Requirements for the application of this product standard will be coordinated with the upcoming revisions to the National Electrical Code and National Electrical Contractor installation standards.
Electrical heat tracing: international harmonization-now and in the future
In the past, electrical heat tracing has been thought of as a minor addition to plant utilities. Today, it is recognized as a critical subsystem to be monitored and controlled. A marriage between process, mechanical, and electrical engineers must take place to ensure that optimum economic results are produced.