Issues Streaming Now
Education Industry Construction Spend
Every month we examine US Census Bureau data on education facility construction spend--the largest non-residential building construction market in the United States. The overall spend--including construction--is about $300 billion per year; approximately the size of Denmark's entire economy.
Medical Practice Electrical equipment
The highest level of standardization activity in medical research and clinical healthcare delivery markets is administered by the International Electrotechnical Commission. One of its committees engaged in setting the standard of care for basic safety and essential performance for medical equipment has released a new tranche of redlines for public review. [Comments are due July 16th]
Facility Management
The original University of Michigan regulatory advocacy enterprise was catalyst for persuading selected institutions, subject matter experts and education industry trade associations to participate in international codes and standards development. With a spend running at about $300 billion the education facilities industry ought to be at the meetings where the optimal standard of care is discovered and promulgated. @ANSIdotorg @IFMA
Office Facility Management
With a staff-to-student ratio of 2:1 in many large research universities it should come as no surprise that more than half of the square footage in higher education is classified by the building codes as "commercial" space -- i.e not instructional space. There is a great deal of competition among trade associations for hegemony in the education facility disciplines.* #StandardsTennessee @BOMA
Laboratory Design
The Standardization Administration of China has submitted a proposal for a new field of ISO technical activity on "Laboratory Design" intended to develop standardization solutions for laboratory design including site selection and design planning, the functional division of experimental areas, the determination of scientific and technological processes, layouts and design of furniture, and the scientific design of the facility taking into account environmental conditions and impact. [Comments on the proposal are due June 28th]
High-Performance Green Buildings
Technical committees developing ASHRAE consensus documents release public review documents in 30-to-90 day intervals so we help education facility managers should keep pace. Another redline regarding daylighting in offices, classrooms, and patient rooms in healthcare facilities has been released for public review. [Comments are due July 1st]
Emergency and Standby Power Systems
This standard covers performance requirements for emergency and standby power systems providing an alternate source of electrical power in buildings and facilities in the event that the normal electrical power source fails. Systems include power sources, transfer equipment, controls, supervisory equipment, and accessory equipment needed to supply electrical power to the selected circuits. [Public input is due June 26, 2019]
International Energy Conservation Code / Electrical Power
The results of the Committee Action Hearings in Albuquerque last month are now available . We will walk through them all any day at 11 AM Eastern time until the July 24th deadline to respond to the proposals for changes to the IECC that we previously identified. We coordinate our response subject matter affiliated with IEEE, NFPA and the IEC. #StandardsNevada
Michigan Electrical Administrative Act | §338.883
We follow state adaptations of national codes that set the standard of care for electrical safety in education facility design, construction, operation and maintenance. We also examine the regulations that incorporate them by reference into the framework of Michigan's building codes. We find problem areas that are raising costs; in our view--unnecessarily. [The Electrical Advisory Board meets again August 15th] #StandardsMichigan