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Designing, Installing, Operating, and Maintaining Microgrids

Wireless Power Demonstration | Nicola Tesla (1937)

The National Electrical Contractors Association develops a suite of consensus standards titled National Electrical Installation Standards (NEIS) that meet the intent of the National Electrical Code (NEC); particularly where the NEC asserts that an installation be constructed in a “neat and workmanlike manner”.   The scope of the original undertaking, begun in the early 1990’s with University of Michigan as an early adopter, has since expanded into operation and maintenance standards; and more recently into design, installation, operating and maintaining integrated systems such as microgrids*.

Some electrotechnology professionals struggle with the notion of a “microgrid” — a trendy term of art for an integrated system of interactive and distributed power sources that many large research universities have had for decades in their district energy plant.  There are some noteworthy operational differences, however; as a trend toward local power storage accelerates and education facility leaders are under pressure to prove the they have a Smart Grid (even if they already have one).   None of the #SmartCampus conceptions for expansion of microgrids into individual buildings, or regions on campuses, will ever pay for themselves we cannot operate and maintain many of them economically (when set against the operational economics of the electrical supply delivered by the university district energy plant).  The university-affiliated medical research and healthcare delivery campus may be a proof-point, however.

The NECA documents are used by construction owners, specifiers, contractors and electricians to clearly illustrate the performance and workmanship standards essential for different types of electrical construction.  Because the NEC is intended to be primarily a wiring safety standard, the NEIS suite is referenced throughout the National Electrical Code.  Electrical shop foremen and front line electricians take note.

A new public commenting opportunity has just been released:

ANSI Standards Action | PDF Page 5

Comments are due January 28th. 

You may obtain an electronic copy from neis@necanet.org.  Send comments to Aga Golriz, (301) 215-4549, Aga.golriz@necanet.org with a copy of your comments psa@ansi.org.   Because the proposed change is relatively minor editorial/grammatical change, we will not comment on it but encourage other user-interests in the education facilities industry (electric shops, engineering managers, etc.) to at least become familiar with the NECA suite of standards and to incorporate them by reference into their standard practice guides for electrical trades.

NECA Standards and Publication Development Home Page

Our door is open every day at 11 AM for consultation on this and other standards.   Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.  Additionally, we will refer this to the IEEE Education & Healthcare Committee,  which is a subcommittee in the IEEE Industrial Applications Society which follows — and leads — the development of the emergent #SmartCampus.  That committee meets online 4 times monthly in European and American time zones.  The next meeting is on December 18th  and is open to the public.

Click on image

 

LEARN MORE:

 

NECA SMART GRID: INSTALLATION AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT ASPECTS FOR ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS

US DOE: Smart Grid Demonstration Program

NIST and the Smart Grid

IEEE: Utility and Other Energy Company Business Case Issues Related to Microgrids and Distributed Generation

IEEE Standards Association: Microgrids: Back to the Future

Standards Michigan Smart Campus Bibliography (A collection of case studies for the education and healthcare industry)

*Most seasoned electrical power professionals recognize that many large research universities with district energy systems that generate in parallel with a public utility have, for decades, operated with all the essential characteristics of a microgrid (save for the political “buzz”).   On-site power storage for telecommunication and mission critical facilities have been in place for decades; so has back up on-site generation.  Scaling these known sources to provide normal power to a single building, or groups of buildings, is an essential difference, however.   Electrical engineering expertise and judgement is needed to determine the optimal balance between a smart distributed resource (such as a microgrid) and a central resource from an existing district energy system.   An array of microgrids on a large research university campus will have a cost associated with of installing, operating and maintaining them.   

“A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery” | Joseph Wright (1766)

Posted June 15, 2018

The National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) is proposing a new standard — NECA 417 Recommended Practice for Designing, Installing, Operating, and Maintaining Microgrids.  The proposed standard applies to microgrids and provides recommended practices for their design, installation, commissioning, operation, and maintenance.   Public notification of this commenting opportunity filed with ANSI is available at the link below:

ANSI Standards Action | PDF Page 7

Comments are due July 30th.  You may obtain an electronic copy from neis@necanet.org.  Send comments to Aga Golriz, (301) 215-4549, Aga.golriz@necanet.org.  Send a copy of your comments psa@ansi.org.

Additionally, we will refer this to the IEEE Education & Healthcare Committee for specific response.

 

Smart Grid & Smart Energy Standards

Campuses are the perfect study unit for cities of the future

 

We participate as a voting “user-interest” on the US National Committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission (USNC) that is developing an international standard for Smart Grid and Smart City concepts.   We also collaborate with other US-based and other international universities through several societies of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers through its networking facility — Collabratec.

The Association of Medical Imaging and Electrical Equipment Manufacturers (NEMA) — the Administrator of the USNC /IEC Technical Advisory Group of the USNA/IEC — has released material for US stakeholders to review.   The concepts within these documents should interest both the academic and business side of the education industry in any nation.

Because of copyright restrications upon draft material — very common in the development of regulatory products — we must be mindful of releaseing the full text of draft documents.   We are able, however, to provide a broad overview of the most recent batch of proposed refinements to the IEC Smart City standardization project:

IEC/USNA/IEC Workspace

Comments are due January 4, 2019.

We generally refer these commenting opportunities to the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee but we are happy to explain their relevance to other stakeholders any day at 11 AM EST.  Use the login credentials at the upper right of our homepage.

Issue: [15-197]

Contact: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Massimo Mittolo

Colleagues: Mahesh Illindala (Ohio State University), Giuseppe Parisi (Sapienza University of Roma), Loren Clark (University of Alberta). Jim Murphy (Lawrence Livermore Laboratory: University of California Berkeley),  Brian Marchionini (NEMA), Paul Green (University of Michigan)

Category: Electrical, Telecommunications, Energy Management, #SmartCampus, Informatics, Information & Communications Technology

LEARN MORE:

Posted August 2, 2018

We participate as a voting “user-interest” on the US National Committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission (USNC) that is developing an international standard for Smart Grid and Smart City concepts.  The Association of Medical Imaging and Electrical Equipment Manufacturers (NEMA) — the Administrator of the USNC /IEC Technical Advisory Group — has released material for US stakeholders to review.   Because of copyright restrications upon draft material — very common in the development of regulatory products — we are unable to release the full text of the documents.   We are able, however, to provide a broad overview of the constellation of consensus documents under consideration:

Several IEC new docs were released. We are requested to vote on SyCSmartEnergy/85/DTS. See below:

SyCSmartEnergy/43A/CC

SyCSmartEnergy/85/DTS

SyCSmartEnergy/86/AC

SyCSmartEnergy/87/INF

Approval and comments are due August 3rd.  

These documents will placed on the agenda of the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facility Committee.  Note that the E&H Committee meets on-line twice per month, every other Tuesday in both European and American time zones.  Anyone is welcomed to join these teleconferences with login information available in the link below:

http://sites.ieee.org/icps-ehe/

Issue: [15-197]

Contact: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey

Colleagues: Mahesh Illindala (Ohio State University), Giuseppe Parisi (Sapienza University of Roma), Loren Clark (University of Alberta). Jim Murphy (Lawrence Livermore Laboratory: University of California Berkeley),  Brian Marchionini (NEMA), Paul Green (University of Michigan)

Category: Electrical, Telecommunications, Energy Management, #SmartCampus, Informatics, Information & Communications Technology

 

Posted May 13, 2018

 

We participate as a voting “user-interest” on the US National Committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission (USNC/IEC) that is developing an international standard for Smart Grid and Smart City concepts.    Because campuses are “cities-within-cities”, and because we know there is a great deal of federal funding for smart grid research that is relevant to the academic side of the education industry, we want to front-run the trend toward #SmartCampus as far as practicality allows; always asking the same question: How will these high-level policy concepts translate into tangible value into first and running costs that track in our construction, operation and maintenance budgets?

Respecting international copyright regulations we are able to show some of a related project’s scope in the link below:

IEC 62559-2:2015 | Use case methodology

Backgrounder: Use Case Modeling for Smart Grids According to IEC/PAS 62559

The Association of Medical Imaging and Electrical Equipment Manufacturers (NEMA), the Administrator of the USNC Technical Advisory Group has released material for US stakeholders to review.   Because of copyright restrications upon draft material — very common in the development of regulatory products — we are unable to release the full text of the documents.   We are able, however, to provide a broad overview of the constellation of consensus documents under consideration:

Ω SyCSmartEnergy/31/CD- IEC 62913-1/TS/Ed1: Generic Smart Grid Requirements – Part 1: Specific application of the Use Case methodology for defining Generic Smart Grid Requirements according to the IEC System approach-

Ω SyCSmartEnergy/32/CD- IEC 62913-2-1/TS/Ed1: Generic Smart Grid Requirements – Part 2-1: Domains – Grid related domains, these include Transmission Grid Management, Distribution Grid Management, Microgrids and Smart Substation Automation

Ω  SyCSmartEnergy/33/CD- IEC 62913-2-3/TS/Ed1: Generic Smart Grid Requirements – Part 2-3: Domains – Resources connected to the grid related domains, these include Bulk Generation, Distributed Energy Resources, Smart Home / Commercial / Industrial / DR-Customer Energy Management, and Energy Storage

Ω SyCSmartEnergy/34/CD- IEC 62913-2-4/TS/Ed1: Generic Smart Grid Requirements – Part 2-4: Domains – Electric Transportation domain

Ω SyCSmartEnergy/35/CD-IEC 62913-2-5/TS/Ed1: Generic Smart Grid Requirements – Part 2-5: Domains – Support Functions related domains, these include Metering Management and Asset Management

These documents will placed on the agenda of the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facility Committee.  Note that the E&H Committee meets on-line twice per month, every other Tuesday in both European and American time zones.  Anyone is welcomed to join these teleconferences with login information available in the link below:

http://sites.ieee.org/icps-ehe/

Issue: [15-197]

Contact: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey

Colleague: Mahesh Illindala (Ohio State University), Giuseppe Parisi (Sapienza University of Roma), Loren Clark (University of Alberta). Jim Murphy (Lawrence Livermore Laboratory: University of California Berkeley)

Category: Electrical, Telecommunications, Energy Management, #SmartCampus, Informatics, Information & Communications Technology

The second annual European meeting of the IEEE I&CPS will take place June 12-15, 2018 at the University of Palermo:

Click on image

Topics on the standing agenda of the Education & Healthcare Facilities, Forensics & Ethical Responsibility will be discussed.  The papers exploring concepts relevant to the emergent #SmartCampus in Europe and the United States will be made available here and on the E&H site soon.

Thermography for Electrical & Mechanical Equipment

ASTM Technical Subcommittee E07 on non-destructive testing methods has updated a consensus document essential to effective preventive maintenance of smart campus infrastructure.  Application of the technology within its scope is equivalent to taking the temperature of a prospectively infirm individual — i.e to find aberrant “hot spots” the energy supply chain that runs interstitial through all education facilities before it fails.  ASTM 934 – 99a(2018) Standard Guide for Examining Electrical and Mechanical Equipment with Infrared Thermography shows up,  often implicitly,  in the general purpose contract language: “Conform to all applicable standards”.

The committee has just completed its revision cycle so all other building codes and maintenance standards that reference it should be updated.  There are several in the NFPA and ASME suite, for example.  From the project prospectus:

1.1 This guide lists the responsibilities of the end user and the infrared thermographer when examining electrical and mechanical systems.

1.2 This guide outlines the specific content required to document qualitative and quantitative infrared examinations of electrical and mechanical equipment.2

1.3 This guide may involve use of equipment and materials in the presence of heated, moving or all of these or electrically energized equipment.

1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

We refer this consensus document to the agenda of the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee (IEEE E&H) but its importance for assuring safe and sustainable campus energy systems is worth highlighting here.   On the campus of a large research university, for example, the effective cost of a forced electrical outage runs on the order of $100,000 to $1,000,000 per minute — especially on medical campuses.*   The economic harm caused by forced outages on mechanical systems runs the same order of magnitude.

The home page for the due processes of this committee is linked below:

Committee E07 on Nondestructive Testing

ASTM committees typically meet face-to-face twice per year.   ASTM E07 will meet again Sunday January 20, 2019 through Thursday January 24, 2019 at the Sheraton Suites Fort Lauderdale at Cypress Creek; Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  We encourage our colleagues in the area to participate.   While we keep our daily 11 AM agenda open to all ASTM standards action we encourage you to communicate directly with the ASTM Staff Manager for this committee: Kristy Straiton (kstraiton@astm.org), 610-832-9640

Issue: [18-352]

Category: Electrical, Facility Asset Management, Mechanical, Risk Management

Colleagues: Eric Albert, Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel

 

*The IEEE E&H committee collaborates with the IEEE IAS Reliability Committee to track and maintains a database of forced outages in education and university-affiliated facilities.

Theater Safety Standards

The Old Globe theatre — a print of the original theatre in London. Created in 1642 by Wenceslas Hollar for his Long View of London

Significant resources of the education industry are devoted to the arts; dramatic and performance arts among them.   The Entertainment Services and Technology Association is one of the first names in trade associations that supports the business of show business through networking, safe practices, education, and representation.  We follow the standards making activity of its technical committees and monitor public commenting opportunities at the link below:

 ESTA Public Review Drafts

A number of redlines have been released and summarized below:

E1.48 A Recommended Luminous Efficiency Function for Stage and Studio Luminaire Photometry

E1.20 Entertainment Technology — Remote Device Management over USITT DMX512 Networks

E1.34 Entertainment Technology – Measuring and Specifying the Slipperiness of Floors Used in Live Performance Venues

E1.62 Minimum specifications for mass-produced portable platforms, ramps, stairs, and choral risers for live performance events

Comments are due December 18th.  We encourage our colleagues with responsibilities for the safety and sustainability of cultural resource properties, media centers, performance venues and the like to participate in the ESTA technical standards development program.  You may communicate with them directly at the link below:

TSP Staff 

The growth of multi-media facilities with concentrated electrotechnology, as well as the demand for entertainment content globally, is gathering pace so we devote an hour every month to review the standards action.  Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page on December 20th, 11 AM to join us.

University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts

Issue: [16-88]

Category: Electrical, Arts & Entertainment Facilities

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Mike Hiler, Nehad El-Sherif, Mark Scott

 

Posted October 19, 2018

“Le Chahut” | Georges Seurat (1889)

Significant resources of the education industry are devoted to the arts; dramatic and performance arts among them.   The Entertainment Services and Technology Association is one of the first names in trade associations that supports the business of show business through networking, safe practices, education, and representation.   We follow the standards making activity of its technical committees; among them the ESTA Electrical Power Working Group which met at its annual meeting last month at the Dallas-Fort Worth Marriott.  Minutes from the last meeting are posted below:

Electrical Power Group Minutes

Some safety and sustainability concepts that track in the ESTA suite track in the the leading practice discussions of 2020 National Electrical Code (NEC) making panels; Code Making Panel 15 specifically:

Article 518 (Assembly Occupancies).  Except for the assembly occupancies explicitly covered by Article 520, this article covers all buildings or portions of buildings or structures designed or intended for the gathering together of 100 or more persons for such purposes as deliberation, worship, entertainment, eating, drinking, amusement, awaiting transportation, or similar purposes.

Article 520 (Theaters, Areas of Motion Picture and Television Studios, Performance Areas and Similar Locations.  This article covers all building or that part of a building or structure, indoor or outdoor, designed or used for presentation, dramatic, motion picture projection, or similar purposes and to specific audience seating areas within motion picture or television studios.

Public input for these two NEC articles begins on Page 112 of this linked document:

70_A2019_NEC_P15_FD_PISubmittals-2.  

The full report on the CMP-15 committee actions are available in the link below:

NFPA 70 CMP-15 First Revisions Report

All ESTA and NFPA codes and standards are on the standing agenda of our weekly Open Door teleconferences (every Wednesday, 11 AM Eastern time) which are open to everyone and accessible at this link (Standards Michigan Open Door Teleconference Login Information).  We also coordinate our responses to all NFPA fire safety and electrotechnology documents with IEEE Standards and Codes Committee 18 and the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee.

Ahead of the NEC Second Draft Report meetings in San Dieigo, a special breakout session with IEEE SCC-18 is set for October 19th,  1:00 PM EDT.   to review all comments from the user-interest point of view.   You may communicate directly with Mike Anthony or Christel Hunter for login credentials to participate.

Issue: [Various]

Category: Electrical, Telecommunications, Fire Protection, Arts & Entertainment Facilities, Lecture Halls

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey,  Christel Hunter, Nehad El-Sherif

April 29, 2018

Globe Theater | Southern Utah UniversityThe Entertainment Services and Technology Association (ESTA — formerly PLASA) has released for public review the consensus standards listed below:

E1.1-201x, Entertainment Technology – Construction and Use of Wire Rope Ladders  This standard describes the construction and use of wire rope ladders in the entertainment industry in order to promote worker safety. The entertainment industry includes, but is not strictly limited to, musical productions, live concerts, live theater, film production, video production, corporate events, and trade shows. Wire rope ladders are used where ladders with rigid rails are impractical to use or would pose a greater danger. It is being revised to update and incorporate referenced standards. Commenting period open until April 30th.

ES1.19, Safety Requirements for Special Event Structures.  This document is one part of a larger suite of ES1 standards relating to special event safety being developed. This draft standard covers any temporary structure used for special events (e.g., concerts, award shows, dramatic plays) not otherwise addressed by existing standards, codes, or legislation. The purpose of this document is to identify design, fabrication, operation and use, inspection and maintenance requirements for the structures included in its scope.  Commenting period open until April 10th.

E1.46-201x, Standard for the Prevention of Falls from Theatrical Stages and Raised Performance Platforms.  The users of theatrical stages and raised platforms can suffer debilitating injuries from falls into orchestra pits, open stage lifts, and similar openings in stage floors. Health and safety regulations require action to prevent these falls, but offer little guidance that is suitable for theatrical environments. This document provides that guidance. The consensus body has decided to revise the existing ANSI E1.46 – 2016 standard due to recent changes in 29 CFR 1910 subpart D.  Commenting period open until March 12th.

E1.6-1, Entertainment Technology – Powered Hoist Systems.  This standard establishes requirements for the design, manufacture, installation, inspection, and maintenance of powered hoist systems for lifting and suspension of loads for performance, presentation, and theatrical production. This standard does not apply to the structure to which the hoist is attached, attachment of loads to the load carrying device, systems for flying people, welded link chain hoists, and manually powered hoists.  Commenting period open until February 20th.

E1.4-3 – 201x, Entertainment Technology—Manually Operated Hoist Rigging Systems.  This standard applies to permanently installed, human-powered manually operated hoists used as part of rigging systems for raising, lowering, and suspension of scenery, properties, lighting, and similar loads. This standard establishes requirements for the design, manufacture, installation, inspection, and maintenance of manual hoist systems for lifting and suspension of loads for performance, presentation, and theatrical production.   Commenting period open until January 16th.

Review copies are free at this link:  ESTA Public Review Drafts.  Order from: Karl Ruling, (212) 244-1505, standards@esta.org.   Send comments to Karl Ruling, (212) 244-1505 (with copy to psa@ansi.org).

Issue: [16-88]

Category: Electrical, Arts & Entertainment Facilities

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Nehad El-Sherif

 

From our archive:

Audiovisual Systems Energy Management

Untitled Abstract Art | Romero Britto

The Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association has released a revision of its standard AVIXA S601.01-201x, Audiovisual Systems Energy Management that is now open for public review and available on the AVIXA public commenting facility:

AVIXA Standards Home Page

From the AVIXA S601 prospectus:

This is an internationally applicable standard for the control, monitoring, and use of electric power for audiovisual (AV) systems, whereby power is conserved whenever possible using ongoing operational management, design principles, and component selection.  AV systems that are managed in conformance with the Standard will include benchmarking, monitoring, and control. Energy management of an audiovisual system is accomplished through:

– Strategic design of the monitoring system, software, and components;
– Accurate implementation of the design;
– Testing procedures of installed systems;
– Ongoing supervision and control of the system;
– Creation and execution of an energy management plan; and
– Reporting and analysis of power consumption

This is a revision and redesignation of ANSI/INFOCOMM 4M-2012.  Comments are due January 28, 2019

Consider this: The “campus experience” driven by electrotechnology is gathering pace.  To what degree should these installations be built and managed as a central resource to an entire school district, college, or university, or should these installations be built and managed by smaller, individual academic and business units that can afford them?   There are several other standards that AVIXA has released for public review that might enlighten management decision-making that are also due:

User Experience Design for AV

Rack Building for Audiovisual Systems

Standard Guide for Audiovisual Systems Design and Coordination Processes

Unified Automation for Buildings – Part 1: Terminology and Concepts

The current standard version of AVIXA S601.01 may be obtained directly at http://www.avixa.org/standards.  Order from: standards@avixa.org.  You may comments directly to standards@avixa.org (with copy to psa@ansi.org)

Although we are happy to discuss any standard, any day at 11 AM Eastern time, we will refer this to the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee which meets online twice in Europe and the Americas on December 18th which is the locus of expertise in electrotechnology for the education facilities industry.

University of Akron

 

Issue: [18-349]

Category: Arts & Entertainment Facilities, Electrical, Energy Management, Facility Asset Management, #SmartCampus,

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Mark Scott

LEARN MORE:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Campus Outdoor Lighting

“The Starry Night” | Vincent van Gogh

The IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee has been developing a new chapter for designing, building, operating and maintaining campus exterior lighting systems in the emergent IEEE 3001.9 Recommended Practice for the Design of Power Systems for Supplying Commercial and Industrial Lighting Systems.  Campus exterior lighting systems generally run in the 100 to 10,000 fixture range and are, arguably, the most visible characteristic of public safety infrastructure.   Some major research universities have exterior lighting systems that are larger and more complex than cooperative and municipal power company lighting systems which are regulated by public service commissions.

While there has been considerable expertise in developing illumination concepts by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, Illumination Engineering Society, the American Society of Heating and Refrigeration Engineers, the International Electrotechnical Commission and the International Commission on Illumination, none of them contribute to leading practice discovery for the actual power chain for these large scale systems.   The standard of care has been borrowed, somewhat anecdotally, from public utility community lighting system practice. These concepts need to be revisited as the emergent #SmartCampus takes shape.

The Industrial & Commercial Power Systems Department of IEEE is charged with writing all IEEE power system standards and coordinating their development with the Power Engineering Society and SCC-18 — the committee responsible for coordinating IEEE standards with NFPA standards.  IEEE 3001.9 will replace the lighting chapters the legacy IEEE Red Book.

Electrical power professionals who are experts in campus exterior lighting systems are encouraged to communicate directly with Steven Townsend (steven.townsend@gm.com) or Pat Roder (p.roder@ieee.org) about participating in the development of IEEE 3001.9 generally.

Progress was made at the last Industrial Applications Society meeting in Portland in late September. An online breakout meeting is scheduled for November 28th, 3:00 – 4:00 PM Eastern time.  (Send steven.townsend@ieee.org an email for login credentials). This project is also on the standing agenda of the E&H Committee which meets again in European and American time zones on Tuesday December 18th.

IEEE E&H Committee Teleconference Login

We will summarize progress and update everyone of the status of the drafts that will be submitted to the IEEE Standards Association for release in early 2020.   We expect that Chapter 14 of this document will set the standard of care for designing, building, operating and maintaining university-owned outdoor lighting systems.

Issue: [15-199]

Category: Electrical, Public Safety, Architectural, #SmartCampus, Space Planning, Risk Management

Contact: Mike Anthony, Kane Howard, Jim Harvey, Dev Paul, Jeffery Richland, Steven Townsend

Energy Standard for Buildings

“The Magpie” | Claude Monet (1868)

ASHRAE — formerly the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers — is an ANSI-accredited continuous-maintenance standards developer (a major contributor to what we call a regulatory product development “stream”).  Ahead of its next semi-annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia January 14-16 2019  the ASHRAE standards administration team has released another batch of candidate changes to its flagship product — ASHRAE 90.1 Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings — all of which will affect the design, construction and operation of education facilities.   Ideally, late-breaking developments in the revised standard of care set in this document will synchronize with the release of the next edition of the International Building Code in 2019,

ASHRAE 90.1 is co-developed with the Illumination Engineering Society because about 35 percent of electrical energy load is lighting load.   There are thousands of workgroups on the direct payroll of facilities organizations within school districts, colleges and universities — and, perhaps, as many architects, engineers, and facility construction and maintenance contractors — that use ASHRAE 90.1 in their practice every day.

Now come twenty-four (24) proposed changes — some major, some minor — with deadlines run from December 16 through December 30th.  There are so many them that it is best to simply direct you to the ASHRAE’s public commenting facility:

Online Standards Actions & Public Review Drafts

We encourage user interests – either front line staff directly employed by a college or university or an outside consultant skilled in developing lower #TotalCostofOwnership concepts — to set up their own ASHRAE account to respond directly.   In our 20+ year tenure in standards advocacy for the education facilities industry, we find that technical committees administered by ANSI accredited standards developers typically need operating data — i.e. in the case of this document, energy consumption data.

University of Alaska Fairbanks

All ASHRAE standards are a standing item on our daily teleconferences every day, 11 AM Eastern time.  We also pull together all mechanical engineering standards once per month and knock around ideas for responding to proposed changes or developing proposals of our own.   We will do that again on December 17th, 11 AM.   Us the same login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

Issue: [Various]

Category: Mechanical, Electrical, Energy Conservation, Facility Asset Management, US Department of Energy, #SmartCampus

Colleagues: Eric Albert, Mike Anthony, Larry Spielvogel, Richard Robben

 

LEARN MORE:

StandardsMichigan ASHRAE 90.1 Advocacy Archive (Send an email to bella@standardsmichigan.com for access)

US Department of Energy Building Energy Codes Program

 

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS

For the first time since 1999 the user interest in the $300 billion education facilities industry in the United States no longer has a direct vote on any technical committee of the National Electrical Code.  The National Electrical Code is the most widely used technical standard in the world and forms the foundation for the public safety culture in all 50 states, in local governments, and in thousands of school districts, college and universities in the United States.   Of the approximately $80 billion the education industry spends on construction in every year; about $10 billion of that is new electro-technology installations alone; the cost of operating and maintaining them a far greater expense.

With the gathering pace of the Internet of Things transformation this is no time for the education facilities industry to be without a strong and formal voice on the National Electrical Code.   Accordingly, as the catalyst for getting the education facilities industry effectively engaged in codes and standards in the first place (See ABOUT) we will persist recommending that business operation executives and front line education facility managers consult with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee where the locus of expertise and influence is concentrated.

The IEEE build-out into the education facilities industry began about four years ago, does not just involve the NFPA suite and comes with significant resources.

  1. A dedicated videochannel to educate A/E’s , business leaders, facility managers, electricians, inspectors and others about campus power systems (CLICK HERE FOR IEEE-E&H TV)
  2. A participating member of the United States National Committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission
  3. Collaboration platforms: LinkedIn Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee;  on IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Collabratec
  4.  A proven and effective voice on IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee 18 where US and international experts from business and academia gather to harmonize IEEE and NFPA electrical codes and standards

December 11-12, 2018 | IEEE electrical experts from business and academia from around the globe discuss proposed changes for the 2020 National Electrical Code

Ahead of the January 11, 2019 balloting of all NEC technical committees we are going to march through all of the proposed changes for the 2020 National Electrical Code that will effect the safety and sustainability goals of the US education facilities industry.   We will start with proposals in on the agendas of Code-Making Panels 1 and 15; using the workspace linked below:

2020 NFPA 70 National Electrical Code Workspace

These proposals will be on the agenda of tomorrow’s IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee online teleconference (December 18th at 15:00 in Europe and 3:00 PM Eastern time in the Americas.   Everyone is welcomed to join that IEEE teleconference and/or click into our weekly teleconferences to develop safety and sustainability concepts in this and other consensus documents every Wednesday, 11 AM Eastern time..   Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

 

Issue: [Various]

Category: Electrical, Facility Asset Management,  Healthcare Facilities, #SmartCampus, Telecommunication

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Lorne Clark, Jim Harvey, Kane Howard, Massimo Mittolo, Ark Tssiserev, SCC-18 Member Roster

 

Posted April 23, 2018

Henry Ford Hydropower Generator at the University of Michigan Dearborn Campus

We have advocated the safety and sustainability interest of the education facilities industry since 1993 — first through APPA Leadership in Education; one of many education industry trade associations and whose codes and standards council the University of Michigan inspired; and now through the IEEE; the largest professional trade association in the world.   (See ABOUT for the full story).

Several proposals (public input) advocating safety and sustainability concepts from the user interest in the education industry were submitted for consideration by Code-Making Panel 1, now linked below:

NFPA 70 Public Input Report to CMP-1 70_A2019_NEC_P01_FD_PISubmittals

NFPA 70 CMP-1 Ballot Prelim 70_A2019_NEC_P01_FD_PRELIMFR

The results of the First Draft balloting will be posted on July 6th and stakeholders will have time to respond to the committee decisions.

Some of the proposals were inspired by the University of Michigan, some by the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee, which meets two times online tomorrow (April 24th) — at 15:00 in Europe (9 AM Eastern time in the Americas) and 3:00 PM Eastern time in the Americas (21:00 in Europe).   Everyone is welcomed to join that IEEE teleconference and/or our weekly teleconferences to develop safety and sustainability concepts in this and other consensus documents every Wednesday, 11 AM Eastern time.  Click here to log in.

 

Uniform Plumbing Code

Waterfall on Mont-Morency, by Robert Scott Duncanson, 1864. © Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC / Art Resource, NY.

The IAPMO Group is a consensus standards developer accredited by the American National Standards Institute.  One of its regulatory products — the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) — has entered a revision cycle for the 2021 edition; which will be incorporated by reference into public water safety law in many states.  The provisions of the UPC apply to the erection, installation, alteration, repair, relocation, replacement, addition to, use, or maintenance of plumbing systems within this jurisdiction.  From the project prospectus, the scope of the UPC is shown below:

Includes all potable water, building supply, and distribution pipes; all plumbing fixtures and traps; all drainage and vent pipes; and all building drains, and building sewers, including their respective joints and connections, devices, receptors, and appurtenances within the property lines of the premises and shall include potable water piping, potable water treating or using equipment, medical gas and medical vacuum systems, liquid and fuel gas piping, and water heaters and vents for same. 

As with the Uniform Mechanical Code — covered here previously — the proposal phase of the 2021 UPC revision process has already taken place and the monograph of proposed changes is now open for public comment and linked below:

Uniform Plumbing Code Report on Proposals | 854 pages

Several proposals deal with the nature and number of water closets and venting systems in education facilities; school food preparation and sewage systems; and piping materials for all occupancy classifications.

Comments are due January 3, 2019.   

You may submit a comment directly at this link:

IAPMO Online Public Comment Home Page.

You may communicate directly with IAPMO’s standards staff here: IAPMO (International Association of Plumbing & Mechanical Officials) 4755 E. Philadelphia Street Ontario, CA 91761 Office: (909) 472-4241 Gabriella Davis gaby.davis@iapmo.org.  We will also place this standard, and all other water safety and sustainability standards on the agenda of a breakout teleconference scheduled for November 27th, 11 AM.  Use the login credentials at the top of our home page to join.

Issue: [12-59] and [17-299]

Category: Water

Colleagues: Ron George, Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel,

 

LEARN MORE:

IAPMO Codes

Model Plumbing Code Adoption Map *

Since 2012 we have been tracking several IAPMO documents which govern the safety and sustainability concepts in education facilities; among them:

Uniform Solar Energy and Hydronics Code [Issue 15-15]

Cross-Connection Control Professional Qualifications Standard [13-75]

Uniform Swimming Pool Code [Issue 13-14]

Aluminum and copper plumbing fixtures [Issue 12-99]

*Contact IAPMO for latest revision map.

 

 

 

Uniform Mechanical Code

“Man and Machinery” | Diego Rivera (1933)

The IAPMO Group launched the 2021 revision cycle for the Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC); widely incorporated by reference into public safety law in many states.  The IAPMO product is different than the International Code Council product (International Mechanical Code); much of apparent overlap in scope due to the tenure of the IAPMO group before the International Code Council was formed in the early 2000’s.   History is not our business today, however.   From UMC prospectus:

BSR/IAPMO UMC 1-20xx, Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC). This code provides minimum standards to safeguard life or limb, health, property, and public welfare by regulating and controlling the design, construction, installation, quality of materials, location, operation and maintenance, or use of heating, ventilating, cooling, refrigeration systems, incinerators and other miscellaneous heat-producing appliances. The provisions of this code apply to the erection, installation, alteration, repair, relocation, replacement, addition to, use, or maintenance of mechanical systems.

This document is developed so that its technical concepts correlate with the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC).  The UPC provides standards and requirements to safeguard life or limb, health, property and public welfare by regulating and controlling the design, construction, installation, quality of materials, location, operation and maintenance or use of plumbing systems. The provisions of this code apply to the erection, installation, alteration, repair, relocation, addition to, use, or maintenance of plumbing systems.

Project Need: Designation of the UMC as an American National Standard has provided the built industry with uniform mechanical standards resulting in a reduction in training costs and product development costs, and in price reduction for consumers. This American National Standard provides consumers with safe mechanical systems while allowing latitude for innovation and new technologies. This project is intended to keep the code current.

Stakeholders: Manufacturers, users, installers and maintainers, labor research/standards/testing laboratories, enforcing authorities, consumers, and special experts. *

The Complete Monograph of proposed revisions for the 2021 Uniform Mechanical Code has been released and available for public review.

UMC 2018 Technical Committee Meeting Monograph

Comments are due January 3, 2019.   We encourage subject matter experts at the workpoint in the education facilities industry — i.e. tradespersons, foremen, supervisors with a user-interest in lowering #TotalCostofOwnership — to participate in the development of the next revision of the Uniform Mechanical Code.  As we explain in our ABOUT we find that standards developers routinely attempt to cultivate the user-interest but workpoint subject matter experts do not receive the sustained financial support from their management and leadership anywhere close to the way incumbent interests — conformity, compliance, enforcement, insurance, labor, manufacturers — receive support.

We will walk through the IAPMO suites, and other mechanical engineering standards, today — December 17th 11 AM Eastern time.   Use the login credentials at the top right of our home page.

More detailed information about how all stakeholders may participate is available this link: Public Comment Page.    You may communicate directly with IAPMO’s standards staff here: IAPMO (International Association of Plumbing & Mechanical Officials) 4755 E. Philadelphia Street Ontario, CA 91761 Office: (909) 472-4241 Gabriella Davis gaby.davis@iapmo.org

Since 2012 we have been tracking several IAPMO documents which govern the safety and sustainability concepts in education facilities; among them:

Uniform Solar Energy and Hydronics Code [Issue 15-15]

Cross-Connection Control Professional Qualifications Standard [13-75]

Uniform Swimming Pool Code [Issue 13-14]

Aluminum and copper plumbing fixtures [Issue 12-99]

Issue: [17-299]

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