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Outdoor Amphitheaters

“Panoramic View of the Greek Amphitheatre at Syracuse” / Abraham Louis Rodolphe Ducros (18th Century)

Outdoor amphitheaters have their own set of safety and sustainability challenges but, from time to time — particularly in the summer months when many events are hosted outdoors — we break form from the daily grind of responding to public commenting opportunities to simply enjoy them.  See our CALENDAR for the next Arts & Entertainment Facility monthly teleconference during which time we drill down into technical specifics.

 

Globe Theater | Southern Utah University

 

University of Colorado

South Dakota State University

California State University San Marcos

Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro

Clemson University

 

University of Virginia

 

Texas Woman’s University

Swarthmore College

Pomona College

Oakland University Meadowbrook Theater / Rochester, Michigan

More coming

 

Food Safety

“Plums and Apricots” | Emilie Preyer (1849-1930)

The education industry — specifically schools, colleges, universities (residence halls, athletic venues, hospitals, etc) — all have significant food preparation and serving enterprises.

Since 2013 we have been following the development of food safety standards; among them ANSI/NSF 2: Food Equipment one of a constellation of NSF food safety documents whose provisions cover bakery, cafeteria, kitchen, and pantry units and other food handling and processing equipment such as tables and components, counters, hoods, shelves, and sinks.  The purpose of this Standard is to establish minimum food protection and sanitation requirements for the materials, design, fabrication, construction, and performance of food handling and processing equipment.

You may be enlightened by the concepts running through this committee by the 24-page summary of 2018 technical committee action below:

NSF International Food Safety 2018 Meeting Summary – 2018-08-22 – Final Draft

Ranchview High School Cafeteria

This committee – along with several other joint committees –meets frequently online.  If you wish to participate, and receive access to documents that explain the scope and scale of NSF food safety standards, please contact Allan Rose, (734) 827-3817, arose@nsf.org.   Even if those who are not granted a vote within the constraints of ANSI’s Due process requirements for American national standards, NSF International welcomes guests to nearly all of its standards-setting technical committees.

We are happy to discuss the NSF International’s relevance to the safety and sustainability goals of the education industry any day at 11 AM Eastern time. We also host a monthly food safety standards teleconference.  See our CALENDAR for the next meeting.  Both are open to everyone.   Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

Issue: [13-113] [15-126]

Category: Facility Asset Management, Healthcare, Residence Hall, Athletics

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Richard Robben

LEARN MORE:

2017 Food Code | US Food & Drug Administration

 

ARCHIVE: Posted January 8, 2018

Since 2013 we have been following the development of NSF International food safety standards; among them ANSI/NSF 2: Food Equipment one of a constellation of NSF food safety documents whose provisions cover bakery, cafeteria, kitchen, and pantry units and other food handling and processing equipment such as tables and components, counters, hoods, shelves, and sinks.  The purpose of this Standard is to establish minimum food protection and sanitation requirements for the materials, design, fabrication, construction, and performance of food handling and processing equipment.  Click here for an overview of the technical specifics.

NSF has opened for public review, a relatively small document correlation change in the NSF 2 (Page 35 of ANSI Standards Action).    Comments are due January 21, 2018.

Additionally, NSF International is always seeking experts to serve on various NSF Joint Committees.  Members provide technical guidance, review and vote on revisions to NSF/ANSI Standards, and address public health and safety issues.  Members are needed to represent Users, Public Health and Safety/Regulatory and Industry stakeholders; and are defined below.

– User is a person outside the manufacturing sector who purchases, uses, or specifies materials, products, systems, or services covered in the various scopes of the NSF/ANSI Standards.

– Public Health and Safety/Regulatory is a person from a public agency (local, regional, state, federal, or international) or represents a professional public/environmental health/safety organization, academia, or a model code organization.

– Industry is a person who produces, assembles, distributes, or sells materials, products, systems, or services covered in the scope of the standard.  Industry trade association representatives are included in this membership classification.

Click here for information about openings on food safety committees.  If you wish to participate please contact Allan Rose, (734) 827-3817, arose@nsf.org

 

 

Coffee

“Coffee in the Garden” | Daniel Ridgway Knight (1839-1924)

As the U.S. member body to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) encourages its members and relevant stakeholders to participate in discovering standardization solutions in a broad range of technologies and markets with like-minded experts in other national standards bodies.  The full sweep of ANSI’s participation in consensus documents developed by the ISO is described in the link below:

ISO Programs – Overview

ANSI recently posted a US leadership opportunity regarding the value chain of a product familiar to daily life at home and in business: coffee.   The ISO administers leading practice discovery and promulgation in the global coffee value chain through parent Technical Committee 34 (TC34) with the Association Française de Normalisation as the global Secretariat with the Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas as the twinned Secretariat*.  Subcommittee 15 oversees standardization in the field of coffee and coffee products, covering the coffee chain from green coffee to consumption, in particular. Standardization includes terminology, sampling, test methods and analysis, product specifications and requirements for packaging, storage and transportation

From the ISO/TC 34 prospectus:

Business Plan ISO TC34 Food Products

The Secretariats for this subcommittee is currently held by Colombia (ICONTEC) but, with ANSI recently announcing that it is relinquishing its role as the US Technical Advisory Group Administrator, there is no US stakeholder participating.  ANSI has posted an invitation for another US-based stakeholder to assume leadership in this standard:

ANSI Standards Action Page 34

Apart from the passion that young people have for fair trade in any market, we see this as an outstanding opportunity for faculty and students to gain insight into the geo-politics of food supply generally and the subtleties of coffee markets.

Business schools, agricultural colleges, international studies program developers who may be, and should be, interested in a leadership opportunity on behalf of the United States should communicate directly with ANSI’s ISO Team ((isot@ansi.org).   Standards Michigan also devotes an hour every month to review public commenting opportunities on all international standards.  See our CALENDAR for the next online teleconference.

Issue: [19-46]

Category: Academic, International

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Christine Fischer

* ISO Guidance on Twinning

LEARN MORE:

 

 

High-Performance Green Buildings

“Hudson River Waterfront” | Colin Campbell Cooper (1913)

TO BE UPDATED WITH CONTENT LINKED HERE: ANSI STANDARDS ACTION PAGES 65-95

With about one hundred technical committees administered by accredited standards developers globally, the stream of standards action in the building energy conservation space is one of the fastest-moving; and a space that demonstrates remarkable adaption.  As the largest non-residential building construction market in the United States the education facility industry is on the receiving end of prescriptive and performance requirements produced by these technical committees that are enforced by state agencies and/or sustainability consortia.

Now comes several more candidate revisions to another fast-moving standard — ASHRAE/ICC/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1 Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings — co-developed (and significantly re-branded recently) by four different organizations that are accessible at the link below:

Public Review Draft Standards / Online Comment Database

From the ASHRAE byline: “Addendum ac limits automated demand response requirements to regions where a demand response program is available. An exception is added for buildings with a gross conditioned floor area less than 5,000 ft2 . The revision also includes that the building controls need to be capable of documenting results of the demand response event.”

Comments are due June 16th.  

We welcome real-time discussion on these and other energy conservation proposals any day at 11 AM Eastern time.   We sweep through the entire span of the codes and standards found in design guidelines, construction project contracts and facility management consensus documents once per month.  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our homepage.

 

Issue: [Various]

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

Colleagues:  Eric Albert, Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel

Standards Georgia

Yale University Art Museum

Posted December 26, 2018

 

With about one hundred technical committees administered by accredited standards developers globally, the stream of standards action in the building energy conservation space is one of the fastest-moving; and a space that demonstrates remarkable adaption.  As the largest non-residential building construction market in the United States the education facility industry is on the receiving end of prescriptive and performance requirements produced by these technical committees that are enforced by state agencies and/or sustainability consortia.

Now comes three more candidate revisions to another fast-moving standard — ASHRAE/ICC/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1 Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings — co-developed (and significantly re-branded recently) by four different organizations that are accessible at the link below:

Public Review Draft Standards / Online Comment Database

To paraphrase some of the issues in play:

Addendum a: The first public review draft added Climate Zones 4A and 4B to those required to meet heat island mitigation criteria in Section 5.3.5.3 for roofs. In response to the first public review, two additional exceptions were added.

Addendum m: This addendum adds new provisions to enable right-sized tubing for efficient delivery of water through hot water distribution systems. The new requirement balances health, energy and plumbing code intents with energy and water efficiency strategies. The addendum is based in part on research by the California Energy Commission on the energy implications of hot water supply. The volume of water in a pipe is the primary determinant of how long a user must wait for hot water to be delivered at a fixture. This has significant implications for both energy use to heat the water and the volume of water wasted before delivery. Similar provisions are currently included in the IECC and the IgCC.

[Comment: This addendum for “right-sized” piping resembles proposals we have made in previous revisions of ASHRAE 90.1; though there are counter-arguments that involve Legionella mitigation]

Addendum n: This addendum clarifies the indoor environmental quality requirements for composite wood and related materials, by adding the recent USEPA’s regulation on composite wood products, requiring that products be certified as meeting the requirements of CARB or USEPA as being manufactured either with ultra-lowemitting formaldehyde resins or no added formaldehyde resins and updating the language on lab certification to make it consistent with the language already in the 189.1-2017 for the other building material categories in Section 8.4.2.

Comments are due January 20th.

We welcome real-time discussion on these and other energy conservation proposals any day at 11 AM Eastern time.   Our next Mechanical Engineering monthly teleconference is scheduled for February 19th, 11 AM.   Use the login credentials at the upper right of our homepage.

St. Norbert College

Issue: [Various]

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

Colleagues:  Eric Albert, Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel

Standards Georgia

 

Posted October 8, 2018

“New York from Brooklyn” | Colin Campbell Cooper (1910)

With about one hundred technical committees administered by accredited standards developers globally, the stream of standards action in the building energy conservation space is one of the fastest-moving.  As the largest non-residential building construction market in the United States the education facility industry is on the receiving end of prescriptive and performance requirements produced by these technical committees that are enforced by state agencies or sustainability consortia.

At the moment, the four-partner collaboration of the American Society of Heating and Refrigeration Engineers (ASHRAE), the International Code Council (ICC). the United States Green Building  Council (USGBC) and the Illumination Engineering Society (IES) opens the proposals of its technical committees to public review in 30 to 90 day intervals according to ANSI’s Continuous Maintenance process.  Keep in mind that ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES/ICC Standard 189.1-2017 Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings is not necessarily a safety document but it deserves our attention because it is referenced into ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2016 — Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings which is incorporated by reference into many local, state and national energy conservation laws.

Little Big Horn College

Now comes two more candidate revisions that are accessible at the link below:

Public Review Draft Standards / Online Comment Database

Note that Addendum j and Addendum k are the First Public Review of candidate changes that are significant renewable energy concepts.

Comments are due October 22nd.

We welcome real-time discussion on these and other energy conservation proposals any day at 11 AM Eastern time.   Our next Mechanical Engineering monthly teleconference is scheduled for November 19th, 11 AM.  Even though the deadline for commenting on the proposals listed here will have passed, there is another batch of addenda open for public comment right behind it which we will identify in separate posts.

Use the login credentials at the upper right of our homepage.

Issue: [Various]

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

Colleagues:  Eric Albert, Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel

Posted August 1, 2018

Grand Valley State University

ASHRAE is an ANSI-accredited continuous-maintenance standards developer (a significant tributary in what we call the regulatory product development “stream”).   Technical committees developing continuous maintenance regulatory products release public review documents in 30-to-90 day intervals.  The technical committee writing ASHRAE 189.1 Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings has released the following redlines for public review:

Addendum f

This addendum replaces the current definition of “construction documents,” which references Standard 90.1, with a definition that is consistent with the 2015 International Green Construction Code. The Standard 90.1 definition does not address building sites or land development which are included in the scope of Standard 189.1.

Addendum g

This addendum replaces the current defined term of “design professional” from Standard 90.1 with “registered design professional,” which is consistent with the terms used in the 2015 International Green Construction Code. Standard 189.1 addresses subject matter for which the traditional titles of architect and engineer, used in the Standard 90.1 definition) do not necessarily align with typical requirements of authorities having jurisdiction. For example, it is common for jurisdictions to have tiered requirements for designer qualifications, often permitting licensed master tradespeople to design certain projects within their respective discipline. The proposed definition also better accommodates specialty design categories such as onsite wastewater system designer, irrigation system designer, landscape designer and soil scientist.

Addendum h

This addendum clarifies that it is the alternate on-site sources of water or municipally reclaimed water are not required to be “acceptable” because it is given that anything not disallowed by an AHJ is acceptable.

All addenda may be found in their entirety at the link below:

ASHRAE Online Standards Actions & Public Review Drafts

Comments are due August 8th.

Technical committees developing ASHRAE codes and standards typically meet face-to-face twice a year at ASHRAE Conferences; the next one in Atlanta, Georgia January 14-16 2019.   We encourage education facility professionals in within driving distance of this conference to attend the ASHRAE technical standards meetings.   Ahead of these conferences we will also host a dedicated markup session for mechanical engineering standards on July 24th, 11:00 AM during which time we will examine and markup documents released for public review by ASHRAE, ASME, AWWA, IAMPO and other organizations developing documents that determine #TotalCostofOwnership of education facilities.

Issue: [Various], ASHRAE

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

Colleagues: Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel

Link to ANSI Announcement:  ANSI Standards Action (PDF Pages 42-24).

Somerset Community College

Standards Wyoming

As we explain in our ABOUT, we are continuing the development of the cadre of “code writers and vote-getters” begun at the University of Michigan in 1993.  We are now drilling down into state and local adaptations of nationally developed codes and standards that are incorporated by reference into public safety and sustainability legislation.

This post is a “test pancake” for generating discussion, and for developing a way forward for crafting state exceptions to nationally developed codes and standards.  Every state will have to be managed according to its history, culture, governance regime, asset-base and network of expertise.

Standards Michigan will remain the “free” home site but state-specific sites such as Standards Wyoming will be accessible to user-interest code-writers and vote-getters.   Please send bella@standardsmichigan.com a request to join one of our mailing lists appropriate to your interest for #SmartCampus standards action in the State of Wyoming.

Pool, Spa and Recreational Water Standards

“Innenansicht des Kaiserbades in Aachen” | Jan Luyken (1682)

The education industry provides of one the largest markets for pool, spa and recreational water technologies and facilities.  Slme of the larger research universities have dozens of pools including those in university-affiliated healthcare facilities.  Apart from publicly visible NCAA swimming programs there are whirpools in healthcare facilities and therapeutic tubs for athletes in other sports.

NSF International is one of the first names in this space and has collaborated with key industry stakeholders to make pools, spas and recreational water products safer since 1949.   The parent document in its suite is NSF 50 Pool, Spa and Recreational Water Standards  which  covers everything from pool pumps, strainers, variable frequency drives and pool drains to suction fittings, grates, and ozone and ultraviolet systems.  

The NSF 50 committee has proposed changes to the evaluation criteria for materials, components, products, equipment, and systems for use at recreational water facilities as can be seen in the redline linked below.  The change appears to strike identification of copper and silver in Section 13.19 covering Disinfection Efficacy:

ANSI Standards Action | Page 46-47

Comments are due June 16th.

Note that NSF International is one of several accredited standards developers that posts its redlines on ANSI’s public announcement facility linked above.  You may also find more detailed information on the NSF 50 technical committee workspace — Joint Committee on Recreational Water Facilities Workspace — or you may communicate directly with the NSF Joint Committee Chairperson, Mr. Tom Vyles (admin@standards.nsf.org)

Issue: [13-89]

Category: Athletic Facilities. Water Safety

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Ron George, Larry Spielvogel

LEARN MORE:

 

 

ARCHIVE: Posted January 26, 2019

 

The education industry provides of one the largest markets for pool, spa and recreational water technologies and facilities.  Slme of the larger research universities have dozens of pools including those in university-affiliated healthcare facilities.  Apart from publicly visible NCAA swimming programs there are whirpools in healthcare facilities and therapeutic tubs for athletes in other sports.

NSF International is one of the first names in this space and has collaborated with key industry stakeholders to make pools, spas and recreational water products safer since 1949.   The parent document in its suite is NSF 50 Pool, Spa and Recreational Water Standards  which  covers everything from pool pumps, strainers, variable frequency drives and pool drains to suction fittings, grates, and ozone and ultraviolet systems.  

The NSF 50 committee has proposed changes to Annex E can be seen in the redline linked below.

ANSI Standards Action Pages 51-55

Note that NSF International is one of several accredited standards developers that posts its redlines on ANSI’s public announcement facility linked above.  You may also find more detailed information on the NSF 50 technical committee workspace — Joint Committee on Recreational Water Facilities Workspace — or you may communicate directly with the NSF Joint Committee Chairperson, Mr. Tom Vyles (admin@standards.nsf.org)

Comments are due March 3rd.

University of Georgia

We walk through all the standards action in athletic and recreation enterprises every month.   Codes and standards are highly networked and highly “silo-ed” among standards developing organizations and technical committees.  Many organizations need help sorting through the action because it is in these spaces where the standard of care for safety and sustainability is established.  See our CALENDAR for the next breakout teleconference on Athletic & Recreation Standards

 

Issue: [13-89]

Category: Athletic Facilities. Water Safety

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel

 

 

ARCHIVE: Posted November 16, 2018

Fullerton College

The education industry provides of one the largest markets for pool, spa and recreational water technologies and facilities.  Apart from publicly visible NCAA swimming programs there are whirpools in healthcare facilities and therapeutic tubs for athletes in other sports.

NSF International is one of the first names in this space and has collaborated with key industry stakeholders to make pools, spas and recreational water products safer since 1949.   The parent document in its suite is NSF 50 Pool, Spa and Recreational Water Standards  which  covers everything from pool pumps, strainers, variable frequency drives and pool drains to suction fittings, grates, and ozone and UV systems.  

The NSF 50 committee has posted a redline for public review available at the link below:

ANSI Standards Action | PDF Page 108

Note that NSF International posts its redlines on ANSI’s public announcement facility linked above.  You may also find more detailed information on the NSF 50 technical committee workspace — Joint Committee on Recreational Water Facilities Workspace — or you may communicate directly with the NSF Joint Committee Chairperson, Mr. Tom Vyles (admin@standards.nsf.org)

Comments are due December 16th.

We walk through all the standards action in athletic and recreation enterprises every month.   Codes and standards are highly networked and highly “silo-ed” among standards developing organizations and technical committees.  Many organizations need help sorting through the action because it is in these spaces where the standard of care for safety and sustainability is established.   Our next teleconference is scheduled for December 6th, 11 AM Eastern time.  Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

 

Issue: [13-89]

Category: Athletic Facilities. Water Safety

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel

ARCHIVE: Posted August 29, 2018

Hamamatsu Technical High School

The education industry provides of one the largest markets for pool, spa and recreational water technologies and facilities.  Apart from the obvious market in recreational and NCAA swimming programs there are whirpools in healthcare facilities and therapeutic tubs for athletes.   Construction standards and operation and maintenance standards set by materially effected stakeholders provide credibility and industry acceptance for new or growing technologies and products. They are also incorporated by referenced into local, state and federal public safety law.

NSF International has collaborated with key industry stakeholders to make pools, spas and recreational water products safer since 1949.   NSF 50 Pool, Spa and Recreational Water Standards —  covers everything from pool pumps, strainers, variable frequency drives and pool drains to suction fittings, grates, and ozone and UV systems.   Standards such as NSF 50 provide credibility and industry acceptance for new or growing technologies and products.

The NSF 50 committee has been quiet for the past few months.  The next face-to-face meetings will take place on September 13th at NSF Headquarters in Ann Arbor.   Ahead of that, user-interests in the education industry are encourage to communicate with Mr. Tom Vyles, Chairperson Joint Committee on Recreational Water Facilities for information about how to participate.

Joint Committee on Recreational Water Facilities Workspace

Posted March 2, 2018

Our tracking of the action in the development of NSF 50 is listed below:

• Revisions regarding pool water disinfection (Pages 31-34 of this link)   Comments are due February 25th

• A revision to an annex of NSF 50 regarding limitation of metal contaminants in pool water (Pages 36-37 of this link).  Comments are due December 31st.

•A revision to Annex R for Environmental Protection Agency Offices of Pesticides and Microbials:  (Link to December 13, 2017, Memo)

• A revision to an annex of NSF 50 regarding the use of water flowing through chemical feeders (Click here).  Comments are due December 1st.

The public may comment directly on the NSF Online Workspace. and/or communicate directly with  Mr. Tom Vyles, Chairperson Joint Committee on Recreational Water Facilities. 

Action in the NSF International suite of standards generally track on this page: (Click here).  The NSF International suite of standards are a standing item of our weekly Open Door teleconferences every Wednesday, 11 AM Eastern Time, which are open to anyone.  Login information is available in the link below:

Contact

Issue: [13-89]

Category: Athletic Facilities. Water Safety

 

Fullerton College

 

LEARN MORE:

Tree Care

“Landscape with a clump of trees” | Théodore Rousseau (1844)

The condition of campus gardens, trees and landscaping is a central element of ambiance, brand identity, environmental instruction and even revenue tied to charitable donations.   The Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) will be updating a standard relevant to our #TotalCostofOwnership agenda: A300 Tree Care Operations – Tree, Shrub, and Other Woody Plant Management – Standard Practices. From the project prospectus:

Scope: Part 3 Supplemental Support Systems standards are performance standards for the installation of cabling, bracing, guying, and prop systems in trees and woody shrubs. It is a guide for drafting supplemental support system specifications for consumers as well as Federal, state, municipal, and private authorities including property owners, property managers, and utilities.

Project Need: Revision needed to review and incorporate changes in industry standard practices, as appropriate, since the approval of the current standard.

Stakeholders: Tree Care industry, Green industry, arborists, Land Care industry, landscape architects, property managers, utilities, urban planners, consumers, government agencies.

Comments are due July 29th.   As an accredited standards developer, the TCIA welcomes public participation (Learn more HERE).  Stakeholders in any interest category may communicate directly with Amy Tetreault at the Tree Care Industry Association, (603) 314-5380, atetreault@tcia.org, 136 Harvey Rd # 101, Londonderry, NH 03053

The activity of all ANSI accredited standards developers who contribute to the safety and sustainability agenda of the education industry are a standing item on the agenda of our daily 11 AM (Eastern) teleconference.   We also devote an hour every month to codes and standards that govern education industry Grounds & Landscaping enterprises.   See our CALENDAR for the next online teleconference.

 

Issue: [Various]

Category: Landscaping & Exterior

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja

Source: ANSI Standards Action

 

LEARN MORE:

International Society of Arborculture ANSI Standards

University of Florida Department of Landscape Architecture

University of Connecticut Plant Science and Landscape Architecture

Clemson University Landscape Architecture

Purdue University Landscape Architecture

 

Readings / Morrill Land-Grant Act

“Harvest Rest” / George Cole (1865)

From the Wikipedia: Land-grant university

“…A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890.

The Morrill Acts funded educational institutions by granting federally controlled land to the states for them to sell, to raise funds, to establish and endow “land-grant” colleges. The mission of these institutions as set forth in the 1862 Act is to focus on the teaching of practical agriculture, science, military science, and engineering (though “without excluding… classical studies”), as a response to the industrial revolution and changing social class.  This mission was in contrast to the historic practice of higher education to focus on a liberal arts curriculum. A 1994 expansion gave land grant status to several tribal colleges and universities….”

Link to the original legislation:

THIRTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS / Approved July 2, 1862

 

 

Fire and Life Safety in Animal Housing Facilities Code

It is not too soon to begin tooling up to prepare public input for the the 2022 revision of NFPA 150 Fire and Life Safety in Animal Housing Facilities Code.  Click project landing page linked below:

Fire and Life Safety in Animal Housing Facilities Code

Public input is due June 26, 2019.  We have been advocating in this document since the 2013 Edition.   We will examine what is new in the 2019 Edition and revisit committee response to our previous proposals for scalable, risk-informed requirements for sprinkler system coverage.

All NFPA consensus documents are open for discussion during our daily 11 AM online teleconferences but we harvest all public participation opportunities on fire safety issues once per month.  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.   Send a request for the advance agenda to bella@standardsmichigan.com.  Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

Issue: [11-1] and [19-5]

Category: Fire Protection, Facility Asset Management, Academic, Risk Management

ARCHIVE: Posted March 18, 2018

NFPA International has released the Second Draft Report of NFPA 150 Standard on Fire and Life Safety in Animal Housing Facilities (which, for commercial reasons, will likely change title to: Fire and Life Safety in Animal Housing Facilities Code for the 2019 edition).  From the project prospectus:

This standard shall provide the minimum requirements for the design, construction, fire protection, and classification of animal housing facilities.  The requirements of NFPA 150 recognize the following fundamental principles:

(1) Animals are sentient beings with a value greater than that of simple property.

(2) Animals, both domesticated and feral, lack the ability of self-preservation when housed in buildings and other structures.

(3) Current building, fire, and life safety codes do not address the life safety of the animal occupants.

The requirements found in NFPA 150 are written with the intention that animal housing facilities will continue to be designed, constructed, and maintained in accordance with the applicable building, fire, and life safety codes. The requirements herein are not intended to replace or rewrite the basic requirements for the human occupants. Instead, NFPA 150 provides additional minimum requirements for the protection of the animal occupants and the human occupants who interact with those animals in these facilities.

NFPA 150 is open for NITMAM until March 22nd.   This means that the public may respond to the Second Draft Report and challenge any of the technical committee’s decisions in front of the NFPA Standards Council at the NFPA Annual Conference & Expo, June 11-14th, in Las Vegas.

Because many large research universities have significant revenue drivers that involve laboratory animals the original University of Michigan codes and standards advocacy enterprise (collaborating with trade associations and subject matter experts at the Evergreen State University) advocated for practical approaches to ensuring animal life safety without putting the US research industry at risk of being non-competitive with university-affiliated research enterprises in other nations where laboratory animals are treated with a different standard of care.

We supported prevailing arguments against vendor over-reach — i.e. the tendency for well funded stakeholders to build a revenue stream through the standards development process.  We recommended forestalling the expansion of fire safety technologies into a broader classification of laboratory animals and were granted that recommendation until the next NFPA 150 revision cycle.  We were granted that request.

Leadership at US research universities assume that funding participation of compliance, enforcement and risk management professionals fairly represents their cost-control agenda. It does not.  It should be obvious, from the NFPA 159 technical committee roster, which interest groups benefit from participating in the meetings:

NFPA 150 Technical Committee Roster

Not one college or university is participating; despite the size of university-affiliated research enterprises.

Immunology and Regenerative Medicine Research Laboratory – University o

All NFPA consensus documents are on the standing agenda of our weekly Open Door teleconference — every Wednesday, 11 AM Eastern Time.  Click here to log in.

Issue: [11-1]

Category: Fire Protection, Facility Asset Management, Academic, Risk Management

* Link to previous University of Michigan-led advocacy: Issue [11-1]

 

Climate Accounting Standard

“Landscape drawing for Santa Maria della Neve on 5th August 1473” | Leonardo da Vinci

The Leonardo Academy Inc. (LEO), a non-profit, ANSI-accredited standards developer, proposes to new consensus product titled LEO 3000 Climate Accounting Standard.   An excerpt from the filing in ANSI’s Project Initiation Notfication System is shown below:

New Standard: BSR/LEO 3000-201x, Climate Accounting Standard (new standard)

Human-caused activities and emissions have altered the earth’s energy balance, leading to the trapping of excess energy in the atmosphere, which in turn is disrupting the climate and causing global temperatures to rise. Current accounting methods have only accounted for a portion of the total contributors to this excess trapped energy. “Radiative Forcing” is the universal metric that can be used to describe the degree to which any given emission, natural process, or activity contributes positively or negatively to this change in the energy balance. The IPCC has begun using this metric to project future climate change scenarios. By translating IPCC methods into an accounting protocol, it will be possible to more accurately and comprehensively assess the contribution of all climate pollutants, to determine the level of Radiative Forcing reduction required to stabilize climate, and to develop a roadmap toward climate stabilization that accomplishes the goal in a timely and cost-effective manner.  Stakeholders: Climate affects everyone and everyone affects climate through their actions and choices. The stakeholders for this standard include the consumers, government representatives, environmentalists, academics, businesses, and others.

This is a climate accounting standard. This specification standard will provide a radiative forcing-based climate accounting protocol, which is an application of IPCC consensus climate science presented in the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), and used in subsequent reports, including the IPCC’s Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5°C. This protocol is intended to specify the methods for calculating climate footprints which include all known contributors to net positive radiative forcing, for determining the scale of radiative forcing reduction needed to stabilize climate, and for identify and supporting projects aimed at stabilizing the global climate system significantly below +1.5°C by 2030 and in decades to come. It will also specify the requirements for validation and verification of claims. Finally, it will describe potential funding mechanisms to achieve stabilization goals most cost effectively, including direct investments in eligible Radiative Forcing reduction projects and infrastructure, governmental and market incentives, and public mitigation exchange platforms.

No public comments are due at this time; though other ANSI-accredited standards developers may need to examine whether or not there is scope overlap.  ANSI’s PINS system landing page is linked below:

ANSI PINS Process: An Informative Summary (2013)

Leonardo Academy’s standards development page is linked below:

Sustainability Standards Program

This standard falls into a cross-disciplinary niche we identify as “Global Warming Engineering” but we will continue to keep it on the agenda of the traditional building service engineering.  We are happy to discuss this any day at 11 AM Eastern time.  We also pull together mechanical engineering concepts once per month.  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

 

Issue: [19-131]

Category: Electrical, Energy, Mechanical

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

 

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