Pagemike@standardsmichigan.com, Author at Standards Michigan

Town Gas

Brought to You by Howard: Alice H. Parker’s historic patent of the gas heater warms the world

Different Trends in Worldwide Natural Gas Distribution Market Outlook: Ken Research

Historically, “Town Gas” referred to a manufactured gaseous fuel, primarily produced from coal, that was supplied to homes and businesses in towns and cities for heating and lighting purposes. We use it as a general term for a manufactured gas distributed through educational settlements because of its cleaner and safer properties. Among them:

Heating and Cooling – Most settlements use natural gas to power boilers and furnaces for heating buildings during cold months. It also fuels absorption chillers for air conditioning in warmer seasons.
Electricity Generation – Settlements with cogeneration (combined heat and power) plants use natural gas to produce electricity while capturing waste heat for heating, improving energy efficiency.
Cooking Facilities – Dining halls rely on natural gas for precise and reliable cooking, making meal preparation efficient.
Laboratories and Research – Science and engineering labs use natural gas for Bunsen burners, sterilization, and other experimental applications requiring controlled flames.
Hot Water Supply – Dormitories, gyms, and other campus facilities use natural gas water heaters to provide a continuous supply of hot water for showers, washing, and sanitation.
Transportation – Some universities operate shuttle buses and service vehicles on compressed natural gas (CNG), reducing emissions and fuel costs.
Emergency Backup Power – Natural gas generators provide backup power during outages, ensuring critical systems, like research labs and data centers, remain operational.

Emergency and Standby Power Systems

Glorious gas lamps of London

Their warm glow adds beauty to these winter evenings pic.twitter.com/UgHK8yh2YN

— Conor Lynch (@c_k_lynch) February 18, 2025

Safety and Sustainability Bibliography:

International Standards:

ISO 13686 – Specifies the quality of natural gas for use in various applications.

ISO 14001 – Provides environmental management standards for reducing the environmental impact of natural gas operations.

ISO 50001 – Energy management system standard for improving energy efficiency, including natural gas usage.

IEC 60079 – Covers explosive atmospheres, ensuring safety in handling natural gas in industrial settings.

OHSAS 18001 (now ISO 45001) – Occupational health and safety standards for workplaces dealing with natural gas.

IPCC Guidelines – International standards for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas operations.

U.S. Standards:

Natural Gas Transmission & Distribution

49 CFR Part 192 – Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations, governing natural gas pipeline transportation.

EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) – Requires natural gas facilities to report emissions data.

ANSI/GPTC Z380.1, Guide for Gas Transmission, Distribution, and Gathering Piping Systems

NFPA 54 (National Fuel Gas Code) – Covers safe installation and use of natural gas in buildings.

NFPA 58 – Safety regulations for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), including storage and handling.

ASME B31.8 – Pipeline safety code for natural gas transmission and distribution.

Clean Air Act (CAA) – Regulates air emissions from natural gas production and consumption.

California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) – Encourages sustainable fuel alternatives, including renewable natural gas (RNG).

State of Michigan Technical Standards for Gas Service

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: Natural Gas Policies

Schools, Colleges, Universities, Hospitals (Educational Settlements)

University of Michigan Design Guidelines

Inglenook

Architectural “Neighborhoods”

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Bulletproof Coffee

Coffee for the Brain | Joe Schwarcz PhD | 7 August 2024

Université McGill | Montréal Québec

Why I Will Never Drink Bulletproof Coffee

Assessing the Validity of Bulletproof Coffee’s Claims | Joel C Craddock, University of Wollongong

Frenglish

Gingerbread Cookies

Blue and Gray Education | Standards Illinois

Homepage

Gingerbread Cookies – Abraham Lincoln’s Favorite

University of Michigan Abraham Lincoln Collection

History of the Kitchen

Facilities Services

Kitchen Exhaust

• In ancient times, kitchens were often located outside the main living quarters of a home. They were typically small, with an open hearth for cooking and a few basic utensils.

• During the Middle Ages, kitchens began to be built inside castles and manor houses. These kitchens were much larger and more complex than earlier versions, with multiple hearths, ovens, and cooking utensils.

• During the Renaissance, kitchens continued to become more elaborate, with the development of specialized cooking tools and the introduction of new cooking techniques. The kitchen also became a central gathering place for the household.

• With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, kitchens began to incorporate new technologies, such as gas stoves and refrigeration. As more people moved into cities, smaller kitchens became the norm.

• In the 20th century, the design and functionality of kitchens continued to evolve. The introduction of electricity and new materials, such as stainless steel, allowed for more efficient and hygienic kitchens. Open-plan kitchens, where the kitchen is integrated with the living and dining areas, also became popular.

Winter Sowing

Agriculture

Ventilation for Commercial Cooking Operations

Kitchen cooking ranks high as the causes of fire hazard in the built environment. ASHRAE 154 provides design criteria for the performance of commercial cooking ventilation systems. Education communities have hundreds of food preparation enterprises in school districts, residence halls, hospitals and athletic venues. It is not intended to circumvent any safety, health or environmental requirement; however we find a fair amount of drama regarding the competing requirements of fire safety and sustainability among subject matter experts. The stabilized version is dated 2022.

“Dutch Kitchen” / Artist Unknown

A noteworthy title in the ASHRAE standards catalog is ASHRAE 154 Ventilation for Commercial Cooking Operations. Food preparation enterprises in school districts, residence halls, hospitals and athletic venues and central features in education communities. Access to the 2022 edition is linked below:

FREE ACCESS ASHRAE 154

The purpose of ASHRAE 154 is to provide design criteria for the performance of commercial cooking ventilation systems. It covers kitchen hoods, exhaust systems and replacement air systems, It is not intended to circumvent any safety, health or environmental requirement; however we find a fair amount of drama between partisans of air movement controls and energy conservation interests. Fire safety and the sustainability advocates are well funded voices.

There are no open consultations at the moment; but you may track release of any at the link below:

Public Review Draft Standards / Online Comment Database

Titles in the ASHRAE catalog move swiftly; many of them consultations lasting less than 45 days.

Interior environmental air safety is a concern that cuts across many professional disciplines. Accordingly, we maintain this title on the standing agendas of several colloquia — Mechanical Engineering, Energy and Housing. Starting 2022 we will break out this the subject of a separate, dedicated colloquium See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

Issue: [14-92]

Category: Mechanical, Electrical, Energy, Facility Asset Management

Colleagues: David Conrad, Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel

Kitchen cooking ranks high as the causes of fire hazard in the built environment. ASHRAE 154 provides design criteria for the performance of commercial cooking ventilation systems. Education communities have hundreds of food preparation enterprises in school districts, residence halls, hospitals and athletic venues. It is not intended to circumvent any safety, health or environmental requirement; however we find a fair amount of drama regarding the competing requirements of fire safety and sustainability among subject matter experts. The stabilized version is dated 2022.

How Do You Measure the Percentage of Alcohol in Beer, Wine and Other Beverages?

How Do You Measure the Percentage of Alcohol in Beer, Wine and Other Beverages?https://t.co/WitMHCUKGd https://t.co/VS3p32cdGd @NIST pic.twitter.com/FPKBBSari9

— Standards Michigan (@StandardsMich) November 28, 2022

What Is A Standard Drink?

Beer Pong Robot

Facility Management

“The work of the eyes is done.
Go now and do the heart-work
on the images imprisoned within you.”

— Rainer Maria Rilke (1929 “Letters to a Young Architect”)

“Architect’s Dream” 1840 | Thomas Cole

The internationalization of the education industry continues at a brisk pace and so do the enterprises that support the primary business of learning, teaching and discovering. Educational campuses, and related university-affiliated medical research and healthcare enterprises, represent one of the largest assets owned and operated by any state.

In a state such as the State of Michigan, for example, with a gross state product of about $500 billion, the value of public real property assets may be on the order of $50 billion*. If taking 2 percent off the cost owning, operating and maintaining those assets every year resulted in a savings of $1 billion million every year simply because conformance to a standard that reduced destructive competition and redundancy is meaningful, then those agencies should pay attention. Alas, they do not, or not yet; a condition we describe in our ABOUT.

There is no reason to believe that internationalization of campus facility management practices cannot be as transformative to an industry as the ISO 9000 catalog of management standards were to, say, to the Michigan automobile industry 50-odd years ago. In other words, the Michigan experience with globalization of its core industry was hastened precisely because of the conformance template that the ISO-9000 suite provided.

ISO/TC 267 Project Kickoff Meeting | Berlin 2012 | The University of Michigan was the first US university to participate in the launch of this standard and acted as a technical liaison for IFMA.

The business plan for this committee is linked below and provides a high level overview of committee goals and organization:

ISO/TC 267 / Facility Management / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

CLICK ON IMAGE

The landing page for this committee is linked below:

ISO/TC 267

The list of work ISO/TC 267 titles are listed in the link below. Four are published standards and two are currently under development:

ISO 267 Facility Management Standards Catalogue

Note that ISO 41018 — Facility management — Development of a facility management policy — was published in July 2022.

At the moment ANSI has identified the US TAG Administrator as the International Facility Management Association however direct management of the US delegation is also being supported by ANSI staff. You are encouraged to communicate directly with ANSI’s US Technical Advisory Group leader to TC 267. Contacts at ANSI are Jason Knopes <JKnopes@ansi.org> and Rachel Hawthorne rhawthorne@ansi.org

We place ISO/TC 267 consensus products on each of our monthly Management, and International Standards. See our CALENDAR for next online meetings, open to everyone.

Issue: [11-33]

Category: Facility Asset Management, International

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Christine Fischer, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben

LEARN MORE:

ISO Focus January 2015 Anthony-Robben – Education Enterprise pp 33-37

ARCHIVE / ISO 267 FACILITY MANAGEMENT

Peppermint Coffee

“Established in 1956, National University of Natural Medicine is the oldest accredited naturopathic medical university in North America and a leader in natural medicine education and evidence-based research. As one of the most respected universities of natural medicine in the world, our participation in international medical education and research is routinely solicited. We believe in the healing power of nature, and that food is medicine.”

Peppermint, scientifically known as Mentha × piperita, is a hybrid mint, a cross between watermint (Mentha aquatica) and spearmint (Mentha spicata). It belongs to the Lamiaceae family, which also includes other aromatic herbs like basil, rosemary, and lavender. Here are some key scientific points about peppermint:

Botanical Classification: Lamiaceae

Characteristics: Peppermint is a herbaceous perennial plant known for its distinctive minty aroma and flavor. It has square-shaped stems, serrated leaves, and produces small purple or white flowers in spikes.

Chemical Composition: The characteristic flavor and scent of peppermint are attributed to its essential oil, which contains menthol as a major component. Other compounds found in peppermint oil include menthone, menthyl acetate, and various terpenoids.

Cultivation: Peppermint is a hardy plant and is known to grow well in a variety of climates. It is often cultivated for commercial purposes, both for its culinary use and the extraction of essential oils.

Peppermint has been adapted for pharmaceutical and cosmetic purposes. Its essential oil is extracted for use in aromatherapy, and peppermint tea is a common herbal infusion enjoyed for both its taste and potential health benefits.

Bastyr University: Herbal Science Program

University of California Berkely Jepson Herbaria

Maryland University Integrative Health: Herbal Medicine