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Occupancy Classification and Use

 

In educational settings, where large numbers of students, staff, and visitors gather, these rules protect vulnerable populations, especially children, who may lack the awareness or ability to respond quickly in emergencies. Proper classification ensures adequate exits, fire-resistant materials, and ventilation suited for classrooms or assembly areas like auditoriums.
These classifications also inform zoning, insurance, and funding by aligning facilities with educational purposes.

Libraries are multi-functional spaces and at the physical, and the heart, of any school, college or university.   We take special interest in this discussion.    Leaving the evolution toward “media centers” aside, the relevant passage in the current International Building Code that applies to library occupancy classification and use is linked below:

Chapter 3 Occupancy Classification and Use


The original University of Michigan advocacy enterprise may have raised the level of debate on structural engineering three cycles ago.  Without any specific interest from attendees we will review our proposals in previous revision cycles:

  1. Education facilities as storm shelters
  2. Enhanced classroom acoustics
  3. Carbon monoxide detection in Group E occupancies
  4. Locking arrangements in educational occupancies
  5. Interior lighting power allowances for classrooms
  6. Occupancy sensors for classrooms
  7. Automatic control of receptacle power in classrooms and laboratories
  8. Expansion of voltage drop requirements into customer-owned service conductors

This is about as much as we can sort through this week.  We will host another focus teleconference next week.  See our CALENDAR for the date.

Finally, we persist in encouraging education industry facility managers (especially those with operations and maintenance data) to participate in the ICC code development process.  You may do so by CLICKING HERE.

Real asset managers for school districts, colleges, universities and technical schools in the Albuquerque region should take advantage of the opportunity to observe the ICC code-development process.   The Group B Hearings are usually webcast — and we will signal the link to the 10-day webcast when it becomes available — but the experience of seeing how building codes are determined is enlightening when you can watch it live and on site.

 

Issue: [16-169]

Category: Architectural, Facility Asset Management, Space Planning

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben

#StandardsNewMexico

LEARN MORE:

ICC Group B Code Development Schedule

Little Big Horn College

 

 

 

 

 

Every month we direct our colleagues in the education industry to the US Census Department’s monthly construction report to make a point: at an average annual clip of about $75 billion, the education industry is the largest non-residential building construction market in the United States.  A large part of that construction involves infrastructure upgrades of existing buildings that contribute to sustainability goals but may not make flashy architectural statements for philanthropists.

EDUCATION INDUSTRY CONSTRUCTION SPEND

The International Existing Building Code (IEBC) is a model code in the International Code Council family of codes intended to provide requirements for repair and alternative approaches for alterations and additions to existing buildings (LEARN MORE).  A large number of existing buildings and structures do not comply with the current building code requirements for new construction.  Although many of these buildings are potentially salvageable, rehabilitation is often cost-prohibitive because compliance with all the new requirements for new construction could require extensive changes that go well beyond the value of building or the original scope of the alteration.

Education facility planners, architects and managers: Sound familiar?

ICC administered workgroups have been convening with considerable frequency over the past several months to pull together a number of relevant concepts for the next (2019 Group B) revision.  For the purpose of providing some perspective on the complexity and subtlety of the issues in play, a partial overview of working group activity is available in the links below.  Keep in mind that there are many other proposals being developed by our ICC working group and others.

IEBC Healthcare for BCAC December 11 2018

16-169 IEBC BCC Worksheet October 2-3 2018

There are other many other issues we have been tracking.  The foregoing simply presents the level of detail and subtlety that is noteworthy.

On Tuesday the ICC has released its the complete monograph for use at the Group B Committee Action Hearings, April 28-May 8 at the Albuquerque Convention Center:

2019 Group B Proposed Changes

It is a large document — 2919 pages — so keep that in mind when accessing it.  There are many issues affecting #TotalCostofOwnership of the education facility industry so we will get cracking on it again next week.   See our CALENDAR for the next online teleconference.  Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

Finally, we persist in encouraging education industry facility managers (especially those with operations and maintenance data) to participate in the ICC code development process.  You may do so by CLICKING HERE.   Real asset managers for school districts, colleges, universities and technical schools in the Albuquerque region should take advantage of the opportunity to observe the ICC code-development process.   The Group B Hearings are usually webcast — and we will signal the link to the 10-day webcast when it becomes available — but the experience of seeing how building codes are determined is enlightening when you can watch it live and on site.

 

Issue: [16-169]

Category: Architectural, Facility Asset Management, Space Planning

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben

#StandardsNewMexico

LEARN MORE:

ICC Group B Code Development Schedule

Little Big Horn College

 

 

 

 

Well Water Quality

Michigan Central | Water 330 | 2021 Michigan Plumbing Code

Water testing helps ensure that well owners have safe, clean drinking water.

Protect the water quality of your water well

One of the first activities upon waking is interacting with water. Approximately 25% of households in the state of Michigan rely on private well water as their primary drinking water source.  This figure comes from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), which estimates nearly 1.12 million households use private wells out of a total of roughly 4.1–4.6 million households statewide (based on U.S. Census data and population estimates of about 10 million residents, with an average household size of 2.5).

Other sources, such as Michigan State University Extension and the Michigan Water Stewardship Program, report slightly higher figures of 44–45% for overall groundwater reliance (including public systems drawing from aquifers), but the specific share for private household wells aligns with the 25% estimate from EGLE. Rural and southeastern areas of the state have the highest concentrations.

Sunday Brunch

Sunday Brunch Menu | 10:30 – 1:30 AM Heritage Room

Michigan State University Alumni Chapel

Michigan State University | Ingham County

Desert Research Institute

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Well Water

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Fruit Pie Fillings

https://extension.psu.edu/lets-preserve-fruit-pie-fillings

 

https://extension.psu.edu/lets-preserve-apples

“All People That On Earth Do Dwell”

This hymn traces back to the 16th century; also known as “The Old Hundredth”.  The hymn first appeared in the Anglo-Genevan Psalter, a collection of psalms and hymns used by English-speaking Protestant congregations in Geneva and later in England.  The tune is credited to Louis Bourgeois, a French composer and music editor who collaborated on the Genevan Psalter.  The psalter was influenced by the work of John Calvin and other Reformed theologians.

Home

History of Western Civilization Told Through the Acoustics of its Worship Spaces

Sacred Spaces

Schools turn to prefabricated classrooms to create space quickly

CBC News (The National): Canada is challenged by a surge in asylum seekers from failed nations entering irregularly via the U.S. border or overstaying visas, straining public services amid a housing crisis. With 57,440 asylum claims in early 2025—up 22% from 2024, including 5,500 from international students—overcrowded schools in provinces like Ontario and British Columbia face acute shortages, especially for English-language programs.

To address this, jurisdictions are deploying modular prefabricated school buildings as a rapid, cost-effective solution. These portable yet permanent structures, like those at B.C.’s David Cameron Elementary, add capacity for 190+ students in months, easing enrolment pressures without long construction delays.

National Building Code of Canada 2020

British Columbia School Building Construction

Canadian Parliament Debate on Standards Incorporated by Reference

Student Build Relocatable Classrooms

Granite School District

Utah

Modular Classrooms

Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities

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2723 South State Street | Suite 150
Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA

888-746-3670

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