A conversation with Bjorn Lomborg, a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, the president of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, and one of the foremost climate experts in the world today. His new book — “False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet” — is an argument for treating climate as a serious problem but not an extinction-level event requiring such severe and drastic steps as rewiring a large part of the culture and the economy.
The alarmist reddening of weather maps is a perfect visualisation of how 5th generational warfare works. We’re dealing with an information war and the battlefield is our mind. @RWMaloneMDpic.twitter.com/nTBv5yhYbS
Water is essential for sanitation and hygiene — and proper sanitation is essential for protecting water sources from contamination and ensuring access to safe drinking water. Access to safe water and sanitation is crucial for preventing the spread of waterborne diseases, which can be transmitted through contaminated water sources or poor sanitation practices. Lack of access to safe water and sanitation can lead to a range of health problems, including diarrheal diseases, cholera, typhoid, and hepatitis A.
On the other hand, poor sanitation practices, such as open defecation, can contaminate water sources, making them unsafe for drinking, bathing, or cooking. This contamination can lead to the spread of diseases and illness, particularly in developing countries where access to clean water and sanitation facilities may be limited.
We track the catalog of the following ANSI accredited standards developers that necessarily require mastery of building premise water systems:
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers: ASHRAE develops standards related to heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration systems — and more recently, standards that claim jurisdiction over building sites.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers: ASME develops standards related to boilers, pressure vessels, and piping systems.
American Water Works Association: AWWA is a standards development organization that publishes a wide range of standards related to water supply, treatment, distribution, and storage.
ASTM International: ASTM develops and publishes voluntary consensus standards for various industries, including water-related standards. They cover topics such as water quality, water sampling, and water treatment.
National Fire Protection Association: NFPA develops fire safety standards, and some of their standards are related to water, such as those covering fire sprinkler systems and water supplies for firefighting within and outside buildings. We deal with the specific problems of sprinkler water system safety during our Prometheus colloquia.
National Sanitation Foundation International (NSF International): NSF International develops standards and conducts testing and certification for various products related to public health and safety, including standards for water treatment systems and products.
Underwriters Laboratories (UL): UL is a safety consulting and certification company that develops standards for various industries. They have standards related to water treatment systems, plumbing products, and fire protection systems.
‘Weird, totally unnecessary, and absurd’ — UVA students raise concerns over tampon dispensers in men’s restrooms
* The evolution of building interior water systems has undergone significant changes over time to meet the evolving needs of society. Initially, water systems were rudimentary, primarily consisting of manually operated pumps and gravity-fed distribution systems. Water was manually fetched from wells or nearby sources, and indoor plumbing was virtually nonexistent.
The Industrial Revolution brought advancements in plumbing technology. The introduction of pressurized water systems and cast-iron pipes allowed for the centralized distribution of water within buildings. Separate pipes for hot and cold water became common, enabling more convenient access to water for various purposes. Additionally, the development of flush toilets and sewage systems improved sanitation and hygiene standards.
In the mid-20th century, the advent of plastic pipes, such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and CPVC (chlorinated polyvinyl chloride), revolutionized plumbing systems. These pipes offered durability, flexibility, and ease of installation, allowing for faster and more cost-effective construction.
The latter part of the 20th century witnessed a growing focus on water conservation and environmental sustainability. Low-flow fixtures, such as toilets, faucets, and showerheads, were introduced to reduce water consumption without compromising functionality. Greywater recycling systems emerged, allowing the reuse of water from sinks, showers, and laundry for non-potable purposes like irrigation.
With the advancement of digital technology, smart water systems have emerged in recent years. These systems integrate sensors, meters, and automated controls to monitor and manage water usage, detect leaks, and optimize water distribution within buildings. Smart technologies provide real-time data, enabling better water management, energy efficiency, and cost savings.
The future of building interior water systems is likely to focus on further improving efficiency, sustainability, and water quality. Innovations may include enhanced water purification techniques, decentralized water treatment systems, and increased integration of smart technologies to create more intelligent and sustainable water systems.
The first mover in building interior water supply systems can be traced back to the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley. However, one of the earliest known examples of sophisticated indoor plumbing systems can be attributed to the ancient Romans.
The Romans were pioneers in constructing elaborate water supply and distribution networks within their cities. They developed aqueducts to transport water from distant sources to urban centers, allowing for a centralized water supply. The water was then distributed through a network of lead or clay pipes to public fountains, baths, and private residences.
One notable example of Roman plumbing ingenuity is the city of Pompeii, which was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The excavation of Pompeii revealed a well-preserved plumbing system that included indoor plumbing in some houses. These systems featured piped water, private bathrooms with flushing toilets, and even hot and cold water systems.
The Romans also invented the concept of the cloaca maxima, an ancient sewer system that collected and transported wastewater away from the city to nearby bodies of water. This early recognition of the importance of sanitation and wastewater management was a significant advancement in public health.
While the Romans were not the only ancient civilization to develop indoor plumbing systems, their engineering prowess and widespread implementation of water supply and sanitation infrastructure make them a key player in the history of building interior water systems.
Harvard University Art Museum | In the Sierras, Lake Tahoe | Albert Bierstadt
The American Water Works Association is one of the first names in accredited standards developers that administer leading practice discovery in backflow prevention consensus documents; usually referenced in local and state building codes; and also in education facility design guidelines and construction specifications.
The original University of Michigan standards enterprise gave highest priority to backflow standards because of their central importance of backflow management to education communities; especially large research universities nested within a municipal water system. Backflow prevention; an unseen technology that assures a safe drinking water supply by keeping water running in one direction by maintaining pressure differences. Analogous to the way we want electrical current to run in one direction, failure of backflow prevention technology poses a near-instantaneous health risk for the contamination of potable water supplies with foul water. In the most obvious case, a toilet flush cistern and its water supply must be isolated from the toilet bowl. In a less obvious case, but at greater scale, a damaged backflow prevention technology at a university research building can contaminate an host-community potable water supply.
There are other ANSI accredited standards developers in the backflow prevention technology space — the International Code Council, the IAPMO Group and ASSE International — for example.
Backflow Preventer
At the moment no AWWA redlines relevant to our objective are open for consultation. Several relatively stabilized product standards are marked up but none dealing specifically with interoperability issues. When they are uploaded you may access them at the link below:
AWWA is the first name in US-based water standards so we maintain the AWWA catalog on our Plumbing & Water colloquia. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Issue: [11-57]
Category: Water Safety, Plumbing, Mechanical
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Richard Robben, Steve Snyder, Larry Spielvogel
A standard Olympic-sized swimming pool is defined by the following dimensions:
Length: 50 meters
Width: 25 meters
Depth: A minimum of 2 meters
Lanes: 10 lanes, each 2.5 meters wide
The total area of the pool is therefore 1,250 square meters, and it holds approximately 2,500 cubic meters (or 2.5 million liters) of water.
The organization that sets the standards for Olympic-sized pools is the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) — now World Aquatics — the governing body for swimming, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming, and open water swimming. FINA establishes the regulations for the dimensions and equipment of competition pools used in international events, including the Olympic Games.
The top ten universities that have produced Olympic champion:
The Great Lakes contain enough fresh water to cover the land area of the entire United States under 3 meters of water.
We collect 15 video presentations about Great Lake water safety and sustainability prepared by the 8 Great Lake border state colleges and universities and their national and international partners in Canada.
In a state whose land mass was formed by glaciers, has there been climate change in its 10,000 – 15,000 year past? Did the glaciers melt because of sport utility vehicles made in Detroit? We refer you to the Academy of Projectors described in Book Three of Jonathan Swift’s 1726 satire on academia in “Gulliver’s Travels”
When the wicked problems of peace and economic inequality cannot be solved, political leaders, and the battalions of servile administrative muckety-mucks who report to them, resort to fear-mongering about an imagined problem to be solved centuries hence assuming every other nation agrees on remedies of its anthropogenic origin. We would not draw attention to it were it not that large tranches of the global academic community are in on the grift costing hundreds of billions in square-footage for research and teaching hopelessness to our children and hatred of climate change deniers.
Before the internet is scrubbed of information contrary to climate change mania, we recommend a few titles:
Last night, we celebrated the graduation of the 2nd class of Leadership GCISD! This incredible group of community members got a behind the scenes look at what makes GCISD thrive, and finished their semester-long program learning more from Finance, Human Resources and Technology. pic.twitter.com/CuMt95cZBm
What a sweet way to celebrate learning! About 40 Silver Lake students were honored with medals and treated to Kona Ice for reading at least 2,100 minutes this school year as part of their campuswide reading challenge. Nice job! pic.twitter.com/kkg7sDt7y5
Ahead of the April close date for comments on the Second Draft of the 2026 revision of the NEC we examine thought trends on the following:
How does “high voltage” differ among electrotechnology professionals? Signaling and control systems workers have a much lower criteria than a merchant utility lineman than a campus bulk distribution engineer. In other words, “high voltage” is generally understood in practice and essential for worker safety. Labeling counts.
What is the origin of the apparent “confusion’ about high voltage in the IEEE, IEC, NFPA and TIA electrical safety catalogs? Is the distinction functionally acceptable — i.e. a term of art understood well enough in practice?
How can the 2026 NEC be improved for engineers, electricians and inspectors? There has been some considerable re-organization of low, medium and high voltage concepts in the 2023. It usually takes at least two NEC revision cycles for workable code to stabilize. Since education communities purchase and distribute higher voltage power on large campuses; how can power purchasing and customer distribution system best practice be improved?
Much economic activity in the global standards system involves products — not interoperability standards. Getting everything to work together — safely, cost effectively and simpler — is our raison d’etre.
Manufacturers, testing laboratories, conformance authorities (whom we call vertical incumbents) are able to finance the cost of their advocacy — salaries, travel, lobbying, administration — into the cost of the product they sell to the end user (in our cases, estate managers in educational settlements). To present products — most of which involve direct contact with a consumer — at a point of sale it must have a product certification label. Not so with systems. System certification requirements, if any, may originate in local public safety requirements; sometimes reaching into the occupational safety domain.
Our readings of the intent of this technical committee is to discover and promulgate best practice for “systems of products” — i.e. ideally interoperability characteristics throughout the full span of the system life cycle.
Standardization in the field of network management in interconnected electric power systems with different time horizons including design, planning, market integration, operation and control. SC 8C covers issues such as resilience, reliability, security, stability in transmission-level networks (generally with voltage 100kV or above) and also the impact of distribution level resources on the interconnected power system, e.g. conventional or aggregated Demand Side Resources (DSR) procured from markets.
SC 8C develops normative deliverables/guidelines/technical reports such as:
– Terms and definitions in area of network management, – Guidelines for network design, planning, operation, control, and market integration – Contingency criteria, classification, countermeasures, and controller response, as a basis of technical requirements for reliability, adequacy, security, stability and resilience analysis, – Functional and technical requirements for network operation management systems, stability control systems, etc. – Technical profiling of reserve products from DSRs for effective market integration. – Technical requirements of wide-area operation, such as balancing reserve sharing, emergency power wheeling.
Individuals who are interested in becoming a participant or the TAG Administrator for SC 8C: Network Management are invited to contact Adelana Gladstein at agladstein@ansi.org as soon as possible.
This opportunity, dealing with the system aspects of electrical energy supply (IEC TC 8), should at least interest electrical engineering research faculty and students involved in power security issues. Participation would not only provide students with a front-row seat in power system integration but faculty can collaborate and compete (for research money) from the platform TC 8 administers. We will refer it to the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee which meets online 4 times monthly in European and American time zones.
College and university campuses distribute electric energy in tranches of 10 to 250 megawatts; typically at voltages above 1000 VAC and are generally regarded as load-side services (or regulated utility customers). Two fairly stable sections of the National Electrical Code set the standard of care for these systems — Part III of Article 110 and Article 495.
We will examine them during today’s High Voltage Electric Service colloquium.
We collaborate closely with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee which meets online 4 times per month in European and American time zones. Ahead of the August 2024 public comment deadline we will examine transcripts of technical action on this topic:
Here we shift our perspective 120 degrees to understand the point of view of the Producer interest in the American national standards system (See ANSI Essential Requirements). The title of this post draws from the location of US and European headquarters. We list proposals by a successful electrical manufacturer for discussion during today’s colloquium:
2026 National Electrical Code
CMP-1: short circuit current ratings, connections with copper cladded aluminum conductors, maintenance to be provided by OEM, field markings
CMP-2: reconditioned equipment, receptacles in accessory buildings, GFCI & AFCI protection, outlet placement generally, outlets for outdoor HVAC equipment(1)
(1) Here we would argue that if a pad mount HVAC unit needs service with tools that need AC power once every 5-10 years then the dedicated branch circuit is not needed. Many campuses have on-site, full-time staff that can service outdoor pad mounted HVAC equipment without needing a nearby outlet. One crew — two electricians — will run about $2500 per day to do anything on campus.
CMP-3: No proposals
CMP-4: solar voltaic systems (1)
(1) Seems reasonable – spillover outdoor night time lighting effect upon solar panel charging should be identified.
CMP-5: Administrative changes only
CMP-6: No proposals
CMP-7: Distinction between “repair” and “servicing”
CMP-10: Short circuit ratings, service disconnect, disconnect for meters, transformer secondary conductor, secondary conductor taps, surge protective devices, disconnecting means generally, spliced and tap conductors, more metering safety, 1200 ampere threshold for arc reduction technology, reconditioned surge equipment shall not be permitted, switchboard short circuit ratings
New update alert! The 2022 update to the Trademark Assignment Dataset is now available online. Find 1.29 million trademark assignments, involving 2.28 million unique trademark properties issued by the USPTO between March 1952 and January 2023: https://t.co/njrDAbSpwBpic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
![How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and [how] hard it is to undo that work again! - Mark Twain](https://www.azquotes.com/vangogh-image-quotes/48/62/Quotation-Mark-Twain-It-s-easier-to-fool-people-than-to-convince-them-48-62-03.jpg)
