Author Archives: [email protected]

Loading
loading...

Abiit sed non oblita | Rebecca Luker

Rebecca graduated from the University of Montevallo in 1984 and enjoyed a lengthy and distinguished career as a virtuoso actress, concert soloist and recording artist.

To honor her memory following her passing in 2020 the University has named the stage of the Center for the Arts in her honor.

Standards Alabama

Recognizing signs and doors for Indoor Wayfinding for Blind and Visually Impaired Persons

Mouna Afif, et al

 

Abstract:  Indoor signage plays an essential component to find destination for blind and visually impaired people. In this paper, we propose an indoor signage and doors detection system in order to help blind and partially sighted persons accessing unfamiliar indoor environments. Our indoor signage and doors recognizer is builded based on deep learning algorithms. We developed an indoor signage detection system especially used for detecting four types of signage: exit, wc, disabled exit and confidence zone. Experiment results demonstrates the effectiveness and the high precision of the proposed recognition system. We obtained 99.8% as a recognition rate.

Wayfinding

Unified English Braille

 

Transport & Parking

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

We continue the re-scale and re-organize our approach to the mobility topic generally — responsive to most best practice discovery results — as recorded in technical literature and landing in regulations at all levels of government.  The size of the domain has expanded beyond our means.  We need to approach the topic from more angles — distinguishing among land, air and space mobility — following market acceptance and integration.

Throughout 2024 our inquiries will track relevant titles in the following standards catalogs:

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

International Code Council

National Fire Protection Association

ASHRAE International

We will maintain priority wherever we find  user-interest issues in product-oriented standards setting catalogs (ASTM International, SAE International and Underwriters Laboratories, for example).  Agricultural equipment standards (were Michigan-based ASABE is the first name) will be place on the periodic Food (Nourriture) and Water standards agenda.  Each organization contributes mightily to the “regulatory state” where we are, frankly, outnumbered.  When their titles appear in interoperability standards that affect the physical infrastructure of campuses we will explore their meaning to our safer, simpler, lower-cost and longer-lasting priority.  (See our ABOUT)

Join us today at the usual time.  Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

 

Drivers facing the yellow-light-dilemma

Electric Vehicle Open Charge Point Protocol

 

EV Charging Stations Integration into Public Lighting Infrastructure

Connected & Automated Vehicles

Economics of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in a Campus Setting

Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure for Long Distance Travel in Sweden

Collision Resistant Hash Function for Blockchain in V2V Communication

“Waiting for the School Bus in Snow” 1947 John Phillip Falter

Electric Vehicle Charging

International Zoning Code

International Energy Conservation Code

International Existing Building Code

Electric Vehicle Power Transfer

Gallery: Electric Vehicle Fire Risk

Standard for Parking Structures

Energy Standard for *Sites* and Buildings

High-Performance Green Buildings

“Gas” 1940 Edward Hopper

Code ignis MMXXIV: Fire Lanes & Parking

NFPA 1 Chapter 18 – Fire Department Access and Water Supply
Public Input on the 2027 Edition closes June 4, 2025

Extinguishing A fire at the Equitable Building skyscraper in New York City, January 1912.

The parent title in the NFPA catalog — NFPA 1 — sets standards for fire lanes by addressing them within various chapters and sections; depending on the specific aspects of fire protection, access, and safety they pertain to. Here are some of the key sections and chapters in NFPA 1 that may include relevant information regarding fire lanes:

  1. Chapter 18: New High-Rise Buildings: This chapter may include requirements related to access for firefighting operations, which could encompass provisions for fire lanes.
  2. Chapter 20: New Educational and Day-Care Occupancies: Requirements related to access for emergency responders in educational facilities, including provisions for fire lanes, may be addressed in this chapter.
  3. Chapter 22: Existing Educational and Day-Care Occupancies: Similar to Chapter 20, this chapter may contain provisions for existing educational facilities regarding fire protection and access.
  4. Chapter 24: New Residential Board and Care Occupancies: Requirements for access and fire protection in residential board and care occupancies, including provisions for fire lanes, may be found in this chapter.
  5. Chapter 30: New Mercantile Occupancies: This chapter may include provisions related to access and fire protection in mercantile occupancies, which could involve requirements for fire lanes.
  6. Chapter 32: Existing Mercantile Occupancies: Similar to Chapter 30, this chapter may address requirements for existing mercantile occupancies, including provisions for fire lanes.

Since NFPA 1 covers a wide range of fire safety topics, including building design, fire protection systems, and emergency procedures, specific requirements related to fire lanes may be distributed throughout the document rather than consolidated in a single section. It’s important to carefully review the relevant chapters and sections of NFPA 1 to ensure compliance with applicable requirements for fire lane design, construction, and maintenance.

Best practice for determining snow zones, as the criteria for designating these zones can vary depending on factors such as geography, climate, population density, infrastructure, and available resources. However, municipalities typically develop their own criteria and guidelines based on these factors to create effective snow removal plans.

Common principles and factors that many municipalities consider when determining snow zones, as mentioned in the previous response. These include weather patterns, topography, traffic volume and patterns, residential density, critical infrastructure, public safety considerations, and feedback from residents and stakeholders.

Some municipalities may also adopt best practices and recommendations from organizations such as the American Public Works Association (APWA) or the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) to inform their snow removal planning processes. These organizations may offer guidance on snow zone designations, prioritization of routes, and effective snow removal techniques based on industry standards and research.

Ultimately snow zones respond to the specific needs and characteristics of each municipality, with the goal of efficiently managing winter weather events to ensure public safety and mobility.

Code ignis MMXXVII

Electric Vehicle Charging

GROUP A MODEL BUILDING CODES: Comments on Committee Actions will be received until July 8th

International Building Code Chapter 4, Section 406.2.7

Edison electric vehicle | National Park Service, US Department of the Interior

 

Free public access to the 2021 edition of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) is linked below:

2021 International Energy Conservation Code

 

Electric vehicle charging stations are addressed in the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) within two specific appendices:

Appendix RE: This appendix provides detailed requirements for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, focusing on both residential and commercial buildings. It includes definitions and infrastructure standards to ensure that new constructions are equipped to support electric vehicle charging​

Appendix CG: This appendix offers guidance on electric vehicle power transfer and charging infrastructure, emphasizing the integration of EV-ready requirements into building designs. It outlines the necessary provisions for installing and managing EV charging stations, ensuring compliance with energy conservation standards​

.These appendices are part of the broader efforts to incorporate EV infrastructure into building codes, promoting energy efficiency and supporting the transition to electric vehicles.

Recharging infrastructure at at Google’s Mountain View (California) campus | Pretty ugly, eh?

“Gas” 1940 Edward Hopper

This standard will be updated within a reconfigured code development cycle linked below:

2024/2025/2026 ICC CODE DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE

Keep in mind that many electric vehicle safety and sustainability concepts will track in other titles in the ICC catalog.   It is enlightening to see other energy related proposals tracking in the most recent Group A code revision cycle

The following proposals discussed during the Group A Hearings ended earlier this month are noteworthy:

IBC § 202 (NEW) | G66-21 |  Electrical mobility definitions

IBC § 1107.2, et al | E124-21 & E125-21 & E126-21 |  Electrical vehicle charging stations for R-2 occupancies.

From the Group B revision cycle — COMPLETE MONOGRAPH:

R309.6 Electric vehicle charging stations and systems. Where provided, electric vehicle charging systems shall be installed in accordance with NFPA 70. Electric vehicle charging system equipment shall be listed and labeled in accordance with UL 2202. Electric vehicle supply equipment shall be listed and labeled in accordance with UL 2594.

IBC 406.2.7 Electric vehicle charging stations and systems. Where provided, electric vehicle charging systems shall be installed in accordance with NFPA 70. Electric vehicle charging system equipment shall be listed and labeled in accordance with UL 2202. Electric vehicle supply equipment shall be listed and labeled in accordance with UL 2594. Accessibility to electric vehicle charging stations shall be provided in accordance with Section 1108.

TABLE R328.5 MAXIMUM AGGREGATE RATINGS OF ESS (Energy Storage Systems) – PDF Page 1476

Incumbents are socking in EV concepts all across the ICC catalog.  We refer them to experts in the Industrial Applications Society IEEE E&H Committee.

 

 

One of the more spirited debates in recent revision cycles is the following:

Who shall pay for electrical vehicle charging infrastructure?   

The underlying assumption is that the electrification of the global transportation grid has a net benefit.   We remain mute on that question; the question of net gain.

Of course, many proposals pointed the finger at the stakeholder with the deepest pockets.  Accordingly, new commercial building owners will be required to install charging stations for new buildings.   During 2018 and 2019 we tracked the action in the workspace below so that we could collaborate with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee:

2021 Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

Given that most higher education facilities are classified as commercial, the cost of charging stations will be conveyed into the new building construction budget unless the unit takes an exception.   Generally speaking, most colleges and universities like to display their electric vehicle credentials, even if the use of such charging stations remains sparse.

Cornell University

Issue: [11-40]

Category: Electrical, #SmartCampus

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey

* The education industry has significant square footage this is classified as residential; particularly on the periphery of large research campuses.


LEARN MORE:

ICC 2021/2022 Code Development Cycle

The Top 5 Energy Efficiency Proposals for the 2021 IECC

Archive / IECC Electric Vehicle Charging

 

Drivers facing the yellow-light-dilemma

Center for Digital Education | University of Michigan

 

Stochastic hybrid models for predicting the behavior of drivers facing the yellow-light-dilemma

Paul A. Green | University of Michigan

 Daniel Hoehener & Domitilla Del Vecchio | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  

Abstract:  We address the problem of predicting whether a driver facing the yellow-light-dilemma will cross the intersection with the red light. Based on driving simulator data, we propose a stochastic hybrid system model for driver behavior. Using this model combined with Gaussian process estimation and Monte Carlo simulations, we obtain an upper bound for the probability of crossing with the red light. This upper bound has a prescribed confidence level and can be calculated quickly on-line in a recursive fashion as more data become available. Calculating also a lower bound we can show that the upper bound is on average less than 3% higher than the true probability. Moreover, tests on driving simulator data show that 99% of the actual red light violations, are predicted to cross on red with probability greater than 0.95 while less than 5% of the compliant trajectories are predicted to have an equally high probability of crossing. Determining the probability of crossing with the red light will be important for the development of warning systems that prevent red light violations.

CLICK HERE to order complete article

Layout mode
Predefined Skins
Custom Colors
Choose your skin color
Patterns Background
Images Background
Skip to content