Dining Services Recipe | MTU Alumni Recipe
Perfect weather for a Husky. 💛🐾#MichiganTech pic.twitter.com/iGuBVE484J
— Michigan Tech (@michigantech) January 24, 2024
2024 Financial Report: Net Position $479,190,705
Michigan Technological University
Cornish Pasties
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Cornish Pasties
Renovation Standards
“Attributes of the Architect” c. 1725 Jean-Baptiste Siméon
Princeton University Art Museum@PUArtMuseum
print(“Ædificare”)https://t.co/Ja2uGenSPr pic.twitter.com/Xs9fdzzdBY— Standards Michigan (@StandardsMich) January 4, 2022
The key standards distinguishing building renovations (alterations, repairs, or rehabilitation) from new building construction primarily come from the model code stacks of the International Code Council, the National Fire Protection Association, ASHRAE International, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the embedded product standards by ASTM International, Underwriters Laboratories and others we track routinely.
There are others, notably the FEMA “50 percent” rule informed by National Flood Insurance Program regulation applying to buildings in flood-prone areas. It governs renovation, repair, and improvement projects by defining “substantial improvement” or “substantial damage” as any work where costs equal or exceed 50% of the structure’s pre-improvement (or pre-damage) market value (excluding land value).
The “50 percent” rule does not exist in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations in the same way as FEMA’s flood-related 50% threshold for substantial improvement/damage. Instead, ADA alterations (under Title III for public accommodations and commercial facilities, and Title II for public entities) use a 20% disproportionate cost threshold for certain requirements.
Sustainability objectives also shape the scope of building renovation projects by expanding beyond basic repairs or cosmetic updates to encompass holistic, long-term performance improvements across environmental, economic, and social dimensions.
Today at the usual hour we will scan stabilized standards and track changes in process where possible. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
Ædificare & Utilization
There’s been a significant redesign of the look and feel of the monthly Census Bureau reports construction activity. Today we sort through the rather more granular statistics that inform our recommendations for facility spend.
Total #construction activity for October 2025 ($2,175.2 billion) was 0.5% above September 2025 ($2,164.3 billion).
Learn more: https://t.co/vO6ZkjBJMY #CensusEconData #ConstructionSpending pic.twitter.com/CYux8HXJ3W
— U.S. Census Bureau (@uscensusbureau) January 21, 2026
December 1, 2025
It has been 20 years since we began tracking educational settlement facility spend. Starting this month we will examine federal government data together with the best available data about space utilization to enlighten our response to the perfectly reasonable question: “Are we over-building or under-building or building ineffectively”. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
United States: Schools of Architecture
The Society for College and University Planning (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
National Center for Education Statistics
The Financial Impact of Architectural Design: Balancing Aesthetics and Budget in Modern Construction
Homeschooling
2022 International Existing Building Code
University College London
University of Toronto
43.0764° N | 87.8816° W
University of Waterloo Ontario
California Polytechnic University | San Luis Obispo County
Oulun yliopisto | Pohjois-Pohjanmaa
Tulane School of Architecture Louisiana
University of Michigan | Washtenaw County
Auburn University | Lee County Alabama
University of Kansas School of Architecture | Douglas County
As reported by the US Department of Commerce Census Bureau the value of construction put in place by August 2025 by the US education industry proceeded at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $137.604 billion. This number does not include renovation for projects under 50,000 square feet and new construction in university-affiliated health care delivery enterprises. Reports are released two months after calendar month. The complete report is available at the link below:
MONTHLY CONSTRUCTION SPENDING August 2025 (released two months after calendar month)
Total construction activity for June 2025 ($2,136.2 billion) was 0.4 percent below the revised May 2025 estimate ($2,143.9 billion).
Learn more: https://t.co/ljpaYyKjuX#CensusEconData pic.twitter.com/TS6ewzZhc4
— U.S. Census Bureau (@uscensusbureau) August 1, 2025
This spend makes the US education facilities industry (which includes colleges, universities, technical/vocational and K-12 schools, most university-affiliated medical research and healthcare delivery enterprises, etc.) the largest non-residential building construction market in the United States after commercial property; and fairly close. For perspective consider total public + private construction ranked according to the tabulation most recently released:
$137.604 billion| Education Facilities
$155.728 billion | Power
$69.625 billion | Healthcare
Keep in mind that inflation figures into the elevated dollar figures. Overall — including construction, energy, custodial services, furnishings, security. etc., — the non-instructional spend plus the construction spend of the US education facilities is running at a rate of about $300 – $500 billion per year.
LIVE: A selection of construction cameras at US schools, colleges and universities
We typically pick through the new data set; looking for clues relevant to real asset spend decisions. Finally, we encourage the education facilities industry to contribute to the accuracy of these monthly reports by responding the US Census Bureau’s data gathering contractors.
Reconstruction of Ancient Agora
As surely as people are born, grow wealthy and die with extra cash,
there will be a home for that cash to sustain their memory and to steer
the cultural heritage of the next generation in beautiful settings.
More
National Center for Educational Statistics
AIA: Billings Index shows but remains strong May 2022
National Center for Education Statistics
Sightlines: Capital Investment College Facilities
OxBlue: Time-Lapse Construction Cameras for Education
US Census Bureau Form F-33 Survey of School System Finances
Global Consistency in Presenting Construction & Life Cycle Costs
Pennsylvania School Building Standards
Pennsylvania School Building Code | Standards Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania’s school building codes are an adaptation of the stack developed by the International Code Council. The most recent update includes enhanced requirements for safety (e.g., emergency escape paths, smoke alarms, surge protection), structural design (e.g., decks, snow loads), and energy efficiency, applying to new school construction, additions, and major renovations.
Key supporting regulations include:
22 Pa. Code Chapter 21 (School Buildings): Covers planning, approval processes, and requirements for public school construction/reconstruction.
22 Pa. Code Chapter 349 (School Building Standards): Details space allocations, construction standards, and related rules.
Quadrivium: Winter
ANSI Standards Action January 16, 2026
@EDSecMcHahon Celebrates IDEA | Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
University of Iowa | Johnson County
Dr. Gad Saad on Avoiding Liberal Brain Rot – Curing the Woke Mind Virus
Macdonald-Laurier Institute: How to Reverse Collapsing Birth Rates
Trending | Engagements, Weddings & Births | Sport News | Carillons
100 years ago, the Supreme Court made it clear in Pierce v. Society of Sisters: raising children is the responsibility of parents, not the government.
100 years later, the Trump Administration remains committed to protecting parental rights. pic.twitter.com/yduXdLShty
— Secretary Linda McMahon (@EDSecMcMahon) June 1, 2025
“…O chestnut tree;, great rooted blossomer,
Are you the leaf, the blossom or the bold?
O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?”
— Among Schoolchildren, 1933 William Butler Yeats
We sweep through the world’s three major time zones; updating our understanding of the literature at the technical foundation of education community safety and sustainability in those time zones 24 times per day. We generally eschew “over-coding” web pages to sustain speed, revision cadence and richness of content as peak priority. We do not provide a search facility because of copyrights of publishers and time sensitivity of almost everything we do.
Readings:
“The Advancement of Learning” Francis Bacon (1605)
“The Allegory of the Cave” 380 BCE | Plato’s Republic, Book VII
Thucydides: Pericles’ Funeral Oration
IEEE Access: Advanced Deep Learning Models for 6G: Overview, Opportunities, and Challenges | Xidian University
“Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination” (2002) Peter Ackroyd
“Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” Satoshi Nakamoto
“Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” (1841) | Charles Mackay
Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Study of Mind
“Kant’s Categorical Imperative” | Hillsdale College Introduction to Western Philosophy
“The Natural History of Stupidity” (1959) Paul Tabori
“The College Idea: Andrew Delbanco” Lapham’s Quarterly
Distributed Representations of Words and Phrases and their Compositionality | Google, Inc. et, al
Our daily colloquia are typically doing sessions; with non-USA titles receiving priority until 16:00 UTC and all other titles thereafter. We assume policy objectives are established (Safer-Simpler-Lower-Cost, Longer-Lasting). Because we necessarily get into the weeds, and because much of the content is time-sensitive and copyright protected, we usually schedule a separate time slot to hammer on technical specifics so that our response to consultations are meaningful and contribute to the goals of the standards developing organization and to the goals of stewards of education community real assets — typically the largest real asset owned by any US state and about 50 percent of its annual budget.
1. Leviathan. We track noteworthy legislative proposals in the United States 118th Congress. Not many deal specifically with education community real assets since the relevant legislation is already under administrative control of various Executive Branch Departments such as the Department of Education.
We do not advocate in legislative activity at any level. We respond to public consultations but there it ends.
We track federal legislative action because it provides a stroboscopic view of the moment — the “national conversation”– in communities that are simultaneously a business and a culture. Even though more than 90 percent of such proposals are at the mercy of the party leadership the process does enlighten the strengths and weakness of a governance system run entirely through the counties on the periphery of Washington D.C. It is impossible to solve technical problems in facilities without sensitivity to the zietgeist that has accelerated in education communities everywhere.
Michigan Great Lake Quilt
Michigan can 100% water and feed itself. Agriculture is its second-largest industry.
2. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
3. American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
4. Fast Forward
5. Rewind
6. Corrigenda
“The world will never starve for want of wonders;
but only for want of wonder.”
– G.K Chesterton, The Spirit of Christmas (1905)
Mike Anthony with colleagues since 1982 @ UM Ross School of Business Executive Dining Room
Integrated Planning Glossary
§
The Society of College and University Planning was founded in 1965 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor during an informal gathering of campus planners frustrated with the lack of professional exchange in their emerging field. Rapid postwar enrollment growth and massive campus expansion projects had created urgent needs for long-range physical planning, yet few institutions had dedicated planners or shared knowledge.
A small group, led by University of Michigan planners George J. Bruha and Frederick W Mayer met in Ann Arbor to discuss common challenges facing other State of Michigan settlements; joined by Stanford, Ohio State and the University of Illinois. They decided to create a formal organization to foster collaboration, research, and professional development. In 1966, with Michigan’s support, SCUP was officially established as a nonprofit with its first office on the Ann Arbor campus. Its founding principle—integrated planning linking academics, finances, and facilities—remains central today.
Connections, learnings, and expanded conversations #SCUPNC2022 in #chicago 👍🌟 pic.twitter.com/enPtA7YJsX
— SCUP (@Plan4HigherEd) October 18, 2022
Early operations benefited from administrative support (aegis) provided by the University of Michigan, including office space and resources in Ann Arbor. This arrangement persisted until a financial crisis in the late 1970s (1976–1980), during which SCUP relocated to New York.
The decoupling—marking full operational and administrative independence from the University of Michigan—occurred in 1980, when SCUP returned to Ann Arbor as a self-sustaining nonprofit headquartered at a separate location –1330 Eisenhower Place — less than a mile walk from Standards Michigan‘s front door at 455 East Eisenhower.
* Of the 220 ANSI Accredited Standards Developers, the State of Michigan ranks 3rd in the ranking of U.S. states with the most ANSI-accredited standards developers (ASDs) headquartered there; behind the Regulatory Hegemons of California and ChicagoLand and excluding the expected cluster foxtrot of non-profits domiciled in the Washington-New York Deep State Megalopolis. Much of Michigan’s presence in the private consensus standards space originates from its industrial ascendency through most of the 1900’s.
Michigan Electrical Administrative Act §338.883
The requirement for a licensed electrician and a certified inspector to perform and certify any electrical work above $100 is prohibitive for homeowners and facility managers. To the best of our knowledge, no other US state imposes this requirement. There are more efficacious approaches to supporting effective public electrical safety services.
Licensing and Regulatory Affairs | Electrical Administrative Board
Next Meeting: February 5, 2026 10:00 am
Meeting Minutes: August 8, 2024 (not yet available)
Meeting Minutes: October 31, 2024 (submittals for agenda items due September 26th)
Related:
Michigan Public Service Commission
MPSC takes next steps in enabling interconnection and distributed energy resources
Of considerable importance is the criteria set by this board to determine whether a journeyman electrician is permitted to practice his or her trade in the State of Michigan.
We have been advocating for changes to the State of Michigan Electrical Administrative Act that currently requires all electrical work valued above $100 to be installed by a licensed journeyman electrician and inspected by an accredited electrical inspector. The $100 threshold was set decades ago and has never been challenged by another other advocacy enterprise representing the user interest. Almost all of the stakeholders on the present Electrical Administrative Board are stakeholders who benefit economically from the $100 threshold. Much of the reason for the apparent imbalance of interests lies in tradition; but also because no user interest has been present to advocate for an update of the formal, fee schedule.
This advocacy priority was on the Do-List of the original University of Michigan codes and standards advocacy enterprise which was focused on strengthening the voice of the user/owner/final fiduciary in the promulgation of regulations affecting Michigan educational facilities (CLICK HERE for link to the legacy Advocacy Project 14-1). Of all the trades covered in the parent legislation — Stille-Derossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act (Act 230 of 1972) — the electrical power discipline is the only discipline in Michigan building technology regulations that sets a dollar criteria for electrical work to be performed and inspected. While we recognize the need for safe installation of the electrical power chain within a building; we propose another criteria for establishing the requirement for a licensed electrician and a licensed inspector should be determined (as it is in all other construction disciplines administered by the Bureau of Construction Codes, a division of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs).
The actual text of the present regulation is available by clicking here: 338.881 Definitions | Electrical Administrative Act 217 of 1956
Father Marquette
As a consequence of former Governor Snyder’s Office of Regulatory Reinvention significant changes to both the Bureau of Construction Codes, a division of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs) have taken place within the past twelve months; which make us optimistic about political support for our proposals. We will be collaborating with our colleagues at Michigan State University to make necessary legislative changes we believe will lower the #TotalCostofOwnership of education facilities in the State of Michigan.
We will refer the Michigan Electric Code, and other state electrical codes to the IEEE Education and Healthcare Facilities Committee which hosts bi-weekly breakout teleconferences with electrical professionals in the education facilities industry as required by the demand for them.
Electrical Administrative Board Responsibilities and Meeting Schedule
The next meeting of the Michigan Electrical Board is November 2nd. We have been attending the meetings in Lansing and have made our proposal to revisit the dollar criteria known to the entire board. We hope the Electrical Administrative Board will develop another criteria; inspired by the electrical administrative boards of other states.
Issue: [14-1]
Contact: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben, Kane Howard
Category: Electrical, State & Local Legislation
Link to Issue 14-1 Legacy Website
LEARN MORE:
Wide Variations in State Adoptions of the NEC® Reveal Neglect of Electrical Safety
Current Issues & Recent Research
“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena,
it will make more progress in one decade
than in all the previous centuries of existence.”
Electrical Power System Research
NFPA Electrical Standards Landing Page Ω NFPA Standards Council Ω NFPA Fire Safety Landing Page
ASHRAE Landing Page | ASTM Electrical & Electronics | IES Illumination
Draft IEEE Paper Abstracts | Mike Anthony Short Biography | Electrotechnology OEMS
IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee Recent Meeting Minutes
 IEEE Southeastern Michigan Section Welcome August 2024
|
 IEEE & SWE Student Tour of Michigan Stadium Scoreboard | April 2024 |
IEEE SEM Student Activity 2025
Electrical Power System Research
NFPA Electrical Standards Landing Page Ω NFPA Standards Council Ω NFPA Fire Safety Landing Page
ASHRAE Landing Page | ASTM Electrical & Electronics
Draft IEEE Paper Abstracts | Mike Anthony Short Biography | Electrotechnology OEMS
We examine the proposals for the 2028 National Electrical Safety Code; including our own. The 2026 National Electrical Code where sit on CMP-15 overseeing health care facility electrical issues should be released any day now. We have one proposal on the agenda of the International Code Council’s Group B Committee Action Hearings in Cleveland in October. Balloting on the next IEEE Gold Book on reliability should begin.
“Tomorrow’s Girls” | Donald Fagan
Policy:
OUTERNET: Crossing over data gap using cubesats
Department of Energy Portfolio Analysis & Management System
Department of Energy Building Technologies Office
FERC Open Meetings | (Note that these ~60 minute sessions meet Sunshine Act requirements. Our interest lies one or two levels deeper into the technicals underlying the administrivia)
| Federal Energy Regulatory Commission | Federal Communication Commission | Michigan Public Service Commission |
| December 18 Open Meeting | December 5 Open Meeting | |
| August 7 Open Meeting | ||
| July 24 Open Meeting | July 25 Open Meeting | |
| June 16 Open Meeting | January 22: Newly Appointed FCC Chairman Announces Staff Changes | June 12 Open Meeting |
| May 15 Open Meeting | May 15 Open Meeting | |
| April 17 Open Meeting | April 24 Open Meeting | |
| March 20 Open Meeting | ||
| February 20 FERC Open Meeting | March 3 Open Meeting | |
| January 16 FERC Press Conference | February 27, 2025 Open Meeting | |
January 23: NARUC Congratulates New FERC, FCC and NRC Chairs
January 22: Newly Appointed FCC Chairman Announces Staff Changes | Related: Falsus in uno, Falsus in omnibus
January 6: City of Ann Arbor Postpones Phase II Study to Municipalize DTE Energy distribution grid
January 27, 10 AM Low-Income Energy Policy Board Meeting: Michigan Public Service commission
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: January 16, 2025 Open Meeting
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Notice of Request for Comments (Posted November 25, 2024)
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission | November 21, Open Meeting
Michigan Public Service Commission Meetings
Michigan Public Commission Meeting February 27, 2025
MPSC DTE CMS Electric Power Reliability Case No. U-21305
Michigan Electrical Administrative Board Meeting February 13, 2025
FCC Open Meeting | November 21
Technical: (Also Electrical Power System Research)
Empower Pre-Trained Large Language Models for Building-Level Load Forecasting
Uptime Institute (via NEXT DC) : AI Inference in the Data Center
Majorana Nanowires for Topological Quantum Computing
Linearized Data Center Workload and Cooling Management
Oxford Researchers Discovered How to Use AI To Learn Like A Genius
Lex Fridman: DeepSeek, China, OpenAI, NVIDIA, xAI, TSMC, Stargate, and AI Megaclusters
IEEE: Experts Weigh in on $500B Stargate Project for AI
IEEE: AI Mistakes Are Very Different Than Human Mistakes . We need new security systems designed to deal with their weirdness
High-Performance Tensor Learning Primitives Using GPU Tensor Cores
Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York
Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei City, Taiwan
First Draft Proposals contain most of our proposals — and most new (original) content. We will keep the transcripts linked below but will migrate them to a new page starting 2025:
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-1
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-2
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-4
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-5
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-10
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-11
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-12
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-13
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-15
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-16
2026 NEC Standards Michigan proposals | Public Input Report CMP-18
Related:
N.B. We are in the process of migrating electric power system research to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers bibliographic format.
Recap of the May meetings of the Industrial & Commercial Power Systems Conference in Las Vegas. The conference ended the day before the beginning of the 3-day Memorial Day weekend in the United States so we’re pressed for time; given all that happened.
We can use our last meeting’s agenda to refresh the status of the issues.
IEEE E&H Draft Agenda 28 May 2024
On site conference agenda:
IEEE E&H Conference Agenda 21 May 2024
We typically break down our discussion into the topics listed below:
Codes & Standards:
While IAS/I&CPS has directed votes on the NEC; Mike is the only I&CPS member who is actually submitting proposals and responses to codes and standards developers to the more dominant SDO’s — International Code Council, ASHRAE International, UL, ASTM International, IEC & ISO. Mike maintains his offer to train the next generation of “code writers and vote getters”
Performance-based building premises feeder design has been proposed for the better part of ten NEC revision cycles. The objective of these proposals is to reduce material, labor and energy waste owed to the branch and feeder sizing rules that are prescriptive in Articles 210-235. Our work in service and lighting branch circuit design has been largely successful. A great deal of building interior power chain involves feeders — the network upstream from branch circuit panels but down stream from building service panel.
Our history of advocating for developing this approach, inspired by the NFPA 101 Guide to Alternative Approaches to Life Safety, and recounted in recent proposals for installing performance-based electrical feeder design into the International Building Code, appears in the link below:
Access to this draft paper for presentation at any conference that will receive it — NFPA, ICC or IEEE (or even ASHRAE) will be available for review at the link below:
Toward Performance-Based Building Premise Feeder Design
NFPA 110 Definitions of Public Utility v. Merchant Utility
NFPA 72 “Definition of Dormitory Suite” and related proposals
Buildings:
Renovation economics, Smart contracts in electrical construction. UMich leadership in aluminum wiring statements in the NEC should be used to reduce wiring costs.
Copper can’t be mined fast enough to electrify the United States
Daleep asked Mike to do a Case Study session on the NEC lighting power density change (NEC 220-14) for the IAS Annual Meeting in October. Mike agreed.
Exterior Campus & Distribution:
Illumination. Gary Fox reported that IEEE 3001.9 was endorsed as an ANSI accredited standard for illumination systems.
2024-ICPSD24-0012 PERMANENT DESIGN OF POWER SYSTEMS Parise
This paper details primary considerations in estimating the life cycle of a campus medium voltage distribution grid. Some colleges and universities are selling their entire power grid to private companies. Mike has been following these transactions but cannot do it alone.
Variable Architecture Multi-Island Microgrids
District energy:
Generator stator winding failures and implications upon insurance premiums. David Shipp and Sergio Panetta. Mike suggests more coverage of retro-fit and lapsed life cycle technicals for insurance companies setting premiums.
Reliability:
Bob Arno’s leadership in updating the Gold Book.
Mike will expand the sample set in Table 10-35, page 293 from the <75 data points in the 1975 survey to >1000 data points. Bob will set up meeting with Peyton at US Army Corps of Engineers.
Reliability of merchant utility distribution systems remains pretty much a local matter. The 2023 Edition of the NESC shows modest improvement in the vocabulary of reliability concepts. For the 2028 Edition Mike submitted several proposals to at least reference IEEE titles in the distribution reliability domain. It seems odd (at least to Mike) that the NESC committees do not even reference IEEE technical literature such as Bob’s Gold Book which has been active for decades. Mike will continue to propose changes in other standards catalogs — such as ASTM, ASHRAE and ICC — which may be more responsive to best practice assertions. Ultimately, improvements will require state public utility commission regulations — and we support increases in tariffs so that utilities can afford these improvements.
Mike needs help from IEEE Piscataway on standard WordPress theme limitations for the data collection platform.
Mike will update the campus power outage database.
Healthcare:
Giuseppe Parise’s recent work in Italian power grid to its hospitals, given its elevated earthquake risk. Mike’s review of Giuseppe’s paper:
Harvard Business School: Journal of Healthcare Management Standards
Mike and David Shipp will prepare a position paper for the Harvard Healthcare Management Journal on reliability advantages of impedance grounding for the larger systems.
The Internet of Bodies
Forensics:
Giuseppe’s session was noteworthy for illuminating the similarity and differences between the Italian and US legal system in handling electrotechnology issues.
Mike will restock the committee’s library of lawsuits transactions.
Ports:
Giuseppe updates on the energy and security issues of international ports. Mike limits his time in this committee even though the State of Michigan has the most fresh water international ports in the world.
A PROPOSED GUIDE FOR THE ENERGY PLAN AND ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF A PORT
Other:
Proposals to the 2028 National Electrical Safety Code: Accepted Best Practice, exterior switchgear guarding, scope expansion into ICC and ASHRAE catalog,
Apparently both the Dot Standards and the Color Books will continue parallel development. Only the Gold Book is being updated; led by Bob Arno. Mike admitted confusion but reminded everyone that any references to IEEE best practice literature in the NFPA catalog, was installed Mike himself (who would like some backup help)
Papers in Process:
Impedance Grounding Papers 1 and 2 with David Shipp. Previous Discussion:
https://ieeetv.ieee.org/channels/ieee-region-events/uc-berkeley-s-medium-voltage-grounding-system
Over Coffee and Beers:
Mike assured Christel Hunter (General Cable) that his proposals for reducing the 180 VA per-outlet requirements, and the performance-base design allowance for building interior feeders do not violate the results of the Neher-McGrath calculation used for conductor sizing. All insulation and conducting material thermal limits are unaffected.
Other informal discussions centered on the rising cost of copper wiring and the implications for the global electrotechnical transformation involving the build out of quantum computing and autonomous vehicles. Few expressed optimism that government ambitions for the same could be met in any practical way.
Are students avoiding use of Chat GPT for energy conservation reasons? Mike will be breaking out this topic for a dedicated standards inquiry session:
Workspace IEEE 1366: Guide for Electric Power Distribution Reliability Indices
Largest U.S. Electric Utility Companies Ranked by Generation Capacity For IEEE 493 update we seek outage data from the 100 largest campus power system experts.
Life Safety Code
Today at the usual hour we sort through the NFPA stack for fire safety system aspects during renovation, alteration, or rehabilitation of buildings. Two sections come to mind:
Chapter 43 (NFPA 101): Building Rehabilitation
NFPA 241: Safeguarding Construction, Alteration, and Demolition Operations
Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
Educational and Day-Care Occupancies (July 23, 2025 Second Draft Transcript)
The Life Safety Code addresses those construction, protection, and occupancy features necessary to minimize danger to life from the effects of fire, including smoke, heat, and toxic gases created during a fire. It is widely incorporated by reference into public safety statutes; typically coupled with the consensus products of the International Code Council. It is a mighty document — one of the NFPA’s leading titles — so we deal with it in pieces; consulting it for decisions to be made for the following:
(1) Determination of the occupancy classification in Chapters 12 through 42.
(2) Determination of whether a building or structure is new or existing.
(3) Determination of the occupant load.
(4) Determination of the hazard of contents.
There are emergent issues — such as active shooter response, integration of life and fire safety systems on the internet of small things — and recurrent issues such as excessive rehabilitation and conformity criteria and the ever-expanding requirements for sprinklers and portable fire extinguishers with which to reckon. It is never easy telling a safety professional paid to make a market for his product or service that it is impossible to be alive and safe. It is even harder telling the dean of a department how much it will cost to bring the square-footage under his stewardship up to the current code.
The 2021 edition is the current edition and is accessible below:
NFPA 101 Life Safety Code Free Public Access
Public input on the 2027 Revision will be received until June 4, 2024. Public comment on the Second Draft 2027 Revision will be received until March 31, 2026.
Since the Life Safety Code is one of the most “living” of living documents — the International Building Code and the National Electric Code also move continuously — we can start anywhere and anytime and still make meaningful contributions to it. We have been advocating in this document since the 2003 edition in which we submitted proposals for changes such as:
• A student residence facility life safety crosswalk between NFPA 101 and the International Building Code
• Refinements to Chapters 14 and 15 covering education facilities (with particular attention to door technologies)
• Identification of an ingress path for rescue and recovery personnel toward electric service equipment installations.
• Risk-informed requirement for installation of grab bars in bathing areas
• Modification of the 90-minute emergency lighting requirements rule for small buildings and for fixed interval testing
• Modification of emergency illumination fixed interval testing
• Table 7.3.1 Occupant Load revisions
• Harmonization of egress path width with European building codes
There are others. It is typically difficult to make changes to stabilized standard though some of the concepts were integrated by the committee into other parts of the NFPA 101 in unexpected, though productive, ways. Example transcripts of proposed 2023 revisions to the education facility chapter is linked below:
Chapter 14 Public Input Report: New Educational Occupancies
Educational and Day Care Occupancies: Second Draft Public Comments with Responses Report
Since NFPA 101 is so vast in its implications we list a few of the sections we track, and can drill into further, according to client interest:
Chapter 3: Definitions
Chapter 7: Means of Egress
Chapter 12: New Assembly Occupancies
Chapter 13: Existing Assembly Occupancies
Chapter 16 Public Input Report: New Day-Care Facilities
Chapter 17 Public Input Report: Existing Day Care Facilities
Chapter 18 Public Input Report: New Health Care Facilities
Chapter 19 Public Input Report: Existing Health Care Facilities
Chapter 28: Public Input Report: New Hotels and Dormitories
Chapter 29: Public Input Report: Existing Hotels and Dormitories
Chapter 43: Building Rehabilitation
Annex A: Explanatory Material
As always we encourage front-line staff, facility managers, subject matter experts and trade associations to participate directly in the NFPA code development process (CLICK HERE to get started)
NFPA 101 is a cross-cutting title so we maintain it on the agenda of our several colloquia —Housing, Prometheus, Security and Pathways colloquia. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Issue: [18-90]
Category: Fire Safety, Public Safety
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Josh Elvove, Joe DeRosier, Marcelo Hirschler
More
When lives are at stake, alternative approaches are welcome. #LifeSafety #AlternativeApproaches #Code #NFPA101 @NFPA
https://t.co/JvWyyZtuLP— ANSI (@ansidotorg) December 20, 2018
“Kettle’s On” & Morning Shower
Most people step into morning shower and pour their first drink take as read the water and energy standards that assure safety and reliability. Today at the usual hour we refresh our understanding of the relatively stable stack of standards that are treated as given. With links to the Alice Parker invention of home heating. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
Related:
ASSE 1016/1017 mixing valves to prevent scalds, and temperature guidelines balancing burn risks (max ~120°F at fixtures) against Legionella growth (storage ≥140°F).
NSF/ANSI 61/372 for drinking water safety.
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/njrDAbSpwB pic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
— USPTO (@uspto) July 13, 2023
Welcome
Standards Michigan Group, LLC
2723 South State Street | Suite 150
Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA
888-746-3670
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