A Latte Learning: UNK coffee shop gives students a taste of business management
Owing to the proposal deadline at 5 PM EST today’s Open Office Hours will not be hosted online as usual. We are busy writing proposals. You may, however, call the office at 888-748-3670 for any question. Normal sessions resume tomorrow.
Until the Public Consultation period closes on Wednesday, June 4th EST, we will examine transcripts of previous revisions where we have an interest and prepare fresh proposals to advance our safety and sustainability agenda for educational settlements. Topmost: NFPA 70E, NFPA 72, NFPA 78, NFPA 110&111 and 1078. Complete titles are expanded in the link below.
Addendum av to ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2022, Energy Standard for Sites and Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. This addendum creates more exacting provisions for envelope alterations. The new format is intended to better communicate the requirements, triggers, and allowances associated with performing an envelope alteration to promote energy efficiency within the impacted area(s). Consultation closes October 6.
ANSI Standards Action Weekly Edition | Given ASHRAE’s revision redlines are frequently uploaded here
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) is an ANSI-accredited continuous-maintenance standards developer (a major contributor to what we call a regulatory product development “stream”). Continuous maintenance means that changes to its consensus products can change in as little as 30 days so it is wise to keep pace.
Among the leading titles in its catalog is ASHRAE 90.1 Energy Standard for Sites and Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. Standard 90.1 has been a benchmark for commercial building energy codes in the United States and a key basis for codes and standards around the world for more than 35 years. Free access to ASHRAE 90.1 version is available at the link below:
READ ONLY Version of 2022 ASHRAE 90.1
Redlines are released at a fairly brisk pace — with 30 to 45 day consultation periods. A related title — ASHRAE 189.1 Standard for the Design of High Performance Green Buildings — first published in 2009 and far more prescriptive in its scope heavily references parent title 90.1 so we usually them as a pair because 189.1 makes a market for green building conformance enterprises. Note the “extreme prescriptiveness” (our term of art) in 189.1 which has the practical effect of legislating engineering judgement, in our view.
25 January 2023: Newly Released ASHRAE 90.1-2022 Includes Expanded Scope For Building Sites
ASHRAE committees post their redlines at the link below:
Online Standards Actions & Public Review Drafts
Education estate managers, energy conservation workgroups, sustainability officers, electric shop foreman, electricians and front-line maintenance professionals who change lighting fixtures, maintain environmental air systems are encouraged to participate directly in the ASHRAE consensus standard development process.
We also maintain ASHRAE best practice titles as standing items on our Mechanical, Water, Energy and Illumination colloquia. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Issue: [Various]
Category: Mechanical, Electrical, Energy Conservation, Facility Asset Management, US Department of Energy, #SmartCampus
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Larry Spielvogel, Richard Robben
Under Construction: ASHRAE WORKSPACE
More
ARCHIVE 2002-2016 / ASHRAE 90.1 ENERGY STANDARD FOR BUILDINGS
US Department of Energy Building Energy Codes Program
ASHRAE Guideline 0 The Commissioning Process
Why Software is Eating the World
* Many standards-developing organizations aim to broaden their influence by entering the product standard and certification domain. Although our primary focus is on interoperability standards (within a system of interoperable products), we also consider market dynamics when product performance specifications are incorporated by reference into public law.
This map shows how US households heat their homes. Source: https://t.co/FYhAQ4U9iV pic.twitter.com/Vyw02f7Wa2
— Simon Kuestenmacher (@simongerman600) December 18, 2024
Love data like this, even though I would set temperature at a different scale. I like it warm. pic.twitter.com/itJgsZWZlK
— Simon Kuestenmacher (@simongerman600) December 15, 2024
“In a world of infinite information,
the scarce resource is attention.”
By design, we do not provide a SEARCH function. We are a niche practice in a subtle, time-sensitive domain with over 30 years of case history. We were the first movers in the largest building construction market in the world. We are happy to answer all questions but place priority on collaborations. We provide links to the most accessed topics in recent days. All queries presented during our “Open Office Hours” every work day, or via email, are gratefully received and prompt a near-immediate response.
Alexis de Tocqueville on the Foundations of American Democracy
Standard for Interactions Between Medical Examiner, Coroner and Death Investigation Agencies
Acceptable Performance Standard for District Cooling Systems
As part of its ongoing, exhaustive effort to continually promote campus safety, the University of Georgia announced today several additional measures, totaling more than $7.3 million, to further strengthen campus security on its Athens campus. https://t.co/bTg6b4DLUX
— UGA (@universityofga) February 27, 2024
@rmayMVS here ya go! From Kruger National Park South Africa #mvinterim #mvinterinterim2southafrica24 pic.twitter.com/QU0rUuGJgg
— Dr. Kelli Bynum (@kellimccbynum) March 3, 2024
Stacks of fun at @OrielOxford‘s annual #ShroveTuesday race 🥞#PancakeDay pic.twitter.com/nTXOpkR1zO
— University of Oxford (@UniofOxford) February 13, 2024
Electrical heat tracing: international harmonization-now and in the future
Electrical heat tracing: international harmonization-now and in the future
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession
of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
— Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Standards Wales | British Standards Institution | ISO Coffee Standards
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024
Take the next step in your career and join one of the UK’s most innovative and successful universities.
💷 Competitive salaries
🧳 Generous leave entitlement
🏠 Hybrid working
🏦 Staff pension
📚 Development opportunities. pic.twitter.com/ePIomFWxS6— Cardiff University (@cardiffuni) October 3, 2024
International Code Council: Current Code Development Cycle 2024-2026
International Building Code: Chapter 1 Scope and Administration
Today at the usual hour we examine a few representative contracts:
University of Michigan Standard General Conditions
Wayne State University Supplementary Conditions of Construction
Princeton University: General Terms & Conditions for Construction Contracts
Universities Wisconsin: General Conditions of the Contract for Construction
The cost of compliance with general conditions in a typical construction project can vary widely depending on factors like project size, complexity, location, and specific requirements. General conditions refer to the indirect costs that support the project—things like project management, temporary facilities, safety measures, and administrative expenses—not the direct costs of labor, materials, or equipment tied to physical construction.
In percentage terms, general conditions typically account for 5% to 15% of the total project cost, with most projects falling in the 5% to 10% range for standard residential or commercial builds. Smaller projects might see percentages closer to or exceeding 10% because fixed costs (like a site trailer or a project manager’s time) don’t scale down as much as direct costs. Larger, more complex projects—like industrial or infrastructure work—might trend toward the lower end (5% or less) since direct costs dominate, diluting the relative impact of general conditions. For example, a $300,000 residential project might allocate $15,000 to $30,000 (5% to 10%) for general conditions, while a $10 million commercial project could see $500,000 or less (5%) if efficiencies kick in.
Related:
Global Consistency in Presenting Construction & Life Cycle Costs
Readings:
Coop: A Family, a Farm, and the Pursuit of One Good Egg (Michael Perry)
The Land Remembers (Ben Logan)
State of Wisconsin: Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
Midwesterners: bring salad to the Labor Day BBQ
The salad: pic.twitter.com/WHNTelL51e
— Midwest vs. Everybody (@midwestern_ope) September 1, 2024
University of Miami: Condensed Statement of Financial Position 2023 ($7.02B)
Florida: Municipal Securities Issuers
The Border, DEI, Trump, Islam, BLM & the Misinterpretation of Data
Good luck on finals, Canes! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/mZb2Pfynra
— University of Miami (@univmiami) April 30, 2025
2024 GROUP A PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE I-CODES
When is it ever NOT storm season somewhere in the United States; with several hundred schools, colleges and universities in the path of them? Hurricanes also spawn tornadoes. This title sets the standard of care for safety, resilience and recovery when education community structures are used for shelter and recovery. The most recently published edition of the joint work results of the International Code Council and the ASCE Structural Engineering Institute SEI-7 is linked below:
2020 ICC/NSSA 500 Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters.
Given the historic tornados in the American Midwest this weekend, its relevance is plain. From the project prospectus:
The objective of this Standard is to provide technical design and performance criteria that will facilitate and promote the design, construction, and installation of safe, reliable, and economical storm shelters to protect the public. It is intended that this Standard be used by design professionals; storm shelter designers, manufacturers, and constructors; building officials; and emergency management personnel and government officials to ensure that storm shelters provide a consistently high level of protection to the sheltered public.
This project runs roughly in tandem with the ASCE Structural Engineering Institute SEI-17 which has recently updated its content management system and presented challenges to anyone who attempts to find the content where it used to be before the website overhaul. In the intervening time, we direct stakeholders to the link to actual text (above) and remind education facility managers and their architectural/engineering consultants that the ICC Code Development process is open to everyone.
The ICC receives public response to proposed changes to titles in its catalog at the link below:
2024/2025/2026 ICC CODE DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE
You are encouraged to communicate with Kimberly Paarlberg (kpaarlberg@iccsafe.org) for detailed, up to the moment information. When the content is curated by ICC staff it is made available at the link below:
We maintain this title on the agenda of our periodic Disaster colloquia which approach this title from the point of view of education community facility managers who collaborate with structual engineers, architects and emergency management functionaries.. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting, open to everyone.
Readings:
FEMA: Highlights of ICC 500-2020
ICC 500-2020 Standard and Commentary: ICC/NSSA Design and Construction of Storm Shelters
Students presenting posters on how to be prepared for natural disasters and emergencies #onedistrictoneteam #D59learns @CCSD59 @D59Byrd pic.twitter.com/NOsa3ekkTD
— Mrs. Darga (@MrsDarga) September 19, 2023
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
Standards Michigan Group, LLC
2723 South State Street | Suite 150
Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA
888-746-3670