New York University Facilities Management
Washing in the Outer Hebrides 🎶 pic.twitter.com/3WbpVpviyg
— Fraser. (@frasercontra) August 10, 2023
New York University Facilities Management
Washing in the Outer Hebrides 🎶 pic.twitter.com/3WbpVpviyg
— Fraser. (@frasercontra) August 10, 2023
Today we unpack the latest in codes, standards, guidelines, recommendations and safety legislation that set the standard of care for the design, manufacture and maintenance of interior fixtures such as carpet, furniture, bookshelves and ceiling tiles, plumbing fixtures — a large part of what construction industry professionals find in CSIGroup MasterFormat Division 12 — Furnishings. — i.e. “Things that are not nailed down” Such things can elude infrastructure budgets that are dominated by real assets fixed in place.
Other accredited standards developers in this domain:
APPA Leadership in Education Facilities
ASHRAE International
ASTM International
International Code Council
Illumination Engineering Society
National Fire Protection Association
National Floor Safety Institute
Underwriters Laboratories
There are others.
In large research universities, it is common for building service personnel engaged in keeping facilities clean and tidy to constitute the largest proportion of permanent employees.
The Architectural Woodwork Institute (AWI) seeks to be the global leader in architectural woodwork standards and related interior finishes. It has released a redline for public review and comment its standard AWI 0620 Finish Carpentry/Installation. AWI 0620 is written to provide comprehensive guidelines for the installation and finishing of architectural woodwork and related interior products. This standard should be important to the largest non-residential building construction market in the United States.
Comments are due August 20th. You may obtain an electronic copy from: [email protected]. Send your comments to the same email address (with copy to [email protected]). All consensus standards involving the architectural trades are on the agenda of our weekly Open Door teleconference — every Wednesday, 11 AM Eastern time (CLICK HERE to log in). Additionally, we have set aside an hour per month to run through all consensus documents that are referenced in typical design, construction, operations & maintenance contracts. The next teleconference is scheduled for July 23rd, 11 AM Eastern time, as described in the link below:
Issue: [18-189]
Category; Architectural
ANSI Standards Action Notice | PDF Page 7
International Building Code Chapter 23: Wood
Chapter 8 of the International Building Code contains the performance requirements for controlling fire growth and smoke propagation within buildings by restricting interior finish and decorative materials. A great deal of interior square footage presents fire hazard; even bulletin boards and decorations; as a simple web search will reveal. We are respectful of the competing requirements of safety and ambience and try to assist in a reconciliation of these two objectives.
Free access to the current edition of the relevant section is linked below:
The public input period of the Group A Codes — which includes the International Fire Code; which contains parent requirements for this chapter — closed in July 2nd. Search on the word “interior”, or “school” or “classroom “in the document linked below for a sample of the ideas in play.
Update to the 2024 Group A – Consolidated Monograph Updates 3/18/2024
2021 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ACTION HEARINGS ON THE 2021 EDITIONS OF THE GROUP A INTERNATIONAL CODES
Development of Group A proceeds in the calendar linked below:
Current Code Development Cycle 2024-2026
Most of the ICC bibliography lies at the foundation of the safety and sustainability agenda of education communities everywhere so we follow development continuously; setting priorities according to our resources. We keep the issues in this chapter on the standing agenda of our Interiors colloquium. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
2026 NEC CMP-18 Public Input Report
Modular furniture systems with integral power and telecommunication fittings require attention to power and digital pathways. “Modular systems furniture” is a generic term for bundles of panels, worksurfaces, shelves, and other items sold by a single manufacturer as a package for furnishing offices. The modular furniture system environment is characterized by close proximity to electrical energy. Where there is electrical energy there are concerns for shock and fire safety.
Fire safety considerations appear in NFPA 70 National Electrical Code (NEC)– generally in Articles 210 (Branch Circuits), Article 220 (Branch Circuit, Feeder and Service Load Calculations) — and with more specific safety considerations appearing in Articles 604 (Manufactured Wiring Systems) and Article 605 (Office Furnishings). The current edition of the National Electrical Code is linked below:
Public Access 2023 National Electrical Code
Over the past 30-odd years modular furniture manufacturers have worked out a lot of the bugs in products; making it easier for furniture contractors to deliver a safer and more effective installation. What remains are site-specific conditions — such as lighting load, current draw of space heaters and personal air conditioners through the furniture power pathway — that must be reckoned with. A sample of other considerations:
There are other safety and sustainability issues related to USB outlets, and data/voice outlets[2] that we will cover in another post and in our collaborations with IEEE SCC-18 and the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee (IEEE E&H).
We find office wiring a relatively lively “promontary” in safety and sustainability circles. The transcript of debate among interior wiring experts is always a good place to listen in on the technical discussion; linked below:
Public Input Report – 2023 National Electrical Code Panel 7
Public Input Report – 2023 National Electrical Code Panel 18
We find manufactured wiring concepts tracking that effects office occupancies for all industries. Market incumbents continue advocacy for more ground fault and tamper-resistant receptacles in day care and gymnasium.
A more significant debate tracks in Chapter 2 — related to office modular furniture wiring because electrical load calculations determine how designers specify branch circuits for all occupancy classifications present in education communities (which is nearly every occupancy type defined in the International Building Code):
Public Input Report – 2023 National Electrical Code Panel 2
,Standards Michigan, beginning with its inspiration in the original University of Michigan standards advocacy enterprises, has a long and storied engagement with Chapter 2 of the NEC covered here and also academic literature and also in research sponsored by NFPA’s Fire Protection Research Foundation.
We always encourage our workpoint experts in the thousands of electrical and telecommunication units in the education and healthcare facilities industry to participate directly in the NFPA Code Development process (CLICK HERE to join a committee).
Since both the National Electrical Code and the National Electrical Safety Code revision cycles are roughly coincident in 2021 we working on electrical power issues every day, collaborating with the IEEE E&H Committee. Online meetings are open to everyone.
Issue: [16-102]
Category: Electrical, Interior Furnishings, Telecommunications
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Massimo Mitolo
[1] Rightsizing electrical power systems in large commercial facilities
[2] Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Standard
More
Cornell University Dining: Student & Campus Life
Ingredients:
Directions:
*Recipe from Skinny Taste
Nutrition Information: 1 1/3 cups| servings per recipe: 8 | Calories: 192, total fat: 2 g, saturated fat: 0 g, trans fat: 0 g; cholesterol: 1.3 mg, sodium: 159 mg, carbohydrates: 27 g, fiber: 8.3 g, sugar: 8.5 g, protein: 18 g
IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee
Outdoor Sport Illumination Technical Issues & Representative Calculation
Today we refresh our understanding of the moment in illumination technologies for outdoor lighting systems— related but different from our exploration of building interior illumination systems in Illumination 200. Later in 2023 we will roll out Illumination 500 which explores litigation related to public illumination technology. As cities-within-cities the shared perimeter of a campus with the host municipality has proven rich in legal controversy and action.
Illumination technology was the original inspiration for the electric utility industry; providing night-time security and transforming every sector of every economy on earth. Lighting load remains the largest component of any building’s electric load — about 35 percent– making it a large target for energy regulations.
Our inquiry begins with selections from the following documents…
International Electrotechnical Commission TC 34 Lighting
IEC 60364 Electrical Installations in Buildings
2023 National Electrical Safety Code
2023 National Electrical Code: Article 410 (While the bulk of the NEC concerns indoor wiring fire hazards, there are passages that inform outdoor lighting wiring safety)
2019 ASHRAE 90.1: Chapter 9 Lighting
Illumination Engineering Society: Various titles
Salt Water River Project: Outdoor Lighting Standards
US DOE-EERE Building Energy Codes Program
…and about 20 other accredited, consortia or ad hoc standards developers and publishers aligned principally with vertical incumbents. Illumination was the original inspiration (i.e. the first “killer app”) for the electrical power industry in every nation. Its best practice literature reflects a fast-moving, shape-changing domain.
Click in today with the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
McGill University: Before electricity, streets were filled with gas lights
Outdoor lighting systems can be owned and maintained by different entities depending on the context and location. Here are some examples of ownership regimes for outdoor lighting systems:
The ownership regime of an outdoor lighting system can have implications for issues such as installation, maintenance, and cost-sharing. It is important to consider ownership when designing and implementing outdoor lighting systems to ensure their long-term effectiveness and sustainability.
More
International Commission on Illumination
National Electrical Manufacturers Association
National Electrical Contractors Association
Representative Specifications
Sam Houston State University | Division 26500 Interior and Exterior Lighting
University of Delaware | Division 265100 Interior Lighting
Cal Poly University San Luis Obispo | Division 265100 Interior Lighting
Relevant Research
Enhancing the Sustainability of Outdoor Floodlighting for Cultural Heritage Buildings
Christian Wiman ✨ pic.twitter.com/r95fWwZZmP
— Dr. Maya C. Popa (@MayaCPopa) May 28, 2023
Best wiring safety practice for the illumination of educational settlement occupancies is scattered throughout the National Electrical Code with primary consideration for wiring fire safety:
We have done a fair amount of work on this topic over the years, including writing the chapter on campus outdoor lighting for the soon-to-be-released IEEE 3001.9 Recommended Practice for the Design of Power Systems Supplying Lighting Systems in Commercial and Industrial Facilities.
For our meeting please refer to the workspace we have set up for the 2026 Revision of the NEC:
We will pick through specifics in the transcripts of Code Making Panels 10 and 18.
International Building Code: Chapter 12 Section 1204 Lighting
The renovated Schwarzman Center at Yale now features dynamic new communal areas, a refreshed historic dining hall and eye-catching exterior lighting, enhancing the campus experience.
Details: https://t.co/XWw1UQR2eB | 📍New Haven, CT, US #ArchitizerAwards pic.twitter.com/mxGxdYw2NY
— Architizer (@Architizer) November 17, 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
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