Sam Zell (1941–2023), the billionaire real estate investor and founder of Equity Group Investments, was a proud alumnus of the University of Michigan, earning both his B.A. (1963) and J.D. (1966) there. While an undergraduate, he managed apartment buildings and became a notable figure in campus entrepreneurship.
Zell and his fraternity brother Robert Lurie maintained a lifelong partnership that began at Michigan.He remained one of U-M’s most generous donors: the business school’s entrepreneurship program is named the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, and he funded the Zell Lurie Founders Fund. The university awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2003 and he frequently returned to teach and mentor students.
“…LIGHT + DESIGN was developed to introduce architects, lighting designers, design engineers, interior designers, and other lighting professionals to the principles of quality lighting design. These principles; related to visual performance, energy, and economics; and aesthetics; can be applied to a wide range of interior and exterior spaces to aid designers in providing high-quality lighting to their projects.
Stakeholders: Architects, interior designers, lighting practitioners, building owners/operators, engineers, the general public, luminaire manufacturers. This standard focuses on design principles and defines key technical terms and includes technical background to aid understanding for the designer as well as the client about the quality of the lighted environment. Quality lighting enhances our ability to see and interpret the world around us, supporting our sense of well-being, and improving our capability to communicate with each other….”
Illumination technologies run about 30 percent of the energy load in a building and require significant human resources at the workpoint — facility managers, shop foremen, front-line operations and maintenance personnel, design engineers and sustainability specialists. The IES has one of the easier platforms for user-interest participation:
Because the number of electrotechnology standards run in the thousands and are in continual motion* we need an estimate of user-interest in any title before we formally request a redline because the cost of obtaining one in time to make meaningful contributions will run into hundreds of US dollars; apart from the cost of obtaining a current copy.
We maintain the IES catalog on the standing agendas of our Electrical, Illumination and Energy colloquia. Additionally, we collaborate with experts active in the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee which meets online 4 times monthly in European and American time zones; all colloquia online and open to everyone. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page to join us.
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.
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.
The project, located on the Texas A&M University System’s Rellis Campus in Bryan (Brazos County), has faced significant delays. Originally slated to begin construction by November 2021, it was pushed back due to the 2021 Winter Storm Uri. In November 2023, construction was announced to start in 2024, with an expected opening in Q3 2024 (July–September). However, no sources confirm completion or operations.Recent developments include:
February 2025: Bryan approved a reinvestment zone on the 25-acre site to attract the data center, with ongoing negotiations.
October 2025: Officials clarified no formal plans have been submitted for the site, despite zoning approvals for potential development.
The project’s official site (rellisdrc.com) states “Site will be available soon,” indicating it’s still under preparation. It’s designed as a 225,000 sq ft Tier III facility with colocation, cloud services, and educational spaces for workforce training.
The RELLIS Data and Research Center will be a public – private development with Texas A&M University. The data center will be built on the new RELLIS Campus located in College Station, Texas. It will offer cloud storage and outstanding managed services. The RELLIS Academy and Research Lab offers the ability for Texas A&M University to give real world data center experience to both students and faculty.
Information and communications technology (ICT) is a fast-moving economic space in which a mix of consensus, consortia and open-source standards form the broad contours of leading practice. ICT standards tend to follow international developments — more so than, say, fire safety standards which are more familiar to education facility leadership. All school districts, colleges, universities and university-affiliated health care systems have significant product, system, firmware and labor resources allocated toward ICT.
The Building Industry Consulting Service International (BICSI) is a professional association supporting the advancement of the ICT community in all markets. This community is roughly divided between experts who deal with “outside-plant” systems and “building premise” systems on either side of the ICT demarcation (or Point-of-Presence). BICSI standards cover the wired and wireless spectrum of voice, data, electronic safety & security, project management and audio & video technologies. Its work is divided among several committees as shown in the landing page of its standards setting enterprise, linked below:
The stars on the map above indicate where BICSI Standards are currently in use (CLICK ON IMAGE).
Education communities are stewards of significant information and communication technology infrastructure. Accordingly, we track the development of BICSI 009 Data Center Operations and Maintenance Best Practices. This title provides requirements, recommendations, and best practices for the operation and maintenance of data centers including but not limited to standard operating procedures, emergency operating procedures, maintenance, governance, and management. Those comments are now being integrated into a revised standard to be released as soon as the restrictions of the pandemic are eased. For more information you may communicate directly with Jeff Silveira (jSilveira@bicsi.org)
As of this posting, all BICSI best practice titles are stable and current; though our recent communication with its leadership indicates that BICSI standards setting has been slowed by the pandemic.
A fair amount of content in BICSI standards are inspired by movement in safety concepts of the National Electrical Code; particularly on matters involving wiring, grounding and lightning protection. We maintain all BICSI best practice titles on the standing agenda of our Infotech 200 teleconference. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to the public. On this topic we collaborate with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee meets four times monthly in European and American time zones; also open to the public.
Did you know BICSI offers a complete library of our award winning technical manuals and published standards? Available in print or electronic download, this set is a perfect resource for your company. Learn more: https://t.co/fzBA8hqve9pic.twitter.com/y9duVe0fCG
The bookwheel, also known as a revolving bookcase, was invented by an Italian scholar and polymath named Agostino Ramelli. Ramelli was born in 1531 in Ponte Tresa, a town in present-day Italy, and he lived during the Renaissance period.
Ramelli’s invention, described in his work titled “Le diverse et artificiose machine del capitano Agostino Ramelli” (The Various and Ingenious Machines of Captain Agostino Ramelli), was published in 1588. This book showcased a collection of 195 mechanical devices.
Ramelli’s work contributed to the growing interest in mechanical inventions during the Renaissance period. His bookwheel design remains a fascinating example of early engineering and ingenuity, highlighting the desire for knowledge and practical solutions in the pursuit of learning and scholarly endeavors.
The standard of care for wiring safety for data centers — a continually expanding presence in education communities even before the pandemic — is established in National Electrical Code Articles 645 (Information Technology Equipment), Article 646 (Modular Data Centers) and Article 647 (Sensitive Electronic Equipment). You will notice that these articles cover the topic comprehensively and bear the imprint of competing Producer-Interest groups. There are no User-Interest representatives on Code-Making Panel 12 that represent the final fiduciary in education communities even though education communities are one of the largest markets for information and communication technology systems.
Transcripts of technical committee action during the 2026 revision (CMP-16) are linked below because they will inform our recommendations for the 2026 National Electrical Code. Keep in mind that the Technical Correlating Committee is moving content around the Code in order to make the NEC easier to use by experts.
The transcripts of technical committee action during the 2023 revision are linked below because they will inform our recommendations for the 2026 National Electrical Code.
The issues that have been in play in these articles of the NEC are familiar to veterans of the “food fight” – occupancy classification, cable specifications, fire protection, ventilation, energy consumption, surge protection, licensing of engineers. etc. We look for market-making excesses by opposing stakeholders that seek to limit their risk while raising the (financial) risk to education communities.
We encourage our colleagues to participate in the NFPA code development process directly. We also encourage stakeholders in education communities — students, faculty and staff to join us during any of the teleconferences we co-host with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee 4 times monthly in both European and American time zones. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting.
The Uptime Institute’s tier system classifies data centers into four levels based on performance, redundancy, and availability, from basic to fully fault-tolerant. A Tier I (basic capacity) facility has single paths for power and cooling, while Tier II adds some redundant components like UPS modules and generators. Tier III (concurrently maintainable) includes multiple, independent distribution paths, allowing for maintenance without taking the system offline. Tier IV (fault-tolerant) is the highest level, with 2N or 2N+1 redundancy to withstand single-failure points in critical systems.
Tier I: Basic capacity with a single path for power and cooling; requires downtime for maintenance.
Tier II: Adds some redundant capacity components (e.g., UPS, generators) to improve reliability over Tier I.
Tier III: “Concurrently maintainable,” meaning maintenance can be performed without interrupting operations due to multiple, independent distribution paths.
Tier IV: “Fault tolerant,” with a fully fault-tolerant infrastructure (2N or 2N+1) that can withstand any single-point failure.
The system focuses on the performance-based goals rather than specific technologies, and each tier builds upon the previous tier
IEEE English for Technical Professionals is a 14-hour online learning program designed to provide non-native English speakers with a working knowledge of English techniques and vocabulary that are essential for working in today’s technical workplace.
Disagree with someone and cannot persuade them? Do you need to hide your intransigence or ulterior motive? Then change the basis of discussion by changing the subject with a different definition.
This happens routinely in political discourse and rather frequently in best practice discovery and promulgation in building construction and settlement infrastructure standards[1]. Assuming all parties are negotiating in good faith resolution may lie in agreement on a common understanding of what a satisfying agreement might look like.
Admittedly, a subtle and challenging topic outside our wheelhouse[2] hence the need to improve our organization of this topic starting with today’s colloquium; with follow on sessions every month.
Starting 2025 we will organize our approach to this topic, thus:
Language 100. Survey of linguistic basics for developing codes, standards and regulations. Many vertical incumbents have developed their own style manuals
Language 200. Electrotechnical vocabulary
Language 300. Architectural and Allied trade vocabulary
Language 400. The language of government regulations; the euphemisms of politicians with influence over the built environment
Language 500. Advanced topics such as large language models or spoken dialects such as “High Michigan” — arguably, the standard American dialect where it applies to the standards listed above.
It may not be obvious how profound the choice of words and phrases have on leading practice discovery and promulgation. For example, “What is Gender” determines the number, placement and functionality of sanitary technologies in housing, hospitals and sporting. The United States has a Supreme Court justice that cannot define “woman”
As always, we will respond to public consultation opportunities wherever we can find them. Some organizations are better than this than others.
Today we limit our discussion to language changes in the catalogs of ANSI-accredited standards developers whose titles have the most influence over the interoperability of safety and sustainability technologies that create and sustain the built environment of educational settlements.
Every building construction discipline has its own parlance and terms of art.
This is enough for a one-hour session and, depending upon interest, we will schedule a breakout session outside of our normal “daily” office hours. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
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Starting 2024 and running into 2025 we will break down this topic further, starting with construction contract language — Lingua Franca 300:
Asset management applies to any organization. As such, understanding its terminology, principles, and outcomes is key to an organization’s success. ISO 55000:2024 provides an overview of #AssetManagement and its expected benefits. @isostandardshttps://t.co/XZsWvJJ8r4
(1) The United States government defines a “Green Building” as a building that has been designed, constructed, and operated in a way that reduces or eliminates negative impacts on the environment and occupants. The government has established various standards and certifications that buildings can achieve to be considered “green.”
The most widely recognized green building certification in the United States is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, which is administered by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). To achieve LEED certification, a building must meet certain standards related to sustainable site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.
In addition to the LEED certification, there are other programs and standards that can be used to measure and certify the sustainability of buildings, such as the Green Globes rating system and the Living Building Challenge.
Overall, the goal of green building is to create buildings that are not only environmentally sustainable but also healthier, more comfortable, and more efficient for occupants, while reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. By promoting green building practices, the U.S. government aims to reduce the environmental impact of the built environment and move towards a more sustainable future.
(2) The U.S. Green Building Council is a conformance organization. See the discussion our ABOUT for background on incumbent stakeholders.
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
