Americas Infrastructure Report Card

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Americas Infrastructure Report Card

July 7, 2025
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ASCE Standards Catalog | Standards Open for Public Comment

Flood Abatement Equipment

July 7, 2025
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Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie | Dutch East India Company

FM Global is one of several organizations that produce technical and business documents that set the standard of care for risk management in education facilities.   These standards — Property Loss Prevention Data Sheets —  contribute to the reduction in the risk of property loss due to fire, weather conditions, and failure of electrical or mechanical equipment.  They incorporate nearly 200 years of property loss experience, research and engineering results, as well as input from consensus standards committees, equipment manufacturers and others.

In July FM Global updated its standard FM 2510 Flood Abatement Equipment which should interest flood barrier manufacturers, standard authorities, industrial and commercial facilities looking to protect their buildings from riverline flooding conditions.

The following updates were proposed and mostly adopted:

  • Modifications to the opening barrier protocol to include water performance testing at lower depths;
  • Additional tests that apply to open-cellular rubber compounds (i.e., foam-type rubber) which are commonly used as gaskets on flood barriers need to be added to the Standard to sufficiently assess their quality;
  • Addition of adhesive testing. Many barrier designs use adhesives to bond the gasket material to the barrier. Adhesives are not addressed under the current protocol;
    Modify the flood abatement pump section to clarify approval of pump packages vs. wet-end only;
  • Additional requirements for electric drive and submersible flood pumps;
  • Modifications to backwater valve section to be inclusive of all types of “backwater valves” besides the traditional check valve.
  • Additional requirements for waterproofing products for building penetrations. Products in this category include collars, plugs, elastomeric seals, and types of putty.

This standard also contains test requirements for the performance of flood barriers, flood mitigation pumps, backwater valves, and waterproofing products for building penetrations, as well as an evaluation of the components comprising these products to assure reliability in the barrier’s performance.

While there are a number of noteworthy colleges and universities that have grown near rivers and lakes — twenty-five of which are listed HERE — severe weather and system failures present flooding risks to them all.

Another Data Sheet — I-40 Floods — was updated in October.   Both Data Sheets are available for download at the link below:

FM GLOBAL PROPERTY LOSS PREVENTION DATA SHEETS

You will need to set up (free) access credentials.

You may contact FM Global directly: Josephine Mahnken, (781) 255-4813, josephine.mahnken@fmapprovals.com, 1151 Boston-Providence Turnpike, Norwood, MA 02062

Our “door” is open every day at 11 AM Eastern time to discuss any consensus document that sets the standard of care for the emergent #SmartCampus.  Additionally, we dedicate one session per month to Management and Water standards.  See our CALENDAR for the next online teleconference.   Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

Issue: [Various]

Category: Risk Management, Facility Asset Management

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben

Property Loss Prevention

 

Graduation, Dating, Engagements, Weddings, Births & Obituaries

July 7, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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Weddings

 

 

Nine years later and first day as husband and wife they got to finally sneak a kiss in one of the first places they ever passed notes

Hun School Of Princeton

“…I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.” –W.B. Yeats | ‘He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven’

“Nature’s Masterpiece”

Several colleges and universities have “kissing benches” or similar traditions tied to romance on campus.

Michigan State University Beaumont Tower: Nick and Myra Kanillopoulos

Syracuse University. Kissing Bench: This bench on the Quad is steeped in tradition. Legend has it that if a couple kisses on the bench, they will eventually marry. Conversely, if a single person sits there alone, they risk staying single forever.

University of Idaho.  Hello Walk and Kissing Rock: While not a bench, this area on campus features a large rock where students have historically kissed. It’s a romantic tradition for couples at the university.

Florida State University Kissing Bench

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Clemson University Lover’s Lane

Illinois State University

University of Cambridge: St. John’s College Bridge of Sighs

University of Oxford: The Bridge of Sighs

University of Bath Somerset County: Sham Castle

Weddings

Rhubarb Strawberry Pie

July 6, 2025
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Recipe

A dessert  popular in the United Kingdom, where rhubarb has been cultivated since the 1600s, and the leaf stalks eaten since the 1700s. Besides diced rhubarb, it almost always contains a large amount of sugar to balance the intense tartness of the plant. The pie is usually prepared with a bottom pie crust and a variety of styles of upper crust.

In the United States, often a lattice-style upper crust is used.  This pie is a traditional dessert in the United States. It is part of New England cuisine.  Rhubarb has long been a popular choice for pies in the Great Plains region and the Michigan Great Lakes Region, where fruits were not always readily available in the spring

Related

University of Missouri: Plant rhubarb, the pie plant, in March

University of Nebraska: Rhubarb Cream Pie

TU Dublin: Rhubarb Pie Using Sweet Shortbread Pastry

Strawberries

Kitchens 200

Food Safety

Keeping Animals Cool

July 5, 2025
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Heat Stress Resources

Managing Feedlot Heat Stress

Standards Nebraska

Animal Welfare Codes

Technical Requirements for Weighing & Measuring Devices

July 4, 2025
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CLICK ON IMAGE

How Do You Measure the Percentage of Alcohol in Beer, Wine and Other Beverages?

Why You Need Standards

Code for Fireworks Display

July 4, 2025
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“Fireworks over Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome” | Jacob Philipp Hackert (1775)

At least twice a year, and during performances with flame effects, public safety departments in colleges and universities have an elevated concern about campus citizen safety, and the safety of the host community, when fireworks are used for celebration.  We find very rigorous prohibitions against the use of fireworks, weapons and explosives on campus.  Education and enforcement usually falls on facility and operation campus safety units.

That much said, we follow development, but do not advocate in NFPA 1123 Code for Fireworks Display, because it lies among a grouping of titles that set the standard of care for many college and university public safety departments that sometimes need to craft prohibitions with consideration for the business purposes of entertainment and celebration in education facilities.   NFPA 1123 is not a long document — only 22 pages of core text — but it contains a few basic considerations for display site selection, clearances and permitting that campus public safety departments will coordinate with the host community.  It references NFPA 1126, Standard for the Use of Pyrotechnics Before a Proximate Audience and NFPA 160 Standard for the Use of Flame Effects Before an Audience.

Something to keep an eye on.  The home page for this code is linked below:

NFPA 1123 Code for Fireworks Display

For a sense of the technical discussions, transcripts of two developmental stages are linked below:

Public Input Report

Public Comment Report

Public comment on 2026 Edition proposed revisions is receivable until May 30, 2024.

We maintain this title on our periodic Prometheus colloquium.  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting.

Issue: [16-134]

Category: Public Safety

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben

 

More

Readings / PYROTECHNIC ARTS & SCIENCES IN EUROPEAN HISTORY

The Chemistry of Fireworks

 

Fountains

July 4, 2025
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“Temple, Fountain and Cave in Sezincote Park” | Thomas Daniell (1819) | Yale Center for British Art

From time to time we break from our interest in lowering the cost of our “cities-within-cities” to enjoy the work of our colleagues responsible for seasonal ambience and public art.  We have a dedicated post that celebrates the accomplishments of our gardeners and horticultural staff.   Today we dedicate a post to campus fountains–a focal point for gathering and a place for personal reflection for which there is no price.

Alas, we find a quickening of standards developing organizations growing their footprint in the spaces around buildings now.  They used to confine the scopes of their standardization enterprises to the building envelope.  That day will soon be behind us as an energized cadre of water rights social justice workers, public safety, sustainability and energy conservation professionals descend upon campus fountains with prescriptive requirements for evaporation rates, bromine concentrations, training, certification and inspections.  In other words regulators and conformity functionaries will outnumber benefactors and fountain designers 1 million to 1.

We will deal with all that when the day comes.  For the moment, let’s just enjoy them.

We are happy to walk you through the relevant structural, water safety, plumbing and electrical issues any day at 11 AM EST during our daily standing online teleconferences.   Click on any image for author attribution, photo credit or other information.

Purdue University

The Great Court at Trinity College, Cambridge

Regent University

University of Washington

Hauptgebäude der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Bayern, Deutschland

College of the Desert / Palm Desert, California

California Institute of Technology

Berry College

Utah Valley University

Universitat d’Alacant / Sant Vicent del Raspeig, Spain

Collin County Community College / Plano, Texas

University of Toledo

University of Michigan College of Engineering

Harvard University

Florida State University

University of North Texas

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

July 3, 2025
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The University of Wyoming Extension service provides research and education to farmers and ranchers; funded by federal, state, and local sources:

  • Agricultural production and management: The Extension service provides information and resources on topics such as crop production, livestock management, and farm business management.
  • Soil and water management: The Extension service offers expertise on soil fertility, irrigation, water quality, and conservation practices.
  • Pest management: The Extension service provides resources and support for integrated pest management, including information on insect and disease control, weed management, and pesticide safety.
  • Youth education: The Extension service offers educational programs and activities for youth interested in agriculture, including 4-H clubs and competitions.
  • Community development: The Extension service works with local communities to support economic development, tourism, and natural resource conservation.

The Extension service also offers consultations, workshops, field days, and other events to help farmers and ranchers stay up-to-date on the latest research and technologies in agriculture.

Standards Wyoming

Morrill Land-Grant Act

Albert Bierstadt: Landscapes of the American West

Nourriture d’été

July 3, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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University of Vermont | Chittenden County

Today we break down the catalog for food safety in education communities; with primary attention to consultations from private standard developing organizations and federal agencies charged with food safety.  We do so with sensitivity to animals and plants and sustainability of the global food supply chain.   Many schools are the communal cafeterias for the communities that own and operate them and run at commercial scale.

We prepare responses to public consultations released by standards developing organizations which, in many cases, have significant conformance enterprises.  Core titles are published by the ANSI accredited organizations listed below:

3-A Sanitary Standards

Catalog

ASHRAE International

The ASHRAE catalog is the most cross-cutting and fastest moving catalog in the land.   If you claim ownership of the United States energy domain you pretty much capture everything related campus safety and sustainability.  Best to deal with it on a day-by-day basis as we usually do according to daily topics shown on our CALENDAR.

Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies

American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

National Electrical Safety Code   (Our particular interest lies in the safety and reliability of off-campus agricultural and research facilities that receive power from regulated utilities)

Kitchen Safety and Security System for Children

TupperwareEarth: Bringing Intelligent User Assistance to the “Internet of Kitchen Things”

Designing an IoT based Kitchen Monitoring and Automation System for Gas and Fire Detection

Re-Inventing the Food Supply Chain with IoT: A Data-Driven Solution to Reduce Food Loss

International Code Council

Commercial Kitchens

International Building Code Assembly Group A-2

International Building Code Group U Section 312 Agricultural Buildings

International Building Code Moderate Hazard Factory Industrial Group F-1 (Food Processing)

Who Gets Rich From School Lunch

National Fire Protection Association

Kitchen Wiring

National Electrical Code Article 210 (Branch Circuits)

National Electrical Code Article 547 (Agricultural Buildings)

Standard for the Installation of Air-Conditioning and Ventilating Systems

Public Input Report for the 2024 Revision

Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations

Public Input Report for the 2024 Revision

NSF International

Food Equipment

Commercial Warewashing Equipment

Commercial Refrigerators and Freezers

Commercial Cooking, Rethermalization and Powered Hot Food Holding and Transport Equipment

Commercial Powered Food Preparation Equipment

US Federal Government:

US Department of Agriculture

Food & Drug Administration (HACCP)

State Governments:

Lorem ipsum @StandardsState

Global:

International Organization for Standardization

International Electrotechnical Commission

Codex Alimentarius

Food safety and sustainability standards populate are of the largest domains we track so if we need a break0-out session, let’s do it.  Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

More

Standards supporting vertical farming

STANDARDS SUPPORT SOPHISTICATED FARMING METHODS THAT BRING PRODUCE TO YOUR TABLE

US Food & Drug Administration: Food Facility Registration Statistics (as  of January 11, 2021)

National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry

The U.S. Land-Grant University System: An Overview

American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Standards Development

The origin of the Land grant act of 1862 

International Electrotechnical Commission: Keeping food safe from farm to plate

 Codex Alimentarius

Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education: Dining Services Programs

Science and Our Food Supply: A Teacher’s Guide for High School Classrooms

Food Code 2017

 

 

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