A Procedure to Estimate the Energy Requirements for Lighting
Topology of Continuous Availability for LED Lighting Systems
IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee
NEC Section 226.6 Conductor Size and Support (B) Festoon Lighting
EC&M Article 225: Outside Branch Circuits
Electrical Time: Definition of Festoon Lighting
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 2024 we will roll out Illumination 400 (Holiday illumination) and 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.
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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
Transcripts for Today:
CMP-8 Public Input Report: Wiring Methods and Materials Heavy product standard changes, largely administrative
CMP-9 Public Input Report: Overcurrent Protection…et. al
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National Center for Health Statistics: Birth Data Files
From Cheerleader & Footballer To Pregnant at 15
Jordan Peterson: Accidental Childlessness, The Epidemic That Dare Not Speak Its Name
REDDIT: An estimated 1/3 of all GenZ were aborted
Today we break down the stack of regulations, codes, standards and open-source literature governing the safety and sustainability of university-affiliated medical research and healthcare delivery facilities. Because of the complexity of the topic we break down our coverage:
Health 200. Survey of all relevant codes, standards, guidelines and recommended practices for healthcare settings.
Health 400. All of the above with special consideration needed for obstetrics, gynecological and neonatal clinical practice and research.
We limit our interest to systems — water, power, telecommunication and security; for example — that are unique to campus-configured, city-within-city risk aggregations. Electrotechnologies (voltage stability, static electricity control, radio-interference, etc.) in these enterprises are subtle, complex and high risk. Sample titles from legacy best practice literature in this domain are listed below:
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: Levels of Maternal Care
Provision of Care, Treatment, and Services standards for maternal safety
Since our interest lies in the habitable spaces for these enterprises we usually start with a scan of the following titles:
International Building Code Section 407 (Institutional Group I-2) identifies requirements specific to healthcare settings, covering aspects such as fire safety, means of egress, and smoke compartments. Maternity and obstetric facilities within hospitals fall under this classification.
K-TAG Matrix for Healthcare Facilities
NFPA 70 National Electrical Code Article 517
NFPA 99 Healthcare Facilities Code
NFPA 101 Life Safety Code Chapters 18 & 19
ASHRAE 170 Ventilation of Healthcare Facilities
Relevant Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers research
Towards Deeper Neural Networks for Neonatal Seizure Detection
A System to Provide Primary Maternity Healthcare Services in Developing Countries
Deep Learning for Continuous Electronic Fetal Monitoring in Labor
Reorganizing of University Hospital of Oran’s operating theatre: Simulation approach
Finally, we collaborate with the IEEE E&H Committee on the following IEC committee projects from IEC/TC 62 Electrical equipment in medical practice:
– Common aspects of electrical equipment used in diagnostic imaging equipment
– Equipment for radiotherapy, nuclear medicine and radiation dosimetry
– Electromedical equipment for neonatal care
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A relatively new publisher of related standards is the Facility Guidelines Institute. We are monitoring its catalog and its processes. The healthcare facility industry is likely large enough for another non-profit but we have yet to see meaningful leading practice discovery and promulgation that is unrelated to the literature that is already out there.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
Health care cost as percentage of Gross Domestic Product for six representative nations.
Association of Academic Health Centers
International Conference on Harmonization: The ICH guidelines provide guidance on the development of pharmaceuticals and related substances, including clinical trials, drug safety, and efficacy.
Animal Welfare Act and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
Good Laboratory Practice: GLP is a set of principles that ensure the quality and integrity of non-clinical laboratory studies. It ensures that data generated from non-clinical laboratory studies are reliable, valid, and accurate.
International Code Council Representation of Interests
In the early to mid-1900s, some US colleges used orphaned babies in home economics programs to teach child-rearing skills
These children were referred to as "practice babies" pic.twitter.com/FZCkeu0p2m
— UberFacts (@UberFacts) August 17, 2023
👩⚕️👩🎓 Warmest congratulations to UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems’ Higher Diploma in Midwifery group (2022-2024), who have officially completed their 18-month programme to become registered midwives 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/hixD1gT1no
— University College Dublin (@ucddublin) March 7, 2024
DECEMBER 2025 ICC COMMITTEE ON HEALTHCARE Minutes
2025 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ACTION HEARINGS

Safety and sustainability for any facility, not just university-affiliated healthcare facilities, usually begin with an understanding of who, and how, shall occupy the built environment. University settings, with mixed-use occupancy arising spontaneously and temporarily, often present challenges and they are generally well managed.
First principles regarding occupancy classifications for healthcare facilities appear in Section 308 of the International Building Code, Institutional Group I; linked below:
2021 International Building Code Section 308 Institutional Group I













There are thousands of healthcare code compliance functionaries and instructors; most of them supported by trade associations and most of them authoritative. Hewing to our market discipline to track only the concepts that will affect university-affiliated healthcare enterprises only. There are a few noteworthy differences between corporate healthcare businesses and university affiliated healthcare enterprises (usually combined with teaching and research activity) that we identify on this collaboration platform.
We collaborate closely with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee which takes a far more global view of the healthcare industry. That committee meets online 4 times monthly in European and American time zones.
Finally, we encourage our colleagues to participate directly in the ICC Code Development process. Contact Kimberly Paarlberg (kpaarlberg@iccsafe.org) for more information about its healthcare committees and how to participate in the ICC code development process generally. Tranches of ICC titles are developed according to the schedule below:
2024/2025/2026 ICC CODE DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE
Issue: [18-166]
Category: Architectural, Healthcare Facilities, Facility Asset Management
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Richard Robben
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The ICC Code Development Process
The NFPA 99 Healthcare Facilities Code committee develops a distinct consensus document (i.e. “regulatory product”) that is distinct from National Electrical Code Article 517; though there are overlaps and gaps that are the natural consequence of changing technology and regulations. It is worthwhile reviewing the scope of each committee:
NFPA 99 Scope: This Committee shall have primary responsibility for documents that contain criteria for safeguarding patients and health care personnel in the delivery of health care services within health care facilities: a) from fire, explosion, electrical, and related hazards resulting either from the use of anesthetic agents, medical gas equipment, electrical apparatus, and high frequency electricity, or from internal or external incidents that disrupt normal patient care; b) from fire and explosion hazards; c) in connection with the use of hyperbaric and hypobaric facilities for medical purposes; d) through performance, maintenance and testing criteria for electrical systems, both normal and essential; and e) through performance, maintenance and testing, and installation criteria: (1) for vacuum systems for medical or surgical purposes, and (2) for medical gas systems; and f) through performance, maintenance and testing of plumbing, heating, cooling , and ventilating in health care facilities.
NFPA 70 Article 517 Scope: The provisions of this article shall apply to electrical construction and installation criteria in healthcare facilities that provide services to human beings. The requirements in Parts II and III not only apply to single-function buildings but are also intended to be individually applied to their respective forms of occupancy within a multi-function building (e.g. a doctor’s examining room located within a limited care facility would be required to meet the provisions of 517.10) Informational Note: For information concerning performance, maintenance, and testing criteria, refer to the appropriate health care facilities documents.
In short, NFPA 70 Article 517 is intended to focus only on electrical safety issues though electrotechnology complexity and integration in healthcare settings (security, telecommunications, wireless medical devices, fire safety, environmental air control, etc.) usually results in conceptual overlap with other regulatory products such as NFPA 101 (Life Safety Code) and the International Building Code.













Several issues were recently debated by the Article 517 technical committee during the 2023 National Electrical Code Second Draft meetings
There are, of course, many others, not the least of which involves emergency management. For over 20 years our concern has been for the interdependency of water and electrical power supply to university hospitals given that many of them are part of district energy systems.
We need to “touch” this code at least once a month because of its interdependence on other consensus products by other standards developing organizations. To do this we refer NFPA 99 standards action to the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee which meets online four times monthly in European and American time zones.
The transcript of NEC Article 517 Public Input for the 2023 revision of NFPA 70 is linked below. (You may have to register your interest by setting up a free-access account):
Code-Making Panel 15 (NEC-P15) Public Input Report
Code-Making Panel 15 (NEC-P15) Public Comment Report
Technical committees will meet in June to endorse the 2023 National Electrical Code.
Public consultation on the Second Draft closes May 31st. Landing page for selected sections of the 2024 revision of NFPA 99 are linked below:
Health Care Emergency Management and Security (HEA-HES)
Second Draft Comments are linked below:
Health Care Emergency Management and Security (HEA-HES)
NITMAM closing date: March 28, 2023
We break down NFPA 70 and NFPA 99 together and keep them on the standing agenda of both our Power and Health colloquia; open to everyone. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting.
Issues: [12-18, [15-97] and [16-101]
Contact: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Robert Arno, Josh Elvove, Joe DeRosier, Larry Spielvogel
NFPA Staff Liaison: Jonathan Hart

One-hundred-twenty-five years ago, hardy and hard-working Finnish Lutheran immigrants founded a school in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Their lives were marked by a gritty quality captured in the Finnish term, sisu – grit and perseverance in the face of adversity. Citing financial difficulties related to demographic changes, the Board of Trustees announced that the Class of 2023 was Finlandia’s final graduating class.
“The Board of Trustees and University President Timothy Pinnow stated the extremely difficult decision is the result of an intensive analysis of Finlandia’s operations after exploring all potentially feasible strategic alternatives, including the rigorous search for new partnerships and reorganization of the institution’s finances. With financial challenges impacting liberal arts colleges throughout the country, Finlandia is no exception….
The combination of demographic changes, with fewer high school graduates available, a steep decrease in interest in going to college among those graduates, a dwindling endowment, and an unbearable debt load have made Finlandia no longer viable…
…Finlandia University has finalized eight Teach-Out Agreements with Adrian College, Bay College, Michigan Technological University, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Northern Michigan University, University of Dubuque, Waldorf University, and Wartburg College. Several non-partnering institutions have also made commitments to supporting FinnU students in incredible ways…”
Board of Trustees vote to dissolve University wind up affairs in orderly manner
Last year, Finlandia University awarded over 3 million dollars to dreamers, achievers and future entrepreneurs. See if you qualify for Finlandia’s Rise Together Free Tuition Scholarship by visiting https://t.co/7Mbd7e6iLS pic.twitter.com/09LBPPg8cG
— Finlandia University (@FinlandiaU) February 15, 2023
Finlandia University’s Baccalaureate and Commencement activities for the Class of 2023 are scheduled for Sunday, May 7.
To see the full Spring 2023 Commencement Weekend schedule, visit the link below! 🎓🎓https://t.co/n49yPJoimn pic.twitter.com/aJvRHjarLa
— Finlandia University (@FinlandiaU) April 24, 2023
Join us next Tuesday for the 5th annual #Kalevala reading marathon! Pop in and listen or even read a rune! For more info and to register, fill in this form: https://t.co/LH8Pj4IMjV pic.twitter.com/koBXXBisu9
— Finlandia University Finnish & Nordic Studies (@FinlandiaNordic) February 24, 2023
IEEE Explore: Michigan Regional Test Center
Solar Energy in Cold Climates: What are you doing for supper this Mon. 2/20 at 6 pm? Join Ana Dyreson @michigantech on Zoom. Learn about making sunshine into energy, even in places w/ snow (a lot of snow). #energy #sustainabilty #solar #Engineering #snow pic.twitter.com/bVvUwG8bpx
— MTU Engineering (@mtu_engineering) February 15, 2023
More:
Question: How many households can be supplied with 1 megawatt of power and how large would the solar panel be?
The number of square meters of solar panels required to generate 1 megawatt (MW) of power depends on several factors, including the efficiency of the solar panels, the amount of sunlight available in the location where the solar panels are installed, and the specific technology used.
On average, solar panels have a conversion efficiency of about 15-20%, which means that for every square meter of solar panel area, you can expect to generate between 150 and 200 watts of power in direct sunlight.
So, to generate 1 MW of power, you would need between 5,000 and 6,667 square meters of solar panels (assuming an average efficiency of 17.5%).
There are 2.58999 square meters in one square mile.
To convert 6,667 square meters to square miles, we can divide 6,667 by 2,589.99:
6,667 sq meters / 2,589.99 sq meters/sq mile = 2.572 square miles (rounded to three decimal places).
Answer: Therefore 2.572 square miles of solar panels are required to supply 9345 household of power for 1 hour.
The number of households that can be supplied by 1 megawatt of power depends on a variety of factors, including the amount of electricity each household consumes, the time of day, and the season.
However, as a rough estimate, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that in 2020, the average US household consumed about 9,369 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per year, which is equivalent to an average of 0.107 MW of power.
Based on this average, 1 MW of power could supply approximately 9,345 households (1,000,000 watts / 0.107 MW per household) with electricity for one hour, assuming that all households are consuming the average amount of electricity.
Again, this is a rough estimate, and the actual number of households that can be supplied by 1 MW will depend on various factors such as the region, the time of day, and the actual energy consumption of each household.
Discussion: A typical residential lot is one-half acre. Rounding 9345 households to 10,000 households; the households themselves have a footprint of 7.8125 square miles; with 1/3rd of the 2.572 square miles for 1 megawatt taken up by the panels.
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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