Liber Abaci

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Liber Abaci

June 1, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com

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Fibonacci numbers reflect standardization in nature through their consistent appearance in growth patterns and structures, embodying efficient, repeatable designs. These numbers (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, …) govern the arrangement of natural forms, such as the spiral patterns in sunflowers, pinecones, and seashells, where seed or scale counts often match Fibonacci numbers. 

This standardization optimizes space and resource distribution, ensuring maximum efficiency—e.g., sunflower seeds pack tightly without gaps. Leaf and branch arrangements (phyllotaxis) follow Fibonacci angles to standardize light exposure and growth. The sequence’s recursive nature mirrors nature’s iterative processes, like branching in trees or cell division, providing a universal template for scalable, stable structures. 

The golden ratio, derived from Fibonacci numbers, further standardizes proportions in natural forms, from nautilus shells to galaxy spirals, revealing a mathematical blueprint that unifies diverse biological and physical systems.

Fibonacci used a hypothetical rabbit population to illustrate his famous sequence in his 1202 book Liber Abaci. He posed a problem: starting with one pair of rabbits that produces another pair each month, with each new pair becoming reproductive after one month, how many pairs are there after n months? This leads to the Fibonacci sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, …), where each number is the sum of the two preceding ones. The rabbit scenario was a simplified model to demonstrate the sequence, not a literal study of rabbit breeding. Fibonacci’s work focused on mathematical patterns, not biological theorems.

Fibonacci numbers find applications in electrical power engineering through their mathematical properties, which can optimize design, analysis, and operation. Here are five applications:

  • Power System Network Analysis: Fibonacci sequences can be used in graph theory to model electrical networks. The recursive nature of Fibonacci numbers helps in analyzing hierarchical or layered network structures, such as transmission and distribution grids, to optimize load flow or fault tolerance.
  • Transformer Winding Design: The golden ratio, derived from Fibonacci numbers, can guide the geometric arrangement of transformer windings. This helps minimize electromagnetic interference and optimize the efficiency of power transfer by balancing inductance and capacitance.
  • Signal Processing for Power Quality: Fibonacci-based algorithms, such as those using the golden section search, are applied in digital signal processing to analyze power quality issues like harmonics or transients. These methods efficiently identify optimal frequency components in noisy power signals.
  • Renewable Energy System Optimization: In solar panel or wind turbine array layouts, Fibonacci-inspired spiral patterns (like the golden spiral) can optimize land use and reduce mutual shading or turbulence, improving energy capture efficiency in power generation systems.
  • Control System Tuning: Fibonacci numbers can inform the design of control algorithms for power systems, such as in PID controller tuning. The sequence’s recursive properties help in iteratively adjusting parameters to achieve stable and efficient grid operation under varying loads.

These applications leverage the mathematical elegance of Fibonacci numbers to solve practical engineering challenges in power systems.


Sport Lighting

May 31, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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ANSI Standards: Open for public review

 

Athletic and recreational sports enterprises are important features in education communities; supportive of brand identity and cohort creation.  Assuring the safety and sustainability of these assets is informed by several best practice titles; among them the Illuminating Engineering Society recommended practice RP-6-15 Sports and Recreational Area Lighting  From the project prospectus:

The purpose of RP-6-15  is to provide the reader with recommendations to aid in the design of sports lighting systems. Popular sports, such as baseball, tennis, basketball and football as well as recreational social activities, such as horseshoe pitching and croquet are covered. Venues for spectators of amateur, collegiate, and professional sports are complex facilities that should provide not only for the spectators, but also the equipment used in modern sports broadcasting. This document does not address those needs, so the reader should look for guidance from the sports league or the project consultant.
Sports lighting systems consume power which over time can be significant, and IES RP-6-15 defines methods for maximizing energy efficiency.

The IES-suite joins standards developed by the International Code Council (International Building Code), the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE 3001.9) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 70) that must be applied skillfully by design professionals and understood by athletic facility managers.  Other consensus standards developers such as the American Society of Heating and Refrigeration Engineers and the Entertainment Services and Technology Association were moving into this domain before the circumstances of the pandemic.

We always encourage our colleagues in the education industry to do so themselves; starting with the links below:

Committees

IES Standards Open for Public Review

"People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy" -- Anton Chekhov

Comments on proposed changes to IES LP-6-2x Lighting Practice: Lighting Control Systems – Properties, Selection, and Specification will be received until April 1st

Comments on Draft “IES TM-39  Technical Memorandum: Quantification and Specification of Flicker” will be received until August 12th
Keep in mind that the IES typically deals with the application of best practice in illumination.  It neither covers the reliability of the power systems nor the power chain to the luminaries.  Recommended practice for the power chain are now being developed by the IEEE Industrial Applications Society; specifically IEEE 3001.9 – Recommended Practice for the Design of Power Systems Supplying Lighting Systems in Commercial and Industrial Facilities.  The IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee pulls together ALL the standards — ICC, IEEE, IEC, NFPA, IES, ASHRAE, ASTM, ESTA and any other emergent consensus or open source documents that might set the standard of care for the education industry.

University of Michigan

The IEEE E&H Committee meets online 4 times monthly in Europe and the United States; and those meetings are open to the public (CLICK HERE).   Additionally, we set aside one hour every month to walk through the entire suite of standards for sports and recreation facilities.   See our CALENDAR for the date of our next Athletic & Recreation standards teleconference.  Login credential are at the upper right of our home page

Issue: [16-132]

Category: Electrical, Athletics & Recreation

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Kane Howard

Related:

Designing Lighting for People and Buildings

Engineering in Sport

Fuel Cell Power Systems

May 30, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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Inventor of the fuel cell | CLICK ON IMAGE

We have been following the developmental trajectory of another “alternative energy” – related consensus product — NFPA 853  Standard for the Installation of Stationary Fuel Cell Power Systems a document that sets the criteria for minimizing fire hazards associated fuel cells power generating technology installations; many of which are pre-engineered and pre-packaged by manufacturers.

Keep in mind that it is an installation standard and “agnostic” about the type of fuel cell technology.  As such, it is likely referenced in energy project design guidelines and construction contract specifications.  From the document prospectus:

Scope:  This standard shall apply to the design, construction, and installation of stationary fuel cell power systems and shall include the following:

(1) A singular prepackaged, self-contained power system unit

(2) Any combination of prepackaged, self-contained power system units

(3) Power system units comprising two or more factory-matched modular components intended to be assembled in the field

(4) Engineered and field-constructed power systems that employ fuel cells.

The current edition of NFPA 853 is dated 2015

The NFPA Technical Committee on Electric Generating Plants has already begun work on the 2020 revision.  A selection of First and Second Draft documents are posted below:

NFPA 853_F2019_ECG_AAA_SDmeetingagenda_04_19

NFPA 853_F2019_ECG_AAA_FDmeetingagenda_04_18

Response to the Second Draft Report under NFPA’s NITMAM process are due August 29th. 

We normally collaborate with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee on consensus products of this nature because that is where the most informed locus of expertise lies.   That committee meets online four times monthly in European and American time zones.   We also host our own codes and standards for power and telecommunication systems teleconference every month.  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

Category:  District Energy, Electrical, Energy, Facility Asset Management, Fire Safety, Risk Management, #SmartCampus, US Department of Energy

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Bill Cantor (wcantor@ieee.org)

Standards MassachusettsStandards Texas, Standards Ohio

 

FinTech 200

May 29, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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“The most important role of technology is to create time.

Information technology epitomizes this role.

And wealth creation is ultimately about time,

freeing human time from labor.”

— George Gilder

L’italiano Luca Pacioli, riconosciuto come “Il padre della contabilità e della contabilità” è stato il primo a pubblicare un’opera sulla partita doppia, e ha introdotto il campo in Italia.

 

“Hatred of the rich is the

beginning of all wisdom” 

— H.L. Mencken

 

Today we break down the literature that informs the finances of the real assets of education settlements.   We examine a few publicly available university annual budget documents and, lately, have been looking ahead at innovation in distributed ledger solutions, digital currencies and blue sky conceptions of a circular economy which has captured the imagination of trendsniffers in every nation.

Since our 2016 estimate of $300 billion — triangulated from several private and public databases; the number that measures construction spend coupled with operations and maintenance — a fair estimate of growth is likely closer to  $500 billion now.  Based upon the US Census Bureau monthly construction spend reports we have seen a slight uptick in construction spend. We still see construction activity running at an $85-$90 billion clip.

Ædificare & Utilization

Tax-Free Bonds

Schenkingen

During 2024-2025 we will be breaking down this subject into manageable segments as interest in it clarifies.  For now it is enlightening to approach finance standards with an examination of a few operating budgets:

University of Michigan Budget Book 2024

Harvard University Budget Overview: September 2023

University of Minnesota 2022 Final Capital Budget Requests with Governor’s Recommendations

The 2022-2023 Budget: Overview of the Governor’s Higher Education Budget Proposals (California)

Prince George County Public Schools Operating Budget 2022 

University of Illinois Deferred Maintenance 

Central Michigan University Capital & Deferred Maintenance Budgets

Every dollar passing through the business or academic side of the education industry has rules for how it is received and tracked.*   At the moment we track, but do not dwell, on the grant management standards asserted by state and federal funding agencies.  When we do, we place them on the agenda of the appropriate colloquium.

Appropriate use of public funding underlies some — but not all — of the accounting burden of the education industry. We steer clear of the grant management requirements public funding agencies place upon the education industry; maintain focus on the titles developed and published by organizations that have a due process platform.  For example:

Accredited Standards Committee X9

Financial Industry Standards: Program of Work

Preparing for the Quantum Era

Open-IX Association

Data Center OIX-2 Certification

Sustainability Accounting Standards Board

X12 Incorporated

There are several trackworthy non-ANSI accredited standard developing organizations:

Sustainability Accounting Standards Board

FASB/GASB

Public Consultation of Implementation (This statement fairly compares with ANSI’s Due Process Guidance.   Comments due January 20, 2023)

Real Estate Information Standards Board

Kuznets curve

 

Send bella@standardsmichigan.com an email for a detailed advance agenda.  To join the colloquium today use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

“De armen en het geld” 1882 Vincent van Gogh

Schenkingen


More:

Opinion AGB: What Do Our Accreditors, Auditors, and Bond Raters Do for Us?

Community FY22 Appropriations Request Letterdocx

PFN_InfraInvLtr_June 2021

Letter-Tax-Provisions-American-Jobs-Families-Plans-061421

Half the people working in schools aren’t classroom teachers—so what?

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR DOWNLOAD


Syllabus: Fintech 100

*Electronic Code of Federal Regulations

A Blockchain-based decentralised university

May 29, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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Blockchain is a decentralized, immutable, and transparent digital ledger that securely records and verifies transactions across multiple computers or nodes. It operates through a network of participants who collectively validate and store each transaction, creating a chain of interconnected blocks. Each block contains a unique cryptographic hash that links it to the previous block, ensuring data integrity.

The distributed nature of blockchain eliminates the need for intermediaries, increases security, and fosters trust among participants. It has applications beyond cryptocurrencies, enabling efficient and reliable solutions in various industries such as finance, supply chain management, healthcare, education and accreditation.

John Domingue | TEDxOpenUniversity:

“I believe that with blockchain technology we can create a radically new type of university: a DAO University. A DAO is a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation which operates with no central control and no humans in the loop and are based on Smart Contracts: pieces of computer code on a blockchain which can represent and enact financial and legal contracts. ”

 

 

Miguel de Cervantes (Don Quixote): “Ladran Sancho, señal que cabalgamos”  

Let the dogs bark Sancho, it is a sign that we’re moving forward.”

Blockchain & Distributed Ledger Technologies

Accreditation 200

Current Projects

May 29, 2025
mike@standardsmichigan.com
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We track action in the catalog of this consortia standards developer because we continually seek ways to avoid spending a dollar to save a dime; characteristic of an industry that is a culture more than it is a business.

 

While not an ANSI accredited the FASB/GASB standards setting enterprise’s due process requirements (balance, open-ness, appeal, etc.)* are “ANSI-like” and widely referenced in education enterprise management best practice.  Recent action in its best practice bibliography is listed below

ACCOUNTING STANDARDS UPDATES ISSUED

For obvious reasons, we have an interest in its titles relevant to Not-For-Profit Entities

WHAT IS THE FASB NOT-FOR-PROFIT ENTITY TEAM

At present the non-profit titles are stable with the 2020 revision.  That does not mean there is not work than can be done.  Faculty and students may be interested in the FASG program linked below:

Academics in Standard Setting

Also, the “Accounting for Environmental Credit Programs”, last updated in January, may interest colleges and universities with energy and sustainability curricula.  You may track progress at the link below:

EXPOSURE DOCUMENTS OPEN FOR COMMENT

The Battle about Money

We encourage our colleagues to communicate directly with the FASB on any issue (Click here).   Other titles in the FASB/GASB best practice bibliography are a standing item on our Finance colloquia; open to everyone.  Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

 

Issue: [15-190]

Category: Finance, Administration & Management, Facility Asset Management

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben


Workspace / FASB GASB

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