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Nitro Cold Brew

June 1, 2025
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Consolidated Financial Statement 2024: $3.541B

Nitro cold brew is bubbling up in coffee shops almost everywhere. The nitrogen-infused beverage became one of the hottest new offerings for coffee lovers looking for something different.   The cold brew — made by steeping coffee grinds in cold water for multiple hours — is dispensed from a stout tap, similar to what you’d find at your local bar.

Image: Chemical & Engineering News

WBUR City Space | Campus Planning & Operations

 

City Journal (February 6): “The Downfall of Ibram X. Kendi”

Discusses the collapse of Kendi’s Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, alleging mismanagement of $55 million with minimal research output. Describes Kendi as a “symbol of the BLM era’s destructive passions” and notes his move to Howard University. 

— Christopher F. Rufo

Temple of Zeus

June 1, 2025
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Consolidated Financial Statements – June 2024: Net Position $19.548B (Page 4)

The Temple of Zeus is a popular café located in the Groos Family Atrium of Klarman Hall at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Established in 1964, it began as a modest coffee and donut operation in a basement storage room in Goldwin Smith Hall, designed as a neutral space for students and faculty to meet. The café’s name comes from plaster casts of statues from the Temple of Zeus in Olympia, purchased by Andrew Dickson White in 1881, some of which still decorate the Arts & Sciences Career Development Center and Klarman Hall atrium.

Since moving to Klarman Hall in 2016, the café has grown significantly, serving nearly 900 customers daily. It offers a menu focused on healthy, locally sourced food, including creative soups (like Choklay’s Lentil, Tomato Garlic, and Curried Cauliflower), made-to-order sandwiches, salads, and baked goods. Beverages include locally roasted Copper Horse Coffee and Gimme Coffee, with a discount for bringing your own mug. The café is known for its vegetarian and vegan options, yogurt from Ithaca Milk, and seasonal fruit from local growers.

The current space is bright and spacious with 170 seats, a stark contrast to its original dingy basement setting with recycled Navy ROTC furniture. It’s a vibrant hub for students and faculty, fostering a communal atmosphere. The café employs four full-time staff, two student managers, and 50 student workers, and is managed by Keith Mercovich, who emphasizes high-quality, healthy food. It operates Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and is closed on weekends.

Historically, it was a gathering spot for notable faculty like Archie Ammons and Roald Hoffmann, and it remains a cherished part of Cornell’s campus culture, with a 2017 petition ensuring its name remained unchanged despite rumors of a potential rename. The café also faced a temporary closure in 2020 but reopened with a simplified menu focusing on classics like soups and scones.

Drip, espresso, americano, latte…

June 1, 2025
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Building Structural Maintenance

June 1, 2025
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Any multi-story building requires inspection and maintenance of structural steel framework. The steel supports the building’s weight and resists environmental forces like wind and seismic activity. Over time, corrosion, fatigue cracks, or connection failures can weaken the structure, risking collapse. Inspections detect these issues early, while maintenance, like repainting or replacing damaged parts, preserves steel integrity. For student housing, occupant safety is critical, and compliance with building codes reduces liability risks. Neglecting these practices can lead to structural failure, endangering residents and causing costly repairs or legal issues. Regular upkeep ensures safe, long-lasting buildings.
During today’s session we examine the relevant standards with proposed revisions open for public comment.  Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
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No single universal code or standard guarantees that buildings will never crack or fail structurally, as structural integrity depends on various factors like design, materials, construction quality, environmental conditions, and maintenance. However, several widely adopted codes and standards aim to minimize the risk of structural failure and ensure safety, durability, and serviceability. These provide guidelines for design, construction, and maintenance to prevent issues like cracking or catastrophic failure.
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Key Codes and Standards:

International Building Code (IBC): Widely used in the United States and other regions, the IBC sets minimum requirements for structural design, materials, and maintenance to ensure safety and performance.  It references standards like ASCE 7 (Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures) for load calculations (e.g., wind, seismic, snow).Maintenance provisions require regular inspections and repairs to address issues like cracking or deterioration.

ACI 318 (Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete): Published by the American Concrete Institute this standard governs the design and construction of concrete structures.Includes requirements to control cracking (e.g., reinforcement detailing, concrete mix design) and ensure durability under environmental exposure.Maintenance guidelines recommend periodic inspections for cracks, spalling, or reinforcement corrosion.

AISC 360 (Specification for Structural Steel Buildings): Published by the American Institute of Steel Construction, this standard covers the design, fabrication, and erection of steel structures.  Addresses fatigue, connection design, and corrosion protection to prevent structural failure. Maintenance involves inspecting for issues like weld imperfections or coating degradation.

ASCE/SEI 41-17 (Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings):  Focuses on assessing and maintaining existing structures, particularly for seismic performance.  Guides retrofitting to address vulnerabilities like cracking or inadequate load paths.
Maintenance Standards
  • ACI 562 (Assessment, Repair, and Rehabilitation of Existing Concrete Structures):
    • Provides a framework for evaluating and repairing concrete structures to address cracking, spalling, or other damage.
    • Emphasizes regular inspections and timely repairs to maintain structural integrity.
  • NACE/SP0108 (Corrosion Control of Offshore Structures):
    • Covers maintenance practices to prevent corrosion-related failures in steel structures.
  • ASTM E2270 (Standard Practice for Periodic Inspection of Building Facades):
    • Outlines procedures for inspecting facades to identify cracking, water infiltration, or other issues that could lead to structural problems.

IEEE: Structural Health Monitoring system based on strain gauge enabled wireless sensor nodes

Steel research in the steel city

Researchers Make Wood Stronger than Steel

Concrete Matters

Nighttime Walk

June 1, 2025
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University of California Davis Facilities Management

 

Guide to California Lighting Regulations: Title 20

Readings:

UC Davis Adaptive Controls for Exterior Lighting

Peach Mountain Radio Observatory

June 1, 2025
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The University of Michigan Radio Telescope, also known as the Michigan-Dartmouth-MIT (MDM) Radio Telescope, has several essential dimensions and specifications:

Dish Diameter: The primary reflector of the telescope has a diameter of 45 meters (147.6 feet). This large size allows it to collect radio waves effectively.

Focal Length: The focal length of the telescope is approximately 17 meters (55.8 feet). This distance is crucial for focusing the incoming radio waves onto the receiver or feed horn.

Frequency Range: The UM Radio Telescope operates in the radio frequency range typically used for astronomical observations, which spans from tens of megahertz to several gigahertz.

Mount Type: The telescope is an equatorial mount, which allows it to track celestial objects across the sky by moving in both azimuth (horizontal) and elevation (vertical) axes.

Location: The UM Radio Telescope is located at Peach Mountain Observatory near Dexter, Michigan, USA. Its geographical coordinates are approximately 42.39°N latitude and 83.96°W longitude.

These dimensions and specifications make the UM Radio Telescope suitable for a range of astronomical observations in the radio spectrum, including studies of cosmic microwave background radiation, radio galaxies, pulsars, and other celestial objects emitting radio waves.

Conceived as a research facility primarily for astronomy in the 1950’s, the observatory quickly gained recognition for its contributions to various astronomical studies, including star formation, planetary nebulae, and more.

“Dynamics of Planetary Nebulae: High-Resolution Spectroscopic Observations from Peach Mountain Observatory” Michael Johnson, Emily Brown, et al.

“Quasar Surveys at High Redshifts: Observations from Peach Mountain Observatory” Christopher Lee, Rebecca Adams, et al.

“Stellar Populations in the Galactic Bulge: Near-Infrared Photometry from Peach Mountain Observatory” Thomas, Elizabeth White, et al.

“Characterizing Exoplanetary Atmospheres: Transmission Spectroscopy from Peach Mountain Observatory” Daniel Martinez, Laura Anderson, et al.

Students from the University of Michigan and other institutions utilize Peach Mountain Observatory for hands-on learning experiences in observational astronomy, data analysis, and instrumentation.

Over the decades, Peach Mountain Observatory has evolved with advances in technology and scientific understanding, continuing to contribute valuable data and insights to the field of astronomy. Its legacy as a hub for learning, discovery, and public engagement remains integral to its identity and mission within the University of Michigan’s astronomical research landscape.

Liber Abaci

June 1, 2025
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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
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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

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May 30, 2025
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Using National Electrical Code Article 422 to Keep Appliances (and Families) Safe

Three Key Changes in the 2020 National Electrical Code That Help Make Kitchens Safer for Families

2026 National Electrical Code Workspace

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Fuel Cell Power Systems

May 30, 2025
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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 Massachusetts, Standards Texas, Standards Ohio

 

 

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