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Qualified Zone Academy Bonds
Image Credit: Envato
From the Wikipedia:
Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZABs) are a U.S. government debt instrument created by Section 226 of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. It was later revised and regulations may be found in Section 54(E) of the U.S. Code. QZABs allow certain qualified schools to borrow at nominal interest rates (as low as zero percent) for costs incurred in connection with the establishment of special programs in partnership with the private sector…
…Funds can be used for renovation and rehabilitation projects (including energy projects), as well as equipment purchases (including computers). QZABs cannot be used for new building construction. The school district must obtain matching funds from a private-sector/non-profit partner equal to at least 10% of the cost of the proposed project. Information on the two QZAB federal mandates, 10% match and academy, can be obtained by visiting the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) school financing toolkit (see resources below).
…The normal annual allocation each year has been $400,000,000. However, during 2008, 2009, and 2010, the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) increased these amounts to 1.4 billion. The 2011 allocation has returned to the $400,000,000 level. The allocation is divided up by all fifty states and US possessions. QZABs are a temporary program, subject to reauthorization. The last authorization was for the calendar years 2012 and 2013. Authorizations must be used within two years following the year for which they were given, meaning that authorizations given in 2012 must be used by December 31, 2014. As of July 21, 2014, the reauthorization of the QZAB program for years 2014 and 2015 has not been passed by the U.S. Congress. [Emphasis added*]…
From the US Department of Education:
…Schools usually fund large projects, like building renovation or construction, through debt mechanisms such as tax-exempt bonds or loans. School districts must then pay a substantial amount of interest on this debt. For schools serving low income students, QZABs reduce the burden of interest payments by giving financial institutions holding the bonds (or other debt mechanism) a tax credit in lieu of interest. The school district must still pay back the amount of money it initially borrowed, but does not have to pay any interest — typically about half the cost of renovating a school. The credit rate for QZABs sold on a given day is set by the Treasury Department…
With the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting education facility construction projects — and the prospect of at least 10 percent of the built environment rendered redundant for all time — it is enlightening to review the several sources of financing for these construction projects.
We review education industry construction project status and financing at least twice a month during our US Census Bureau Monthly Construction and Finance teleconferences. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone. Use the login credential at the upper right of our home page.
* The Rebuild America’s Schools Act of 2019 (H.R. 865/S. 266)
LEARN MORE:
Gallery: School Bond Referenda
In terms of total spend, the US elementary and secondary school industry is about twice the size of the higher education industry according to IBISWorld. About $100 billion is in play every year for both (which we cover during our Ædificare colloquia); with higher education spending only half of what elementary and secondary school systems spend on facilities.
Note that some districts are including construction for faculty housing.
Our focus remains on applying global standard to create educational settlements that are safer, simpler, lower-cost and longer-lasting — not on the hurly-burly of local school bond elections. We recommend consulting the coverage in American School & University for more detailed and more timely information.
An Expanded Study of School Bond Elections in Michigan
Gallery: School Bond Referenda
As of January 2022, there were a few municipalities in the United States that allowed non-citizens to vote in local elections, but no entire states. These municipalities included:
San Francisco, California: Non-citizens are allowed to vote in school board elections.
Chicago, Illinois: Non-citizens are allowed to vote in school board elections.
Takoma Park, Maryland: Non-citizens are allowed to vote in local elections.
It’s worth noting that these policies may change over time as local governments make decisions regarding voting rights. For the most up-to-date information, it’s best to consult the specific laws and regulations of each municipality or state.
“Election Day, 1944” | Norman Rockwell for the Saturday Evening Post
School bond elections — either at county or district level — are processes through which communities vote to authorize the issuance of bonds to fund various projects and improvements in their local school districts. The elections determine the quality of educational settlements –new school buildings, renovating existing facilities, upgrading technology, and improving safety measures. The outcomes of these elections directly affect the quality of education and learning environments for students within the county. Successful bond measures can stimulate economic growth by creating jobs and attracting families to the area.
Community involvement and voter turnout are essential in determining the allocation of resources and shaping the quality of life for its citizens. In recent years, however, voter ambivalence about the education “industry” in general, the rise of home schooling and other cultural factors, complicate choices presented to voters.
Data Center Product Standards
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“FDSC 4300: The Science and Technology of Beer”
Professor Karl Siebert, who teaches FDSC 4300, The Science and Technology of Beer, demonstrates how to properly pour a beer and discusses the sensory experience of beer appreciation. In a recent study, Siebert identified the key component in a ‘perfect’ head of beer: a barley protein known as Lipid Transport Protein 1 or LPT1.
Food Science Professor Karl Siebert teaches "FDSC 4300: The Science and Technology of Beer"@Cornell @CornellCALShttps://t.co/u9mHiibrg2 pic.twitter.com/ESZlcK2klk
— Standards Michigan (@StandardsMich) April 28, 2023
does your campus have a beer garden? pic.twitter.com/H19GxQd0Eu
— Alexander Ahammer (@AhammerAlex) May 5, 2023
How Do You Measure the Percentage of Alcohol in Beer, Wine and Other Beverages?https://t.co/WitMHCUKGdhttps://t.co/VS3p32cdGd@NIST pic.twitter.com/FPKBBSari9
— Standards Michigan (@StandardsMich) November 28, 2022
Microgrids
We were doing microgrids before microgrids were cool. We did not call our school boiler plants or campus district energy systems “microgrids” until the EPACT flooded the electrical power industry with a new cadre of policy makers, regulators and litigators and we were forced into a vocabulary upgrade.
National Electrical Code Article 705 Interconnected Power Sources: Second Draft Transcript
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We resume our engagement (and advocacy) for a few concepts which have tracked in the NFPA and IEEE standards development catalogs since the early 1990’s:
- Nudge development of the National Electrical Code to recognize that loss of electrical power presents (i.e. reliability, availability) a greater hazard, and more frequent hazard, than wiring fire hazard.
- The application of stand-alone AC to DC inverters in the 100 – 1000 watt range to convert DC power from an automobile to households. A portable vehicle to home 120 VAC outlet strip is effectively a “microgrid” and costs less than $100 not including the extension cords.
- Expansion of the hybrid vehicle fittings with a built-in inverter to provide power to households in the 1000-2000 watt range. In contemporary parlance this arrangement is now referred to as “vehicle to home” (different than vehicle to grid)
- Relaxation of NEC prohibitions against the sharing of residential backup generators and electric storage equipment between two or more separate houses. This can reduce cost significantly. Earthing, ground fault, disconnect, overcurrent protection can easily be solved if the vertical incumbents we describe in our ABOUT stop voting against us in the National Electrical Code
- Stepping up the backup power systems that maintain the needed power for neighborhood internet access. Not all students and faculty live on campus.
- Policy makers and regulators should think in terms of setting standards for 10-day, 30-day and 90-day survivability contingencies to limit civil unrest.
- Preservation of contingencies with a judicious combination of absorption and electric chillers no matter what the electric rate. During a major regional contingency power is priceless.
- Promote a “cultural change” among specifiers and university design guideline writers to permit use of aluminum wiring which cost 1/3 less than copper wiring. Use of aluminum wiring for backup “swing feeders” at medium voltage reduces the cost of an additional contingency by 2/3rds.
- Reduce National Electrical Code circuit sizing rules so that distribution transformers within buildings can be reduced, thereby reducing material, heat waste and the reduction of wet-stacking in backup generators which reduces reliability.
This should be enough for an hour. We continue the conversation 4 times monthly with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee. Feel free to join us today with the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
University of Delaware Vehicle to Grid Research
P2030.12/D1.4, Jun 2022 – IEEE Draft Guide for the Design of Microgrid Protection Systems
A Review on Microgrids’ Challenges & Perspectives
Long-term experience of DC-microgrid operation
Hierarchical Network Management of Industrial DC-Microgrids
— Electrical Knowledge (@electric_4u) July 11, 2024
Mark your calendar for the Microgrid Knowledge Conference session, “Benefits of an Off-grid Microgrid-enabled Community”. This panel will describe the residential site, microgrid, fit to the city’s sustainability goals, and benefits & challenges of going off-grid. Register now! pic.twitter.com/hsAKrERIkj
— MicrogridNews (@MicrogridNews) January 15, 2025
Grid-Connected Microgrid Battery Energy Storage Systems
Overview of Technical Specifications for Grid-Connected Microgrid Battery Energy Storage Systems
A. Rahman Khalid, et. al
Abstract: Increasing distributed topology design implementations, uncertainties due to solar photovoltaic systems generation intermittencies, and decreasing battery costs, have shifted the direction towards integration of battery energy storage systems (BESSs) with photovoltaic systems to form renewable microgrids (MGs). Specific benefits include, but are not limited to, seamless switching and islanding operations during outages and ancillary grid services. The evolution of battery chemistries and other components has also further enhanced practicality; however, developing these multifaceted MGs involves complexity in the design process. Consequently, stakeholders rely on connection standards and operational requirements to guarantee reliable and safe grid-connected operations.
This paper presents a technical overview of battery system architecture variations, benchmark requirements, integration challenges, guidelines for BESS design and interconnection, grid codes and standards, power conversion topologies, and operational grid services. In addition, a comprehensive review of the control strategies for battery equalization, energy management systems, communication, control of multiple BESSs, as well as a discussion on protection blinding and intentional islanding using BESSs is also provided. Finally, a discussion of the islanded and black start operation results for time-based analysis and standard validation of a 3MW/9MWh BESS in a grid-connected MG at the Florida International University (FIU) Engineering Campus is presented.
Interconnected Electric Power Production Sources “Microgrids”
“Landscape with a Farm House and Windmill” (1680) / Jacob Isaaksz van Ruisdael
We have always taken a forward-looking approach to the National Electrical Code (NEC) because there is sufficient supply of NEC instructors and inspectors and not enough subject matter experts driving user-interest ideas into it. Today we approach the parts of the 2023 NEC that cover wiring safety for microgrid systems; a relatively new term of art that appropriates safety and sustainability concepts that have existed in electrotechnology energy systems for decades.
Turn to Part II of Article 705 Interconnected Electric Power Production Sources:
Free Access 2023 National Electrical Code
You will notice that microgrid wiring safety is a relatively small part of the much larger Article 705 Content. There were relatively minor changes to the 2017 NEC in Section 705.50 — but a great deal of new content regarding Microgrid Interconnection Devices, load side connections, backfeeding practice and disconnecting means — as can be seen in the transcripts of Code-Making Panel 4 action last cycle:
Code‐Making Panel 4 Public Input Report (692 Pages)
Code-Making Panel 4 Public Comment Report (352 Pages)
Keep in mind that the NEC says nothing (or nearly very little, in its purpose stated in Section 90.2) about microgrid economics or the life cycle cost of any other electrical installation. It is the claim about economic advantages of microgrids that drive education facility asset management and energy conservation units to conceive, finance, install, operate and — most of all — tell the world about them.
In previous posts we have done our level best to reduce the expectations of business and finance leaders of dramatic net energy savings with microgrids — especially on campuses with district energy systems. Microgrids do, however, provide a power security advantage during major regional contingencies — but that advantage involves a different set of numbers.
Note also that there is no user-interest from the education facility industry — the largest non-residential building construction market in the the United States — on Panel 4. This is not the fault of the NFPA, as we explain in our ABOUT.
The 2023 NEC was released late last year.
The 2026 revision cycle is in full swing with public comment on the First Draft receivable until August 24, 2024. Let’s start formulating our ideas using the 2023 CMP-4 transcripts. The link below contains a record of work on the 2023 NEC:
We collaborate with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facility Committee which meets online 4 times per month in European and American time zones. Since a great deal of the technical basis for the NEC originates with the IEEE we will also collaborate with other IEEE professional societies.
Mike Anthony’s father-in-law and son maintaining the electrical interactive system installed in the windmill that provides electricity to drive a pump that keeps the canal water at an appropriate level on the family farm near Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.
Issue: [19-151]
Category: Electrical, Energy
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Kane Howard, Jose Meijer
Accreditation 100
“I have no special talent.
I am only passionately curious”
— Albert Einstein
Early 20th-century fresco depicting guilds in the 13th-century New Tower of Sélestat
Standards are the seed corn for compliance revenue; hence the hegemony of conformance and enforcement enterprises that dominate the global standards system.
Accreditation is a relatively recent breakout topic so we approach it gently; respectful of the business models of the hundreds of education community charitable associations involved in the safety and sustainability of the physical spaces of education communities.
Accreditation 100 tracks facility management credentialing:
Ferris State University | Certificate Program in Facility Management
University of San Diego | Facilities Management Program
Arizona State University | Facility Management Certificate Program
Later in 2024 we will sort through other issues in the credentialing domain:
Accreditation 200: Recent innovations in credentialing
Q. There are about 150 hospitals in the USA with the word “university” in their name. Are they tax-exempt? Should they be? A. Whether a hospital with “university” in its name is tax-exempt depends on various factors, including its ownership, structure, and purpose. Non-profit hospitals, including those affiliated with universities, may qualify for tax-exempt status under certain conditions. However, the mere presence of “university” in the name does not automatically confer tax-exempt status. Tax-exempt status, the hospital’s activities, such as providing charity care, medical education, and research, are typically considered.
Accreditation 300: Requirements for baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees
Accreditation 400: Advanced Topics
Open to everyone. Use the login credentials at the top of our home page.
Breaking: Florida lawmakers approve a certification for classical educators
Florida just keeps winning. https://t.co/C0zpDHUedv
— Jeremy Wayne Tate (@JeremyTate41) March 13, 2024
Readings:
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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