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US Offsite partnered with RSA to design, manufacture, and deliver five new modular buildings that met California’s snow-load standards and doubled classroom capacity — all in under 10 months.
Shasta County: Five New Modular Classrooms
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Towards Crafting Beer with Artificial Intelligence
Beer was discovered accidentally as a result of grains being left in water and undergoing fermentation. The process of making beer involves converting the starches in grains (such as barley or wheat) into sugars, which are then fermented by yeast to produce alcohol. It was often consumed as a safer alternative to water, which could be contaminated with disease-causing pathogens.
Beer was also used in religious ceremonies and was considered a valuable commodity for trade. Over time, beer-making techniques spread throughout the world, and different regions developed their own unique styles of beer; now supported by artificial intelligence algorithms that analyze chemical compounds to identify specific flavor and aroma profiles for more nuanced flavors.
Towards Crafting Beer with Artificial Intelligence
Marc Bravin, et al
Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Rotkreuz, Switzerland
Abstract: The art of brewing beer has a long tradition that dates back to the very dawn of civilization. While the brewing process has been automated to a great extent, the creation of new beer recipes remains the result of creativity and human expertise with only minor support from software to validate chemical constraints. We collected a dataset of 157,000 publicly available recipes from all over the world and created a transformer-based model to support the creative process in brewing by suggesting new beer recipe templates. As a proof of concept, we crafted the IPA “Deeper” along a recipe generated by our model. Over 100 international newspapers and radio stations have reported on the first AI-crafted beer from Switzerland over the past few months. For the first time, this paper reveals the underlying pipeline architecture of eight transformer networks trained end-to-end that made this remarkable success possible.
CLICK HERE for complete paper
There are several international organizations and agreements that set standards for beer production and labeling:
προμηθέας 300
Fire Alarm Basics | Prometheus
Today we run through recent action in fire safety best practice literature. Even though fire safety technologies comprise about 2-4 percent of a new building budget, the influence of the fire safety culture dominates all aspects campus safety; cybersecurity of public safety communication technology for example.
A small sample of the issues we have tracked in the past: (2002-2023). Items in RED indicate success in reducing cost with no reduction in safety (i.e. successful rebuttal, typically market-making by incumbents)
- Limiting vendor lock-in (promote interoperability) in building additions.
- Limiting the tendency to lowball first cost in order to achieve vendor lock-in later in the facility life-cycle
- Dormitory kitchen fire safety
Fire Safety of University Dormitory Based on Bayesian Network
- Clarification of mixed-occupancy classifications (occupant loading)
- Fixed interval (rather than risk-informed) inspection, testing and maintenance of fire alarm and protection system components
- Fire alarm system upgrades during renovation
Gamification Teaching in School Fire Safety
- Mixed zone and addressable alarm system wiring
- Wireless initiation devices
- Integrated fire protection systems (NFPA 3&4)
- Portable fire extinguishers (NFPA 10)
Hospital Evacuation under Fire
- Alarm system re-set procedures
- Sprinkler system coverage for animals in research
- Scalability of fire safety professional certification
- Sprinklering of off-campus student housing
- Advocating central (or campus district) fire pump systems
One of the newer issues to revisit over the past few years is the fire safety of tents. Many colleges and universities are setting up large commercial tents outside buildings (within range of Wi-Fi) for students to congregate, study and dine. We are also seeing back and forth on fire safety in theatrical performance venues in the International Code Council building safety catalog.
We approach these titles with an eye toward driving risk-informed, performance requirements that reduce risk and cost for the user interest; while recognizing the responsibility of competitor stakeholders. It is not a friendly space for the user-interest who seeks to optimally resolve the competing requirements of safety and economy. Vertical incumbents completely dominate this domain.
Relevant NFPA Titles:
NFPA 10 Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers
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- Public Input Closing Date: June 1, 2023
NFPA 13 Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems
NFPA 25 Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems
NFPA 72 National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code®
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- Public Comment Closing Date: May 31, 2023
NFPA 75 Standard for the Fire Protection of Information Technology Equipment
NFPA 76 Standard for the Fire Protection of Telecommunications Facilities
NFPA 92 Standard for Smoke Control Systems
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- Public Comment Closing Date: January 4, 2023
International Code Council Group A 2021/2022 Code Cycle
Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
More
NFPA Report: Structure Fires in Dormitories, Fraternities, Sororities and Barracks
ASTM Committee E0% on Fire Standards
Why do Humans Stare at Fire? : Scientific aspects of primal magic of fire
“Stay safe this Bonfire Night”
BSI Group Fire Safety || University of Nottingham Fire Safety Management
That’s a wrap on our 2024 open days! Thank you to everyone who came to visit us this year and to all of our wonderful staff and students who supported these events. ✨
If you want another look around our campuses, you can take a virtual tour at https://t.co/PXBidDxTYP #WeAreUoN pic.twitter.com/BiQXy7BgWl
— Uni of Nottingham #WeAreUoN (@UniofNottingham) October 12, 2024
Bonfire
“The prettiest sight I know,
Worth all your roses and snow,
Is the blaze of light on a Saturday night”
– E. Nesbit, ‘Saturday Song’
“Under Construction” State of the University Letter 2025
The Princeton Bonfire (a cherished campus tradition celebrating a sweep of football victories over Big Three rivals Harvard and Yale) has not yet occurred in 2025, as it depends on the outcomes of those games. The relevant schedule is:
- vs. Harvard: October 25, 2025 (home game at Princeton Stadium)
- vs. Yale: November 15, 2025 (home game at Princeton Stadium)
If Princeton wins both (securing the “Big Three” title), the bonfire is traditionally lit on the Sunday evening immediately following the Yale game—that is, November 16, 2025, around 7 p.m. on Cannon Green. It would feature student-built stacks of wood, speeches, the Princeton University Band, and communal festivities.
Code ignis MMXXVII
NFPA Fire Protection Systems Catalog (Lorem ipsum)
Crosswalk: NFPA Fire Code and ICC International Fire Code
“Prometheus creating Man in the presence of Athena” 1802 Jean-Simon Berthélemy
Free public access to the current edition of NFPA’s parent fire safety document is linked below:
We attend to occupancy-specific chapters (listed below) because of their significant presence in education communities.
Chapter 25: Grandstands and Bleachers, Folding and Telescopic Seating, Tents and Membrane Structures (N.B)
Chapter 26: Laboratories Using Chemicals
Chapter 29: Parking Garages
Chapter 32: Motion Picture and Television Production Studio Soundstages and Approved Production Facilities
Chapter 35: Animal Housing Facilities
Chapter 36: Telecommunication Facilities and Information Technology Equipment
Chapter 50: Commercial Cooking
Chapter 52: Energy Storage Systems
Some of the chapters reference other titles such as NFPA 45 Standard of Fire Protection for Laboratories Using Chemicals which support risk management in other occupancies. It is noteworthy that in the 2021 revision cycle of NFPA 1 there are relatively few new concepts regarding education facilities that have been proposed. You get a sampling of the ideas in play from the transcript of public input for the 2024 edition.
Public Input Report (525 Pages)
Use search terms such as school, college, university, dormitory(ies), laboratory(ies), classroom, children, day-care, student, et cetera for a sense of the ideas in play.
Results of the 2027 First Draft meetings have not yet been posted as on November 9, 2024. A preview of the ideas in play can be found in the meeting minutes of the several committees linked below:
Fire Code (FCC-AAC): First Draft Meeting Minutes
First Draft: Fundamentals of the Fire Code (FCC-FUN)
Special Equipment, Processes and Hazardous Materials (FCC-HAZ)
Building Systems and Special Occupancies (FCC-OCP)
Public comment on the First Draft of the 2027 revision will be received until April 24, 2025.
We include NFPA 1 on our periodic fire safety colloquia — identified by the mnemonic Prometheus — and march along peak interests.
Campus fire safety is domain relatively well-covered by other organizations such as the Center for Campus Fire Safety and HigherEd Safety so we place NFPA 1 in the middle of our priority tier. We are more interested in the harmonization of NFPA 1 with a competitor title International Fire Code; published by the International Code Council; to wit:
International Fire Code: The purpose of this code is to establish the minimum requirements consistent with nationally recognized good practice for proving a reasonable level of life safety and property protection from the hazards of fire, explosion or dangerous conditions in new and existing buildings, structures or premises and to provide a reasonable level of safety to fire fighters and emergency responders during emergency operations
Fire Code: The scope includes, but is not limited to, the following: (1) Inspection of permanent and temporary buildings, processes, equipment, systems, and other fire and related life safety situations (2) Investigation of fires, explosions, hazardous materials incidents, and other related emergency incidents (3) Review of construction plans, drawings, and specifications for life safety systems, fire protection systems, access, water supplies, processes, hazardous materials, and other fire and life safety issues (4) Fire and life safety education of fire brigades, employees, responsible parties, and the general public (5) Existing occupancies and conditions, the design and construction of new buildings, remodeling of existing buildings, and additions to existing buildings (6) Design, installation, alteration, modification, construction, maintenance, repairs, servicing, and testing of fire protection systems and equipment (7) Installation, use, storage, and handling of medical gas systems (8) Access requirements for fire department operations (9) Hazards from outside fires in vegetation, trash, building debris, and other materials (10) Regulation and control of special events including, but not limited to, assemblage of people, exhibits, trade shows, amusement parks, haunted houses, outdoor events, and other similar special temporary and permanent occupancies (11) Interior finish, decorations, furnishings, and other combustibles that contribute to fire spread, fire load, and smoke production (12) Storage, use, processing, handling, and on-site transportation of flammable and combustible gases, liquids, and solids (13) Storage, use, processing, handling, and on-site transportation of hazardous materials (14) Control of emergency operations and scenes (15) Conditions affecting fire fighter safety (16) Arrangement, design, construction, and alteration of new and existing means of egress
Note that both ICC and NFPA parent fire safety documents are developed on coincident 3-year cycles.
Issue: [18-90]
Category: Fire Safety, Public Safety
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Joshua W. Elvove, Joe DeRosier, Casey Grant
Up the Down Staircase
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Management of Assets in Power Systems
“Mount Fuji from Lake Yamanaka” Takahashi Shōtei (1871-1945) | Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Japanese Standards Association is the Global Secretariat for a standardization project devoted to the discovery and promulgation of common methods and guidelines for coordinated lifetime management of network assets in power systems to support good asset management. In addition, this may include the development of new methods and guidelines required to keep pace with development of electrotechnologies excluding generation assets; covered by other IEC standards.
There has, and will continue to be significant investment in electricity assets which will require ongoing management to realise value for the organizations. In the last 5 years, there has been USD 718 billion investment for electricity, spending on electricity networks and storage continued, reaching an all-time high of USD 277 billion in 2016. In the United States (17% of the total) and Europe (13%), a growing share is going to the replacement of ageing transmission and distribution assets. A more fully dimensioned backgrounder on the business environment that drives the market for this title is available in the link below:
IEC/TC 123 Strategic Business Plan
Begun in 2018, this is a relatively new project with three stabilized titles:
IEC 60050-693 ED1: Management of network assets in power systems – Terminology
IEC 63223-2 ED1: Management of network assets in power systems – Requirements
IEC TS 63224 ED1: Management of network assets in power systems – Practices and case studies
Electropedia: The World’s Online Electrotechnical Vocabulary
It is early in this project’s lifecycle; far too early to find it referenced in public safety and energy laws in the United States where it would affect #TotalCostofOwnership. Where we should, we follow the lead of the USNC/IEC for the United States, while still mindful that many of our IEEE colleagues follow the lead of their own national standards body.
Because this project fills an obvious gap in good practice literature we maintain this project on our 4 times monthly electrotechnology colloquium that we co-host with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
World Standards Day 2023 webinars on latest information technologies
The importance of functional safety | 2023-10-11 IEC Editorial Team
Electrical Resource Adequacy
“When buying and selling are controlled by legislation,
the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.”
— P.J. O’Rourke
FERC Home Ω Reaction: February 19 Open Meeting
US K-12 schools (public school districts) spend approximately $8 billion annually on energy costs, including electricity, which ranks as the second-largest operating expense after teacher salaries. This figure, cited by the U.S. Department of Energy and EPA, reflects nationwide totals, with much of it electricity-related due to lighting, HVAC, and other needs; efficiency improvements could save 10-30%.
For colleges and universities, specific nationwide electricity or total energy cost aggregates are less uniformly reported in recent sources, but higher education institutions face substantial utility bills—often over $100,000 per large building annually—with campuses consuming significant power for 24/7 operations, research labs, and facilities.
US healthcare systems, particularly hospitals, incur high electricity costs due to continuous operation and intensive equipment use. Individual hospitals often pay $600,000 to over $2 million yearly on electricity alone, with average energy costs around $3-4 per square foot; inpatient facilities consume nearly twice the electricity per square foot of average commercial buildings.These sectors represent major institutional energy consumers, where efficiency upgrades yield significant savings.
2018 CBECS: Principal Building Activities: Health Care
Average Hospital Electric Bill: How to Uncover Savings
Update: November 4, 2025
“Federal Power Act” | June 10, 1920, Chapter 285 of the 66th Congress]
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is an independent agency within the U.S. federal government that regulates interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. It oversees wholesale energy markets, pipeline infrastructure, and hydroelectric projects, ensuring fair rates and reliability. While independent, FERC operates under the Department of Energy’s umbrella but does not take direct orders from the executive branch.
FERC enforces energy laws, approves infrastructure projects, and regulates market competition. FERC plays a crucial role in balancing economic, environmental, and energy security concerns, aiming to maintain a stable and efficient energy system across the United States. Since the U.S. shares interconnected electricity grids with Canada and Mexico, FERC’s decisions on transmission rules and pricing affect energy flows and grid reliability in both countries.
Our interest lies in closing a technical gap that exists upstream from the building service point and downstream from the utility supply point. Some, not all of it, can be accomplished with titles in the IEEE catalog.
Given the dominance of vertical incumbents in the electric power domain, we have submitted a tranche of reliability concepts into the ASHRAE, NFPA and ICC catalogs — not so much with the expectation that they will be gratefully received — but that our proposals will unleash competitive energies among developers of voluntary consensus standards.
One of our proposals was heard at the April-May and October meetings of the International Code Council. We are happy to discuss the outcome of that proposal any day at the usual hour.
Commissioner-Led Reliability Technical Conference Agenda: October 16, 2024, 10:00 AM
Nothing happened in August
Technical Conference RE: Large Loads Co-Located at Generating Facilities: November 1, 10AM EDT
Echo Chamber Synonyms: mutual admiration society, self congratulatory club,
back patting session, congratulatory loop, closed loop of praise, reciprocal praise fest,
feedback bubble, endless validation cycle, compliment carousel.
Transmission Planning Using a Reliability Criterion
In power system engineering, availability and reliability are two important concepts, but they refer to different aspects of the system’s performance.
Reliability:
- Reliability refers to the ability of a power system to perform its intended function without failure for a specified period under given operating conditions. It is essentially a measure of how dependable the system is.
- Reliability metrics often include indices such as the frequency and duration of outages, failure rates, mean time between failures (MTBF), and similar measures.
- Reliability analysis focuses on identifying potential failure modes, predicting failure probabilities, and implementing measures to mitigate risks and improve system resilience.Availability:
- Availability, on the other hand, refers to the proportion of time that a power system is operational and able to deliver power when needed, considering both scheduled and unscheduled downtime.
- Availability is influenced by factors such as maintenance schedules, repair times, and system design redundancies.
- Availability is typically expressed as a percentage and can be calculated using the ratio of the uptime to the total time (uptime plus downtime).
- Availability analysis aims to maximize the operational readiness of the system by minimizing downtime and optimizing maintenance strategies.
Reliability focuses on the likelihood of failure and the ability of the system to sustain operations over time, while availability concerns the actual uptime and downtime of the system, reflecting its readiness to deliver power when required. Both concepts are crucial for assessing and improving the performance of power systems, but they address different aspects of system behavior.
November 2023 Highlights | FERC insight | Volume 10
Determining System and Subsystem Availability Requirements: Resource Planning and Evaluation
Comment: These 1-hour sessions tend to be administrative in substance, meeting the minimum requirements of the Sunshine Act. This meeting was no exception. Access to the substance of the docket is linked here.
Noteworthy: Research into the natural gas supply following Winter Storm Elliot.
December 2022 Winter Storm Elliott Grid Operations: Key Findings and Recommendations (Joint Inquiry)
UPDATED POLICIES ON U.S. DECARBONIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSITIONS
June 15:FERC Finalizes Plans to Boost Grid Reliability in Extreme Weather Conditions
On Monday June 13th, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission commissioners informed the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that the “environmental justice” agenda prohibits reliable dispatchable electric power needed for national power security. One megawatt of natural gas generation does not equal one megawatt of renewable generation. The minority party on the committee — the oldest standing legislative committee in the House of Representatives (established 1795) — appears indifferent to the reliability consequences of its policy.
Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission
“Our nation’s continued energy transition requires the efficient development of new transmission infrastructure. Federal and state regulators must address numerous transmission-related issues, including how to plan and pay for new transmission infrastructure and how to navigate shared federal-state regulatory authority and processes. As a result, the time is ripe for greater federal-state coordination and cooperation.”
Bibliography:
Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978
Glossary of Terms Used in NERC Reliability Standards
The Major Questions Doctrine and Transmission Planning Reform
As utilities spend billions on transmission, support builds for independent monitoring
States press FERC for independent monitors on transmission planning, spending as Southern Co. balks
Related:
At the July 20th meeting of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Tristan Kessler explained the technical basis for a Draft Final Rule for Improvements to Generator Interconnection Procedures and Agreements, On August 16th the Commission posted a video reflecting changes in national energy policy since August 14, 2003; the largest blackout in American history.
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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