Category Archives: Architectural/Hammurabi

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Bleachers, Folding Seating & Grandstands

“View of the Colosseum” 1747 Giovanni Paolo Panini

 

Play is the making of civilization—how one plays the game

more to the point than whether the game is won or lost.

 

We follow development of best practice literature for spectator seating structures produced by the International Code Council,  the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 102),  the American Society of Civil Engineers Structural Engineering Institute (ASCE SEI-7).  There are also federal regulations promulgated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  (Note that some of the regulations were inspired by the several regional building code non-profits before the International Code Council was formed in year ~ 2000)

The parent standard from the International Code Council is linked below:

ICC 300 Standard on Bleachers, Folding and Telescopic Seating, and Grandstands

The development of this standard is coordinated with the ICC Group A Codes.  We have tracked concepts in it previous revisions; available in the link below.

2024/2025/2026 ICC CODE DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE

As always, we encourage our colleagues with workpoint experience to participate directly in the ICC Code Development process.  CLICK HERE to get started.

Issue: [15-283]

Category: Athletics & Recreation, Architectural, Public Safety

Contact: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben

Virtual reality technology in evacuation simulation of sport stadiums


LEARN MORE:

Standard for Bleachers, Folding and Telescopic Seating, and Grandstands ICC 300-2017 edition Public Comment Draft – October 2017

ANSI Coverage / ICC 300-2017: Standard for Bleachers, Folding and Telescopic Seating, and Grandstands

 

Classroom Furniture

“The Country School” | Winslow Homer

The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association standards catalog — largely product (rather than interoperability oriented) is linked below:  

BIFMA Standards Overview

In stabilized standards, it is more cost effective to run the changes through ANSI rather than a collaborative workspace that requires administration and software licensing cost.  Accordingly, redlines for changes, and calls for stakeholder participation are released in ANSI’s Standards Portal:

STANDARDS ACTION WEEKLY EDITION

Send your comments to Dave Panning.  (See Dave’s presentation to the University of Michigan in the video linked below.

John Peace Laptop Library Lounge | University of Texas, San Antonio

We find a great deal of interest in sustainable furniture climbing up the value chain and dwelling on material selection and manufacture.  We encourage end-users in the education industry — specifiers, department facility managers, interior design consultants, housekeeping staff and even occupants — to participate in BIFMA  standards setting.     You may obtain an electronic copies for in-process standards from David Panning, (616) 285-3963, dpanning@bifma.org   You are encouraged to send comments directly to BIFMA (with copy to psa@ansi.org).  David explains its emergent standard for furniture designed for use in healthcare settings in the videorecording linked below:

Issue: [15-267]

Contacts: Mike Anthony, Christine Fischer, Jack Janveja, Dave Panning

Category: Architectural, Facility Asset Management


Related:

A Guide to United States Furniture Compliance Requirements

Educational Seating

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

“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.

Financial Services

Storm Shelters

2024 GROUP A PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE I-CODES

Latest News and Documents

“Landscape between Storms” 1841 Auguste Renoir

 

When is it ever NOT storm season somewhere in the United States; with several hundred schools, colleges and universities in the path of them? Hurricanes also spawn tornadoes. This title sets the standard of care for safety, resilience and recovery when education community structures are used for shelter and recovery.  The most recently published edition of the joint work results of the International Code Council and the ASCE Structural Engineering Institute SEI-7 is linked below:

2020 ICC/NSSA 500 Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters.

Given the historic tornados in the American Midwest this weekend, its relevance is plain.  From the project prospectus:

The objective of this Standard is to provide technical design and performance criteria that will facilitate and promote the design, construction, and installation of safe, reliable, and economical storm shelters to protect the public. It is intended that this Standard be used by design professionals; storm shelter designers, manufacturers, and constructors; building officials; and emergency management personnel and government officials to ensure that storm shelters provide a consistently high level of protection to the sheltered public.

This project runs roughly in tandem with the ASCE Structural Engineering Institute SEI-17 which has recently updated its content management system and presented challenges to anyone who attempts to find the content where it used to be before the website overhaul.    In the intervening time, we direct stakeholders to the link to actual text (above) and remind education facility managers and their architectural/engineering consultants that the ICC Code Development process is open to everyone.

The ICC receives public response to proposed changes to titles in its catalog at the link below:

Standards Public Forms

2024/2025/2026 ICC CODE DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE

You are encouraged to communicate with Kimberly Paarlberg (kpaarlberg@iccsafe.org) for detailed, up to the moment information.  When the content is curated by ICC staff it is made available at the link below:

ICC cdpACCESS

We maintain this title on the agenda of our periodic Disaster colloquia which approach this title from the point of view of education community facility managers who collaborate with structual engineers, architects and emergency management functionaries..   See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting, open to everyone.

Readings:

FEMA: Highlights of ICC 500-2020

ICC 500-2020 Standard and Commentary: ICC/NSSA Design and Construction of Storm Shelters

IEEE: City Geospatial Dashboard: IoT and Big Data Analytics for Geospatial Solutions Provider in Disaster Management

 

Cinq ans après

“The only thing worse than religion is its absence”
Edmond Jabès (Le Livre des Questions)

“Prometheus creating Man in the presence of Athena” 1802 | Jean-Simon Berthélemy

Fire Safety

 

Cambridge Center for Smart Infrastructure & Construction

“Clare Hall and King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, from the Banks of the River Cam” / Joseph Mallord William Turner (1793)

 

Smart Infrastructure: Getting More From Strategic Assets

Dr Jennifer Schooling, Director of CSIC

Dr Ajith Parlikad, CSIC Co-Investigator and Senior Lecturer

Mark Enzer, Global Water Sector Leader

Mott MacDonald; Keith Bowers, Principal Tunnel Engineer, London Underground

Ross Dentten, Asset Information and Configuration Manager, Crossrail

Matt Edwards, Asset Maintenance and Information Manager, Anglian Water Services

Jerry England, Group Digital Railway Director, Network Rail

Volker Buscher, Director, Arup Digital

 

Smart Infrastructure is a global opportunity worth £2trn-4.8trn. The world is experiencing a fourth industrial revolution due to the rapid development of technologies and digital abundance.

Smart Infrastructure involves applying this to economic infrastructure for the benefit of all stakeholders. It will allow owners and operators to get more out of what they already have, increasing capacity, efficiency and resilience and improving services.

It brings better performance at lower cost. Gaining more from existing assets is the key to enhancing service provision despite constrained finance and growing resource scarcity. It will often be more cost-effective to add to the overall value of mature infrastructure via digital enhancements than by physical enhancements – physical enhancements add `more of the same’, whereas digital enhancements can transform the existing as well.

Smart Infrastructure will shape a better future. Greater understanding of the performance of our infrastructure will allow new infrastructure to be designed and delivered more efficiently and to provide better whole-life value.

Data is the key – the ownership of it and the ability to understand and act on it. Industry, organisations and professionals need to be ready to adjust in order to take advantage of the emerging opportunities. Early adopters stand to gain the most benefit. Everyone in the infrastructure sector has a choice as to how fast they respond to the changes that Smart Infrastructure will bring. But everyone will be affected.

Change is inevitable. Progress is optional. Now is the time for the infrastructure industry to choose to be Smart.

 

LEARN MORE:

Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction


Perspective: Since this paper is general in its recommendations, we provide examples of specific campus infrastructure data points that are difficult, if not impossible, to identify and “make smart” — either willfully, for lack of funding, for lack of consensus, for lack of understanding or leadership:

    1. Maintenance of the digital location of fire dampers in legacy buildings or even new buildings mapped with BIM.  Doors and ceiling plenums are continually being modified and the As-Built information is usually not accurate.  This leads to fire hazard and complicates air flow and assuring occupant temperature preferences (i.e. uncontrollable hot and cold spots) 
    2. Ampere readings of feeder breakers downstream from the electric service main.  The power chain between the service substation and the end-use equipment is a “no-man’s land” in research facilities that everyone wants to meter but few ever recover the cost of the additional metering.
    3. Optimal air flow rates in hospitals and commercial kitchens that satisfies both environmental air hazards and compartmentalized air pressure zones for fire safety.
    4. Identification of students, staff and faculty directly affiliated with the campus versus visitors to the campus.
    5. Standpipe pressure variations in municipal water systems
    6. Pinch points in municipal sewer systems in order to avoid building flooding.
    7. How much of university data center cost should be a shared (gateway) cost, and how much should be charged to individual academic and business units?
    8. Should “net-zero” energy buildings be charged for power generated at the university central heating and electric generation plant?
    9. How much staff parking should be allocated to academic faculty versus staff that supports the healthcare delivery enterprises; which in many cases provides more revenue to the university than the academic units?
    10. Finally, a classical conundrum in facility management spreadsheets: Can we distinguish between maintenance cost (which should be covered under an O&M budget) and capital improvement cost (which can be financed by investors)

 

 

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