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Stationary Energy Storage Systems

Should every campus building generate its own power? Sustainability workgroups are vulnerable to speculative hype about net-zero buildings and microgrids. We remind sustainability trendsniffers that the central feature of a distributed energy resource–the eyesore known as the university steam plant–delivers most of the economic benefit of a microgrid. [Comments on Second Draft due April 29th] #StandardsMassachusetts

“M. van Marum. Tweede vervolg der proefneemingen gedaan met Teyler’s electrizeer-machine, 1795” | An early energy storage device | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries

We have been following the developmental trajectory of a new NFPA regulatory product — NFPA 855 Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems — a document with ambitions to formalize the fire safety landscape of the central feature of campus microgrids by setting criteria for minimizing the hazards associated with energy storage systems.

The fire safety of electric vehicles and the companion storage units for solar and wind power systems has been elevated in recent years with incidents with high public visibility.  The education industry needs to contribute ideas and data to what we call the emergent #SmartCampus;an electrotechnical transformation — both as a provider of new knowledge and as a user of the new knowledge.

Transcripts of technical deliberation are linked below:

2026 Public Input Report (705 pages) § 2026 Second Draft Meeting Agenda (912 pages)

Comment on the 2026 revision received by March 27, 2025 will be heard at the NFPA June 2025 Expo through NFPA’s NITMAM process.

University of Michigan | Average daily electrical load across all Ann Arbor campuses is on the order of 100 megawatts

A fair question to ask: “How is NFPA 855 going to establish the standard of care any better than the standard of care discovered and promulgated in the NFPA 70-series and the often-paired documents NFPA 110 and NFPA 111?”  (As you read the transcript of the proceedings you can see the committee tip-toeing around prospective overlaps and conflicts; never a first choice).

Suffice to say, the NFPA Standards Council has due process requirements for new committee projects and, obviously, that criteria has been met.   Market demand presents an opportunity to assemble a new committee with fresh, with new voices funded by a fresh set of stakeholders who, because they are more accustomed to advocacy in open-source and consortia standards development platforms, might have not been involved in the  more rigorous standards development processes of ANSI accredited standards developing organizations — specifically the NFPA, whose members are usually found at the top of organization charts in state and local jurisdictions.  For example we find UBER — the ride sharing company — on the technical committee.  We find another voice from Tesla Motors.  These companies are centered in an industry that does not have the tradition of leading practice discovery and promulgation that the building industry has had for the better part of two hundred years.

Our interest in this standard lies on both sides of the education industry — i.e. the academic research side and the business side.  For all practical purposes, the most credible, multi-dimensional and effective voice for lowering #TotalCostofOwnership for the emergent smart campus is found in the tenure of Standards Michigan and its collaboration with IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee (E&H).  You may join us sorting through the technical, economic and legal particulars and day at 11 AM Eastern time.   The IEEE E&H Committee meets online every other Tuesday in European and American time zones; the next meeting on March 26th.  All meetings are open to the public.

University of California San Diego Microgrid

You are encouraged to communicate directly with Brian O’Connor, the NFPA Staff Liaison for specific questions.  We have some of the answers but Brian is likely to have all of them.   CLICK HERE for the NFPA Directory.  Additionally, NFPA will be hosting its Annual Conference & Expo, June 17-20 in San Antonio, Texas; usually an auspicious time for meeting NFPA staff working on this, and other projects.

The prospect of installing of energy storage technologies at every campus building — or groups of buildings, or in regions — is clearly transformational if the education facilities industry somehow manages to find a way to drive the cost of operating and maintaining many energy storage technologies lower than the cost of operating and maintaining a single campus distributed energy resource.  The education facility industry will have to train a new cadre of microgrid technology specialists who must be comfortable working at ampere and voltage ranges on both sides of the decimal point that separates power engineers from control engineers.  And, of course, dynamic utility pricing (set by state regulatory agencies) will continue to be the most significant independent control variable.

Finding a way to make all this hang together is the legitimate work of the academic research side of the university.   We find that sustainability workgroups (and elected governing bodies) in the education industry are vulnerable to out-sized claims about microgrids and distributed energy resources; both trendy terms of art for the electrotechnical transformation we call the emergent #SmartCampus.

We remind sustainability trendsniffers that the central feature of a distributed energy resource — the eyesore known as the university steam plant — bears most of the characteristics of a microgrid.   In the videoclip linked below a respected voice from Ohio State University provides enlightenment on this point; even as he contributes to the discovery stream with a study unit.

Ohio State University McCracken Power Plant

Issue: [16-131]

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). Mahesh Illindala

Standards Massachusetts, Standards Texas, Standards Ohio

*It is noteworthy that (NFPA 70) National Electrical Code-Making Panel 1 has appropriated vehicle-to-grid installations into its scope.

 

Princeton University Power Plant | Click on image

LEARN MORE:

Related Post: Electrical Safety Research Advisory Committee

Bibiography: Campus Microgrids

Higher Education Facilities Conference: The Rise of University Microgrids

 

Mahesh Illindala enlightens understanding of what microgrid is, and is not:

Laboratory Chemical Safety Fixtures

“Der Alchemist” c. 1908 Max Fuhrmann

 

We use European Norm 15154-1 and 15154-2 to enlighten differences about laboratory risk is managed among different nations — specifically between the United States and Europe. The education industry has many instructional, research and healthcare settings in which laboratory chemicals are routinely used.  The laboratories specifically, are significant revenue generators in research universities.  We contribute to leading practice discovery for any technology that reduces risk to people and property.  As we are classified as a “user-interest” in the global standards systems; we are also attentive to budget risk.

The European Norm documents are developed as a pair as shown below:

EN 15154-1 Emergency safety showers – Part 1: Plumbed-in body showers for laboratories – This document is a product specification, giving performance requirements for emergency safety body showers connected to the water supply. It is applicable to plumbed-in body showers only, located in laboratory facilities. It is not applicable to emergency safety showers used on industrial sites or in other such areas. Requirements are given in respect of the performance, installation, adjustment and marking of the showers as well as installation, operation and maintenance instructions to be given by the manufacturer. NOTE Attention is drawn to national regulations which may apply in respect of the installation and use of emergency safety showers.

EN 15154-2 Emergency safety showers – Part 2: Plumbed-in eye wash units – This document is a product specification, giving performance requirements for emergency safety eye wash units connected to the water supply. It is applicable to plumbed-in eye wash units only. Requirements are given in respect of the performance, installation, adjustment and marking of the eye wash units, as well as installation, operation and maintenance instructions to be given by the manufacturer. NOTE Attention is drawn to national regulations which may apply in respect of the installation and use of eye wash units.

The current version is dated 2006; to best of our knowledge (though there may be local adaptions that are dated later).  The European Committee for Standardization website may contain more information about status and developmental trajectory.  The International Organization for Standardization also administers two technical committees (ISO/TC 48 and ISO/TC212) also involved in laboratory safety and sustainability concepts.

We do not advocate user-interest safety and sustainability concepts in this pair of standards at the moment.  However, we do use EN 15154 et. al, for comparative purposes; setting it against the prevailing United State standard produced by the International Safety Equipment Association — ISEA 358.1-2014 Emergency Eyewash and Shower Standard.

We track public consultations on this topic during our periodic Laboratory and Water 200 colloquia.   See our CALENDAR for the next online teleconference; open to everyone.

 

Issue: [13-28] [15-271] [19-155]

Category: International, Laboratory Safety, Mechanical, Plumbing,

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Mark Schaufele, Richard Robben

Construction Cost Over-Run Insurance

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Planning and Managing Security for Major Special Events

National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security

Guide to Premises Security

School of Aristotle | Gustav Spangenberg

Managing capital‐intensive campus infrastructure embedded within a politically sensitive community presents challenges not present in private industry real assets. Differences in everything from department culture to annual facility use patterns mean that facility managers cannot implement the same safety approaches in all buildings.  Approaches must be scaled and tailored to the occupancy type and informed by the interconnectedness and the specifics of a given facility.  Accordingly, the original University of Michigan standards advocacy enterprise (see ABOUT) began following the development of safety concepts in both NFPA 730 and NFPA 731 with the release of the 2008 Edition.   Thereafter, it collaborated with trade associations and subject matter experts from other universities (notably Georgetown University and Evergreen State University) to advocate user-interest concepts in the 2011 revisions.

Since 2008, campus security issues have only become more complex technically; across an expanding minefield of sensitivities.   Since 2008 we have observed the emergence of about one-hundred new consensus products being developed by the same number of new trade associations and producers presenting campus security solutions.

NFPA 730 Guide to Premise Security is a consensus document that describes construction, protection, occupancy features, and practices intended to reduce security vulnerabilities to life and property.  Related document — NFPA 731 Standard for the Installation of Electronic Premises Security Systems covers the application, location, installation, performance, testing, and maintenance of electronic premises security systems and their components.   The first is a performance document; the second a prescriptive document for the construction, operation and maintenance of electrotechnologies that support premise security.

Public consultation on the 2023 revision closed January 5, 2022 however the NITMAM process permits additional comment at the 2023 NFPA Annual meeting in Las Vegas in June 2023.

The 2026 Edition is now open for public input until January 4, 2024.

Public Comment on the First Draft of the 2026 Edition will be received until January 3, 2025

As always, we encourage direct participation by user-interests supporting the education facility industry.   You may do so by CLICKING HERE.

It is never a bad idea to key in comments on your own but if you would like some insight into our advocacy vectors since 2008 you are welcomed to click in our periodic Risk and Public Safety colloquia during which time we pick through technical, policy and enforcement specifics.   We have been hammering on Chapters 11 and 12, Education and Healthcare Facilities, respectively; for five cycles.   See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

 

Issue: [10-3], [11-58], [14-44] and [16-127]

Category: Electrical, Telecommunications, Information & Communications Technology, Public Safety, Risk Management, #SmartCampus

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Richard Robben

More

Department of Homeland Security: K-12 School Security

National Campus Safety and Security Project

NFPA 730 2023 Public Input Report

NFPA 730 730_F2019_PMM_AAA_FD_PIresponses

NFPA 730_F2019_PMM_AAA_SD_PCresponses

ARCHIVE / NFPA 730 Guide to Premises Security

 

Governance & Accountability of Organizations

The London School of Economics

A relatively new International Standardization Organization committee is developing a consensus product that sets the broad contours of standardization in the field of governance relating to aspects of direction, control and accountability of organizations.    The foremost aim of international standardization is to facilitate the exchange of goods and services through the elimination of technical barriers to trade.  We find technical barriers to trade (TBT) a growing discussion in the education facility industry; especially in research universities that deal with highly specialized products in laboratories.  We see TBT issues show up purchasing regulations for federally-sponsored projects hosted on federally-sponsored facilities.

The strategic business plan of ISO/TC 309  is linked below:

Executive Summary ISO Technical Committee 309 (ISO/TC 309)

The US organization charged by the American National Standards Institute with administering the US Technical Advisory Group (US TAG) is the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS).  The INCITS committee will operate under the ANSI-accredited procedures for US TAGS.  Click here for more information about joining the US TAG or other INCITS committees.  Jennifer Garner is listed as the contact person (jgarner@itic.org).

We do not find any public commenting opportunities on this project at the moment — January of every year tends to be a slow time in the standards world — but continue to monitor it through INCITS.    We keep this committee’s work products on our International Standards monthly teleconference.   See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

When we hang the capitalists they will sell us the rope we use. - Joseph Stalin

Issue: [18-157]

Category: Administration & Management, International, Finance, Academics, Public Policy

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Christine Fischer

Thomas Hobbes was a political philosopher who advocated for **absolute sovereignty** as the only way to ensure peace and security in a commonwealth¹². He believed that people in their natural state were in a constant state of war, and that they needed to surrender their rights and freedoms to a strong ruler who could protect them from violence and chaos³⁴. Therefore, Hobbes wanted **larger** government control, as he viewed government primarily as a device for ensuring collective security¹. He justified this by arguing that people consented to the authority of the sovereign in exchange for their safety⁵..

Thomas Hobbes’s philosophy of government is relevant today because it addresses some of the fundamental questions and challenges that modern societies face, such as:

  • How to justify and limit the authority of the state over its citizens?
  • How to balance the rights and duties of individuals in a social contract?
  • How to deal with the threats of violence, anarchy, and civil war?
  • How to promote peace, security, and cooperation among nations?

Hobbes’s answers to these questions may not be the same as ours, but they can stimulate our thinking and help us evaluate our own assumptions and arguments. Hobbes’s Leviathan is widely regarded as one of the most influential works of political philosophy in the history of Western thought, and it has inspired many thinkers and movements across different disciplines and ideologies.

Electrical Safety in the Workplace

Nicola Tesla in his Laboratory | Click image

 

The NFPA suite of electrical safety titles are most familiar to the education facility safety community because NFPA documents run deeply in local public safety culture; dominated by an over-arching concern for protection from fire.

The NFPA 70-series of documents are developed according to ANSI-accredited due process requirements that features a comparatively rigorous administration of stakeholder balance; much more so than the electrotechnology consensus documents prepared by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Standards Association which is much broader in global reach.

Generally speaking, the IEEE — the world’s largest professional association — is dominated by electrotechnology experts who work on behalf of the user-interest in the US standards system; hence our close collaboration with the IEEE Education and Healthcare Facilities Committee as the the emergent #WiseCampus rolls out.  We also present an informed vote supported by the IEEE Industrial Applications Society.

University of Washington

The cultural difference between fire safety community and the electrotechnology community must be understood in order to understand how, why and where the NFPA-70 series of documents harmonize and conflict with IEEE Standards Association electrical safety codes and standards.   You find an abundance of academic faculty and researchers developing IEEE documents; not so many of the same developing NFPA documents.

We list the complete NFPA 70-suite below:

NFPA 70 National Electrical Code® (2020)

NFPA 70A National Electrical Code® Requirements for One- and Two-Family Dwellings[1]

NFPA 70B Recommended Practice for Electrical Equipment Maintenance

NFPA 70E Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace®

Note that two on the foregoing list receives special (legal) handling as “code”.

We provide links to the transcripts of the 2024 technical committee meetings to show the scope of discussion that goes into the preparation of this document:

Electrical Safety in the Workplace (EEW-AAA)

Public Input Report

Public Comment Report

The circumstances of the pandemic have restrained the normal course of business at NFPA, as it has most other standards developers.  We make near-daily contact with many NFPA titles so click in any day at 15:00 UTC for an update.

Public Input on the 2027 Revision will be received until June 4, 2024.

We are happy to discuss proposals for the next revision of NFPA 70E any day at 15:00 UTC but direct you to the possibility of more detailed discussion during any of the bi-weekly online meetings of the IEEE Education and Healtcare Facilities Committee.[2]

Issue: [3-3], [6-4], [10-14], [12-19], [15-160] and [18-135]

Category: Electrical, Public Safety, Risk Management

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Joe Tedesco

 

[1] Many colleges and universities own and operate real assets that are covered by residential building codes; frequently on the perimeter of a campus or farther off-site as in the case of residential assets that are donated to the university.   We generally confine our advocacy to education facilities that are classified as commercial and covered by NFPA 70, 70B and 70E, though we are happy to consult with facility managers on NFPA 70A as necessary.

[2] Standards Michigan is undertaking a 50-state rollout during 2019 because, among other reasons, national committees across the entire span of accredited standards, tend to be dilutive.  We want to offer more support for state exceptions to the codes and standards that affect the safety and sustainability goals of the education industry.

Archive / NFPA 70E Electrical Safety in the Workplace

Stairway Lighting

Designing illumination for vertical ingress and egress paths requires reconciliation of competing requirements of safety economy: 

Consistent and Adequate Lighting: Shadows and dark spots should be minimized to prevent trips and falls.

Light Direction and Glare: Light fixtures should be positioned to avoid creating excessive contrast between steps.

Staircase Configuration: Staircases come in various shapes, sizes, and configurations, such as straight, curved, or spiral. 

Light Distribution:  Lighting should adequately cover the entire stair tread and riser area to provide clear visibility and depth perception.

Energy Efficiency:  Specifying energy-efficient light sources such as light emitting diodes and lighting controls such as motion sensors or timers.

Maintenance and Durability: Scaffolding safety should be a peak consideration.

Some of the foregoing challenges can be resolved with the use of handrail illumination but are accompanied by additional electrical wiring requirements. 

Chazen Museum of Art | University of Wisconsin

 

The parent standard in the United States for designing and building facilities for accessibility is ANSI/A117.1 Standard for Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities developed by the International Code Council.   During 2023 this title will be revised but until then he 2017 release is the stabilized edition:

FREE ACCESS (ICC DIGITAL CODE PLATFORM)

Many A117.1 concepts require coordination with the International Building Code.  We provide an example regarding stairway illumination below:

BCAC General 5 – IBC A117.1 Coordination 11-20-1027 File 16-124

We walked through this earlier in 2020.  It is noteworthy because the proposed safety concepts will likely require harmonization with NFPA and IEEE standards bibliography.  Committees usually take it upon themselves to get that right but getting it right means all committees need to work bi-directionally; action that is limited by time resources of volunteers.

Technical specifics in meeting the US Department of Justice requirements for accessibility is close coupled with A117 since it is incorporated by reference into federal law.   2021/2022 Code Development Cycle has been completed and another cycle has begun:

2024/2025/2026 ICC CODE DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE

ICC (ASC A117) CONSENSUS COMMITTEE ON A117.1 04-27-2023 Minutes 31

Since the ICC catalog cuts across many disciplines we touch most titles almost every day at 15:00 UTC; open to everyone with the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

 

Issue: [13-36] and [16-124]

Category: Architectural, Risk Management

Colleagues: Richard Robben

FYI: Errata to 2017 Edition:

Errata to ICC A117.1-2017

 

 

Fine Arts 500

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Drone Safety

“Icarus” | Joos de Momper

 

 

“All limits are self imposed.”

― Daedalus and Icarus (Metamorphoses, Ovid)

 

The National Fire Protection Association has added another standard to its suite of public safety documents: NFPA 2400 Standard for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) used for Public Safety Operations.   This standard covers the minimum requirements relating to the operation, deployment, and implementation of small unmanned aircraft systems for public safety operations.   The standard is developed by two main committees — one committee for drone systems (UAS-AAA) and another committee for the professional qualifications to operate and maintain drone systems (PQU-AAC)

From the project prospectus:

This standard shall cover the minimum requirements relating to the operation, deployment, and implementation of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for public safety operations. This standard shall establish operational protocols for public safety entities who use and support sUAS. This standard shall include minimum job performance requirements (JPRs) for public safety personnel who operate and support sUAS. This standard shall include minimum requirements for the maintenance of sUAS when used by public safety entities. This standard shall provide additional minimum requirements specific to public safety entities.

The 2019 Edition of NFPA 2400 has already been released for public use.  Because this is a relatively new addition to the NFPA suite we provide two links that offer insight into the ideas running through it: The First Draft Report for the AAA committee is linked below:

2400_Cust2020_UAS_AAA_FRReport

The First Draft Report for the AAC committee is linked below:

2400_Cust2020_PQU_AAC_FDagenda_04_18

We choose these reports to provide an overview of the technical and management concepts in play in the first draft.  It is not uncommon, in the developmental trajectory of any accredited standard, that the bulk of it is largely administrative.  You may view it with a (free) NFPA public review account.  Get one by CLICKING HERE

First Draft 2024 Revision

Application of this technology for public safety on college and university campuses will likely accelerate and, hopefully, a catalog of case studies that will be shared.   We find that several educational organizations are supporting faculty and staff involvement:  University of Illinois Fire Service Institute, Piedmont Virginia Community College, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Oklahoma State University and the University Of Cincinnati are supporting the participation of Special Experts.  The Los Angeles Unified School District is supporting a User Interest.

We expect that agricultural colleges and universities will begin developing curricula around the use of drones for crop inspection.

We encourage operations and maintenance staff — the various roofing and landscaping and grounds shops; for example — to participate in the development of the next revision.  You may do so here: NFPA PUBLIC INPUT PAGE.  We recommend you communicate directly with NFPA staff — either Michael Wixler or Elena Carroll.  CLICK HERE for contact help.

We maintain this title on the standing agenda of periodic Mobility, Risk and Aerospace colloquia.  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

Schriever School Age Care | Schriever Air Force Base Indoor Running Track

 

Issue: [18-269], [16-199]

Category: Public Safety, Risk Management, #SmartCampus

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Richard Robben

Standards Massachusetts

LEARN MORE:

ISO/TC 20/SC 16 Unmanned aircraft systems

Drones are also being used for rooftop cooling tower inspection: ASTM Committee F38 on Unmanned Aircraft Systems

SAE International: Requirements for a Terrestrial Based Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) System to Improve Unmanned Vehicle Navigation Solutions and Ensure Critical Infrastructure Security

 

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