“Landscape with a clump of trees” 1844 Théodore Rousseau
“Keep a green tree in your heart
and perhaps a singing bird will come”.
— Chinese proverb
The condition of campus gardens, trees and landscaping is a central element of ambiance, brand identity, environmental instruction and even revenue to education communities when tied to charitable donations. The Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) is trade association of 2300 private tree care firms that is also an ANSI-accredited standards developer. It has several titles relevant to education communities and posts drafts of best practice titles at the link below:
Last year we tracked a revision of TCIA A300 that asserted leading practice for lightning protection has been released for public consultation. The consultation period closed and, like many standards setting organizations, leading practice discovery has been impeded by the circumstances of the pandemic.
We encourage our colleagues in business units responsible for lawns, trees, gardens and pathways to participate in the TCIA standards development process (Learn more HERE). Stakeholders in any interest category may communicate directly with Amy Tetreault at the Tree Care Industry Association, (603) 314-5380, [email protected], 136 Harvey Rd # 101, Londonderry, NH 03053.
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We maintain the TCIA standards catalog on our periodic Bucolia and Pathway colloquia. See our CALENDAR for the next online meting; open to everyone.
Learn how to apply an SRS redirect without unloading your primary suspension point in this instructional video and article featuring Aaron Feather, CTSP! https://t.co/qJCSQeg2iz
— Tree Care Industry Association (@WeAreTCIA) May 22, 2020
Notice the product orientation. ASTM’s business model is built upon conformity and compliance activity, supported by market incumbents such as manufacturer and insurance interests; but — as an ANSI accredited standards developer — it opens its standards-setting process to all stakeholders; including in one of the largest markets for these products.
We are happy to represent any user-interest at any of the ASTM International meetings; assuming our costs are covered. Feel free to contact Sanne Anthony either by email or phone for more information. In the intervening time, we will track action in the ASTM catalog an maintain relevant titles in this product category on several standing agendas — Sports, Kindergarten and Recreation. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting.
ASTM has released two documents for public review — one a new standard, the other a revision of an existing standard — that should interest K-12 school systems which are stewards of recreational facilities :
The ASTM International Committee F08 on Sports Equipment, Playing Surfaces, and Facilities also meets again May 21-24th in San Diego. We keep all ASTM documents that affect the revenue and cost structure of the education industry on the standing agenda of our weekly Open Door teleconferences to which everyone is welcomed.
The term “lively arts” is attributed to American writer and poet James Thurber. It was popularized in the mid-20th century as a way to describe various forms of performing arts, such as theater, dance, music, and other creative expressions.
International Building Code § 410 Stages, Platforms and Technical Production Areas
Curtain for the Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet
“What art is, in reality, is this missing link, not the links which exist.
It’s not what you see that is art; art is the gap”
— Marcel Duchamp
Two Minutes of Hate | 1984 George Orwell (1949)
Today we refresh our understanding of the literature that guides the safety and sustainability goals of lively art events in educational settlements. Consortia have evolved quickly in recent years, leading and lagging changes in the content creation and delivery domain. With this evolution a professional discipline has emerged that requires training and certification in the electrotechnologies that contribute to “event safety”; among them:
ASHRAE International
Standard 62.1: This standard establishes minimum ventilation rates and indoor air quality requirements for commercial buildings, including theaters and auditoriums.
Standard 55: This standard specifies thermal comfort conditions for occupants in indoor environments, which can have an impact on air quality.
RP-16-17 Lighting for Theatrical Productions: This standard provides guidance on the design and implementation of lighting systems for theatrical productions. It includes information on the use of color, light direction, and light intensity to create different moods and effects.
RP-30-15 Recommended Practice for the Design of Theatres and Auditoriums: This standard provides guidance on the design of theaters and auditoriums, including lighting systems. It covers topics such as seating layout, stage design, and acoustics, as well as lighting design considerations.
DG-24-19 Design Guide for Color and Illumination: This guide provides information on the use of color in lighting design, including color temperature, color rendering, and color mixing. It is relevant to theater lighting design as well as other applications.
Dance and Athletic Floor Product Standards: ASTM F2118, EN 14904, DIN 18032-2
Incumbent standards-setting organizations such as ASHRAE, ASTM, ICC, IEEE, NFPA have also discovered, integrated and promulgated event safety and sustainability concepts into their catalog of best practice titles; many already incorporated by reference into public safety law. We explore relevant research on crowd management and spectator safety.
Artificial lighting was first introduced to theater dramatic performance stages in the 17th century. The use of candles and oil lamps initially provided a means to illuminate the stage, allowing performances to take place in the evening and enhancing the visibility for both actors and the audience. Before this development, theatrical performances were typically held during daylight hours due to the reliance on natural light.
In the early 17th century, theaters in England began experimenting with various lighting techniques. Thomas Killigrew’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London, is often credited as one of the first theaters to use artificial lighting. The use of candles and later oil lamps evolved over time, leading to more sophisticated lighting setups as technology advanced.
The 18th and 19th centuries saw further innovations in stage lighting, including the use of gas lamps. Eventually, the introduction of electric lighting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries revolutionized stage lighting, providing theaters with a more reliable and controllable source of illumination. This allowed for greater creativity in the design and execution of lighting effects, contributing significantly to the overall theatrical experience.
The Life Safety Code addresses those construction, protection, and occupancy features necessary to minimize danger to life from the effects of fire, including smoke, heat, and toxic gases created during a fire. It is widely incorporated by reference into public safety statutes; typically coupled with the consensus products of the International Code Council. It is a mighty document — one of the NFPA’s leading titles — so we deal with it in pieces; consulting it for decisions to be made for the following:
(1) Determination of the occupancy classification in Chapters 12 through 42.
(2) Determination of whether a building or structure is new or existing.
(3) Determination of the occupant load.
(4) Determination of the hazard of contents.
There are emergent issues — such as active shooter response, integration of life and fire safety systems on the internet of small things — and recurrent issues such as excessive rehabilitation and conformity criteria and the ever-expanding requirements for sprinklers and portable fire extinguishers with which to reckon. It is never easy telling a safety professional paid to make a market for his product or service that it is impossible to be alive and safe. It is even harder telling the dean of a department how much it will cost to bring the square-footage under his stewardship up to the current code.
The 2021 edition is the current edition and is accessible below:
Public input on the 2027 Revision will be received until June 4, 2024. Public comment on the First Draft of the 2027 Revision will be received until June 3, 2025.
Since the Life Safety Code is one of the most “living” of living documents — the International Building Code and the National Electric Code also move continuously — we can start anywhere and anytime and still make meaningful contributions to it. We have been advocating in this document since the 2003 edition in which we submitted proposals for changes such as:
• A student residence facility life safety crosswalk between NFPA 101 and the International Building Code
• Refinements to Chapters 14 and 15 covering education facilities (with particular attention to door technologies)
• Identification of an ingress path for rescue and recovery personnel toward electric service equipment installations.
• Risk-informed requirement for installation of grab bars in bathing areas
• Modification of the 90-minute emergency lighting requirements rule for small buildings and for fixed interval testing
• Modification of emergency illumination fixed interval testing
• Table 7.3.1 Occupant Load revisions
• Harmonization of egress path width with European building codes
There are others. It is typically difficult to make changes to stabilized standard though some of the concepts were integrated by the committee into other parts of the NFPA 101 in unexpected, though productive, ways. Example transcripts of proposed 2023 revisions to the education facility chapter is linked below:
Since NFPA 101 is so vast in its implications we list a few of the sections we track, and can drill into further, according to client interest:
Chapter 3: Definitions
Chapter 7: Means of Egress
Chapter 12: New Assembly Occupancies
Chapter 13: Existing Assembly Occupancies
Chapter 16 Public Input Report: New Day-Care Facilities
Chapter 17 Public Input Report: Existing Day Care Facilities
Chapter 18 Public Input Report: New Health Care Facilities
Chapter 19 Public Input Report: Existing Health Care Facilities
Chapter 28: Public Input Report: New Hotels and Dormitories
Chapter 29: Public Input Report: Existing Hotels and Dormitories
Chapter 43: Building Rehabilitation
Annex A: Explanatory Material
As always we encourage front-line staff, facility managers, subject matter experts and trade associations to participate directly in the NFPA code development process (CLICK HERE to get started)
NFPA 101 is a cross-cutting title so we maintain it on the agenda of our several colloquia —Housing, Prometheus, Security and Pathways colloquia. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Issue: [18-90]
Category: Fire Safety, Public Safety
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Josh Elvove, Joe DeRosier, Marcelo Hirschler
Recreational sports, athletic competition, and the facilities that support it, are one of the most visible activities in any school, college or university in any nation. Arguably, these activities resemble religious belief and practice. Enterprises of this kind have the same ambition for safety and sustainability at the same scale as the academic and healthcare enterprises.
According to IBISWorld Market Research, Sports Stadium Construction was a $6.1 billion market in 2014, Athletic & Sporting Goods Manufacturing was a $9.2 billion market in 2015, with participation in sports increasing 19.3 percent by 2019 — much of that originating in school, college and university sports and recreation programs. We refer you to more up to date information in the link below:
Today at the usual time we will update our understanding of the physical support systems for the track and field activity listed below:
Sprinting: Races over short distances, typically 100m, 200m, and 400m.
Middle-distance running: Races covering distances between sprinting and long-distance running, such as 800m and 1500m.
Long-distance running: Races over longer distances, including 3000m, 5000m, 10,000m, and marathons.
Hurdling: Races where athletes jump over hurdles at set distances, such as 110m hurdles (for men) and 100m hurdles (for women).
Steeplechase: A long-distance race that includes hurdles and a water jump.
Racewalking: A form of walking competition where athletes race over various distances while maintaining contact with the ground.
Relays: Team races where athletes take turns running a specified distance before passing a baton to the next runner. Common relay distances include 4x100m and 4x400m.
High jump: Athletes attempt to jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without knocking it down.
Pole vault: Athletes use a pole to vault themselves over a high bar.
Long jump: Athletes sprint down a runway and jump as far as possible into a sandpit.
Triple jump: Athletes perform a hop, step, and jump sequence into a sandpit, with distances measured from the takeoff board to the nearest mark made in the sand by any part of the body.
Shot put: Athletes throw a heavy metal ball for distance.
Discus throw: Athletes throw a discus, a heavy circular object, for distance.
Javelin throw: Athletes throw a javelin, a spear-like object, for distance.
Hammer throw: Athletes throw a heavy metal ball attached to a wire and handle for distance.
Decathlon (men) / Heptathlon (women): Multi-event competitions where athletes compete in ten (decathlon) or seven (heptathlon) different track and field events, with points awarded for performance in each event.
Open to everyone. Log in with the credentials at the upper right of our home page.
May Balls are typically organized by committees of students from the hosting college, who plan and coordinate various aspects of the event, including the theme, decorations, catering, entertainment, and ticket sales.
The proceeds from May Balls go towards charitable causes or to support college funds. The event provides an opportunity for students to celebrate the end of the academic year, socialize with peers, alumni, and guests, and create lasting memories of their time at Cambridge.
The World Soil Museum hosts a range of educational programs and workshops for students, researchers, and other visitors who are interested in learning more about soil science. These programs cover topics such as soil classification, soil management, and soil conservation, and they are designed to help people understand the vital role that soils play in supporting agriculture, ecosystems, and human societies around the world.
“Fish and chips was in many ways the pioneer fast-food industry. It became an essential component of working-class diet and popular culture in parts of London, and over wide areas of industrial midland and northern England and southern Scotland, in the early decades of the twentieth century…I propose to argue that the fish and chip trade was not only important enough in itself to justify sustained historical analysis, but also that it provides a useful vantage point for examining important changes in British society more generally.”
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/njrDAbSpwBpic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
