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World Soil Museum

Nederland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Getting to Know Your Soil

Life Safety Code

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:

NFPA 101 Life Safety Code Free Public Access

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:

Chapter 14 Public Input Report: New Educational Occupancies

Educational and Day Care Occupancies: Second Draft Public Comments with Responses Report

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

More

ARCHIVE / Life Safety Code 2003 – 2018

 

Fire and Life Safety in Stadiums

sport, mercury, athletic

Track & Field

Aphrodite and Hermes, god of sport

Gustavus Adolphus College | Nicollet County Minnesota

 

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:

Sports & Athletic Field Construction Industry in the US – Market Research Report

Today at the usual time we will update our understanding of the physical support systems for the track and field activity listed below:

  1. Sprinting: Races over short distances, typically 100m, 200m, and 400m.
  2. Middle-distance running: Races covering distances between sprinting and long-distance running, such as 800m and 1500m.
  3. Long-distance running: Races over longer distances, including 3000m, 5000m, 10,000m, and marathons.
  4. Hurdling: Races where athletes jump over hurdles at set distances, such as 110m hurdles (for men) and 100m hurdles (for women).
  5. Steeplechase: A long-distance race that includes hurdles and a water jump.
  6. Racewalking: A form of walking competition where athletes race over various distances while maintaining contact with the ground.
  7. 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.
  8. High jump: Athletes attempt to jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without knocking it down.
  9. Pole vault: Athletes use a pole to vault themselves over a high bar.
  10. Long jump: Athletes sprint down a runway and jump as far as possible into a sandpit.
  11. 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.
  12. Shot put: Athletes throw a heavy metal ball for distance.
  13. Discus throw: Athletes throw a discus, a heavy circular object, for distance.
  14. Javelin throw: Athletes throw a javelin, a spear-like object, for distance.
  15. Hammer throw: Athletes throw a heavy metal ball attached to a wire and handle for distance.
  16. 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.

Issue: [19-46]

Category: Athletics and Recreation, International,

Contact: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Christine Fischer

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Family Walking Tour

South Africa

Fashion Museum

 

Ohio

Standards Ohio

Entertainment Occupancies

2025 GROUP B PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE I-CODES | Complete Monograph 2630 Pages

2024 GROUP A PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE I-CODES | Complete Monograph 2658 Pages

2024/2025/2026 ICC CODE DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE

“View from the Ancient Theater in Taormina to Mount Etna” c. 1880 Carl Wuttke

Safety and sustainability for any facility begins with an understanding of who shall occupy it.  University settings, with mixed-use phenomenon arising spontaneously and temporarily, present challenges and no less so in  square-footage identified as performing arts facilities.  Education communities present the largest installed base of mixed use and performing arts facilities.  A distinction is made between supervised occupants that are in secondary schools (generally under age 18) and unsupervised occupants that are in university facilities (generally above age 18).

First principles regarding occupancy classifications for performing arts facilities appear in Section 303 of the International Building Code Assembly Group A-1.  The public edition of the 2021 IBC is linked below:

2024 IBC Chapter 3: Occupancy Classification and Use

Each of the International Code Council code development groups A, B and C; fetch back to these classifications.   You can sample the safety concepts in play with an examination of the document linked below:

2019 GROUP B PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE GROUP B I-CODES

2019 GROUP B PUBLIC COMMENT AGENDA

Each of the foregoing documents are lengthy so we recommend using search terms such as “school”, “college”, ‘”university”, “auditorium”, “theater”, “children”, “student” to hasten your cut through it.

We find continuation of lowering of the lighting power densities as noteworthy.  Technical committees assembled and managed by the International Code Council, the American Society of Heating & Refrigeration Engineers and the Illumination Engineering Society are leaders in developing consensus products that drive the LED illumination transformation.

 

The revision schedule for the next tranche of ICC titles that are built upon the foundation of the IBC is linked below:

2024/2025/2026 ICC CODE DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE

We encourage experts in education communities — facility managers, research and teaching staff, architectural and engineering students — to participate directly in the ICC Code Development process at the link below:

https://www.iccsafe.org/cdpaccess/

We reserve a place on the agenda of our standing Lively 200 colloquia on this topic.  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

 

Issue: [18-166]

Category: Architectural, Healthcare Facilities, Facility Asset Management

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Richard Robben

The International Code Council (ICC) develops its codes and standards through a consensus-driven process. The ICC Code Development Process follows these major stages:

Code Change Proposal Submission

Stakeholders (e.g., government officials, industry professionals, and the public) submit proposals to modify existing codes or introduce new provisions.

Committee Action Hearing (CAH)

Expert committees review and evaluate submitted proposals.
Public testimony is allowed, and committees vote on whether to approve, disapprove, or modify the proposals.

Public Comment Period

After the CAH, the public can submit comments or suggest modifications to the committee’s decisions.
These comments help refine the proposed changes before final voting.

Public Comment Hearing (PCH)

ICC members discuss and vote on public comments.
This step ensures that all voices are heard and debated before finalizing changes.

Online Governmental Consensus Vote (OGCV)

Governmental members vote on the final code changes electronically.
Only governmental voting members (e.g., code officials) participate in this stage to ensure the process remains unbiased.

Publication of New Code Edition

Approved code changes are incorporated into the next edition of the ICC codes.
The ICC updates its codes every three years (e.g., 2021, 2024, 2027 editions).

This structured process ensures that ICC codes remain comprehensive, up-to-date, and responsive to industry needs while maintaining safety and functionality.

Fish and Chips and the British Working Class

“Fish and Chips” | Fred Laidler (1918–1988)

Fish and Chips and the British Working Class, 1870-1930

“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.”

— John Walken, 1998, Journal of Social History

World Census of Agriculture

University of North Carolina Greensboro: The Cobb Douglas Production Function

Much like its role as a discoverer of new knowledge and as a large consumer in the energy sector, education communities have a significant role in food security research and as a consumer in its school lunch programs, dormitory, athletic facility and healthcare enterprises.  Accordingly — in much the same way we follow the US Census Bureau’s monthly construction activity report — we follow a data point provided by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) as one of our stars to steer by.

The World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates  is a monthly report published by the USDA that provides comprehensive forecast of supply and demand for major crops (global and United States) and livestock (U.S. only). The report provides an analysis of the fundamental condition of the agricultural commodity markets for the use of farmers, governments and other market participants.

 

World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates | March 2025

 

 

 

We maintain the WASDE report on our periodic Nourriture colloquia.   See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone

More

Morrill Land-Grant Act

Family of Mr. Schoenfeldt | Sheridan County, Kansas
Source: Farm Security Administration Russell Lee photographer

Phobia Phriday

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Sport Lighting

IES LP-6-2x Lighting Practice: Lighting Control Systems

 

Athletic and recreational sports enterprises are important features in education communities; supportive of brand identity and cohort creation.  Assuring the safety and sustainability of these assets is informed by several best practice titles; among them the Illuminating Engineering Society recommended practice RP-6-15 Sports and Recreational Area Lighting  From the project prospectus:

The purpose of RP-6-15  is to provide the reader with recommendations to aid in the design of sports lighting systems. Popular sports, such as baseball, tennis, basketball and football as well as recreational social activities, such as horseshoe pitching and croquet are covered. Venues for spectators of amateur, collegiate, and professional sports are complex facilities that should provide not only for the spectators, but also the equipment used in modern sports broadcasting. This document does not address those needs, so the reader should look for guidance from the sports league or the project consultant.
Sports lighting systems consume power which over time can be significant, and IES RP-6-15 defines methods for maximizing energy efficiency.

The IES-suite joins standards developed by the International Code Council (International Building Code), the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE 3001.9) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 70) that must be applied skillfully by design professionals and understood by athletic facility managers.  Other consensus standards developers such as the American Society of Heating and Refrigeration Engineers and the Entertainment Services and Technology Association were moving into this domain before the circumstances of the pandemic.

We always encourage our colleagues in the education industry to do so themselves; starting with the links below:

Committees

IES Standards Open for Public Review

"People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy" -- Anton Chekhov

Comments on proposed changes to IES LP-6-2x Lighting Practice: Lighting Control Systems – Properties, Selection, and Specification will be received until April 1st

Comments on Draft “IES TM-39  Technical Memorandum: Quantification and Specification of Flicker” will be received until August 12th
Keep in mind that the IES typically deals with the application of best practice in illumination.  It neither covers the reliability of the power systems nor the power chain to the luminaries.  Recommended practice for the power chain are now being developed by the IEEE Industrial Applications Society; specifically IEEE 3001.9 – Recommended Practice for the Design of Power Systems Supplying Lighting Systems in Commercial and Industrial Facilities.  The IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee pulls together ALL the standards — ICC, IEEE, IEC, NFPA, IES, ASHRAE, ASTM, ESTA and any other emergent consensus or open source documents that might set the standard of care for the education industry.

University of Michigan

The IEEE E&H Committee meets online 4 times monthly in Europe and the United States; and those meetings are open to the public (CLICK HERE).   Additionally, we set aside one hour every month to walk through the entire suite of standards for sports and recreation facilities.   See our CALENDAR for the date of our next Athletic & Recreation standards teleconference.  Login credential are at the upper right of our home page

Issue: [16-132]

Category: Electrical, Athletics & Recreation

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Kane Howard

Related:

Designing Lighting for People and Buildings

Engineering in Sport

 

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888-746-3670

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