Harvard University Art Museum | In the Sierras, Lake Tahoe | Albert Bierstadt
The American Water Works Association is one of the first names in accredited standards developers that administer leading practice discovery in backflow prevention consensus documents; usually referenced in local and state building codes; and also in education facility design guidelines and construction specifications.
The original University of Michigan standards enterprise gave highest priority to backflow standards because of their central importance of backflow management to education communities; especially large research universities nested within a municipal water system. Backflow prevention; an unseen technology that assures a safe drinking water supply by keeping water running in one direction by maintaining pressure differences. Analogous to the way we want electrical current to run in one direction, failure of backflow prevention technology poses a near-instantaneous health risk for the contamination of potable water supplies with foul water. In the most obvious case, a toilet flush cistern and its water supply must be isolated from the toilet bowl. In a less obvious case, but at greater scale, a damaged backflow prevention technology at a university research building can contaminate an host-community potable water supply.
There are other ANSI accredited standards developers in the backflow prevention technology space — the International Code Council, the IAPMO Group and ASSE International — for example.
Backflow Preventer
At the moment no AWWA redlines relevant to our objective are open for consultation. Several relatively stabilized product standards are marked up but none dealing specifically with interoperability issues. When they are uploaded you may access them at the link below:
AWWA is the first name in US-based water standards so we maintain the AWWA catalog on our Plumbing & Water colloquia. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Issue: [11-57]
Category: Water Safety, Plumbing, Mechanical
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Richard Robben, Steve Snyder, Larry Spielvogel
Accreditation and certification are relatively modern concepts that have evolved over time as formalized methods of establishing and maintaining standards in various fields. The concept of accreditation or certification, as it is understood today, may not have existed in the same form in the distant past. However, there were likely individuals or groups who played roles similar to that of accreditation or certification specialists in history, although the formalized systems of accreditation or certification that exist today were not present.
For example, in ancient times, there were guilds and associations in various professions that set standards for their members, oversaw training and apprenticeship programs, and ensured the quality of their work. These guilds and associations, which existed in various civilizations such as ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, could be seen as early forms of accreditation or certification bodies.
Similarly, in religious contexts, there were individuals who held authority to certify or accredit others. For instance, in medieval Europe, there were religious orders, such as the Knights Templar, who were known for their specialized skills and were often called upon to certify the expertise of others in their areas of knowledge, such as architecture or finance.
In the field of education, ancient universities and centers of learning, such as the ancient Indian Nalanda University or the Islamic madrasas, could also be seen as early forms of accreditation or certification bodies, where scholars were recognized and certified based on their knowledge and expertise.
However, it’s important to note that the formalized systems of accreditation or certification that we are familiar with today, with standardized processes, documentation, and oversight, have developed over time and are relatively modern phenomena. The history of accreditation or certification is complex and multifaceted, with various practices and traditions that have evolved and influenced the modern systems we have today.
Representative Sample of Merchant Utility Interconnection Requirements for Customers
Ahead of the October Second Draft committee meeting on the 2026 revision we will examine First Draft balloting on the following:
How does “high voltage” differ among electrotechnology professionals? Signaling and control systems workers have a much lower criteria than a merchant utility lineman than a campus bulk distribution engineer. In other words, “high voltage” is generally understood in practice and essential for worker safety. Labeling counts.
What is the origin of the apparent “confusion’ about high voltage in the IEEE, IEC, NFPA and TIA electrical safety catalogs? Is the distinction functionally acceptable — i.e. a term of art understood well enough in practice?
How can the 2026 NEC be improved for engineers, electricians and inspectors? There has been some considerable re-organization of low, medium and high voltage concepts in the 2023. It usually takes at least two NEC revision cycles for workable code to stabilize. Since education communities purchase and distribute higher voltage power on large campuses; how can power purchasing and customer distribution system best practice be improved?
The steeplechase event requires a combination of speed, endurance, and jumping ability, as athletes must clear the barriers while maintaining their pace and negotiating the water jump. The rules and specifications for the steeplechase event are set by the International Association of Athletics Federations the governing body for the sport of athletics (track and field) worldwide; with minor adaptations by the NCAA for intercollegiate competition.
Emma Coburn | University of Colorado Boulder
The steeplechase is a distance race with barriers and a water pit that athletes must clear during the race. According to the NCAA Track and Field and Cross Country rulebook, the standards for the steeplechase water jump are as follows:
Length: The water pit must be at least 3.66 meters (12 feet) long.
Width: The water pit must be at least 3.66 meters (12 feet) wide.
Depth: The water pit must have a minimum depth of 0.7 meters (2 feet 4 inches) and a maximum depth of 0.9 meters (2 feet 11 inches).
Slope: The slope of the water pit must not exceed 1:5, meaning that for every 5 meters in length, the water pit can rise by no more than 1 meter in height.
Barrier: The water pit must be preceded by a solid barrier that is 91.4 cm (3 feet) high. Athletes are required to clear this barrier before landing in the water pit.
These standards may be subject to change and may vary depending on the specific NCAA division (Division I, Division II, or Division III) and other factors such as venue requirements. Therefore, it’s always best to refer to the official NCAA rules and regulations for the most up-to-date and accurate information on the steeplechase water jump standards in NCAA competitions.
ASTM F 2157-09 (2018) Standard Specification for Synthetic Surfaced Running Tracks
This specification establishes the minimum performance requirements and classification when tested in accordance with the procedures outlined within this specification. All documents referencing this specification must include classification required.
ASTM F 2569-11 Standard Test Method for Evaluating the Force Reduction Properties of Surfaces for Athletic Use
This test method covers the quantitative measurement and normalization of impact forces generated through a mechanical impact test on an athletic surface. The impact forces simulated in this test method are intended to represent those produced by lower extremities of an athlete during landing events on sport or athletic surfaces.
ASTM F 2949-12 Standard Specification for Pole Vault Box Collars
This specification covers minimum requirements of size, physical characteristics of materials, standard testing procedures, labeling and identification of pole vault box collars.
ASTM F 1162/F1162M-18 Standard Specification for Pole Vault Landing Systems
This specification covers minimum requirements of size, physical characteristics of materials, standard testing procedures, labeling and identification of pole vault landing systems.
ASTM F 2270-12 (2018) Standard Guide for Construction and Maintenance of Warning Track Areas on Sports Fields This guide covers techniques that are appropriate for the construction and maintenance of warning track areas on sports fields. This guide provides guidance for the selection of materials, such as soil and sand for use in constructing or reconditioning warning track areas and for selection of management practices that will maintain a safe and functioning warning track.
ASTM F 2650-17e1 Standard Terminology Relating to Impact Testing of Sports Surfaces and Equipment
This terminology covers terms related to impact test methods and impact attenuation specifications of sports equipment and surfaces.
“Dancing Reflections” 2015 Isabel Emrich | Academy of Art University California
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. 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:
Academic units in the US that want to offer their sports management or international studies students a front row seat on the technology and management of sport may want to participate in ISO/TC/83 business. To start, organizations within the United States may communicate directly with ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, Phone: (610) 832-9804. Contact: Joe Khoury ([email protected]).
We refresh our understanding of the current status of best practice literature at least once per month during our Sport colloquia. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Issue: [19-46]
Category: Athletics and Recreation, International,
Contact: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Christine Fischer
“Innenansicht des Kaiserbades in Aachen” | Jan Luyken (1682)
Education communities provide a large market for recreational and therapeutic water technology suppliers. Some of the larger research universities have dozens of pools including those in university-affiliated healthcare facilities. Apart from publicly visible NCAA swimming programs there are whirpools in healthcare facilities and therapeutic tubs for athletes in other sports. Ownership of these facilities requires a cadre of conformance experts to assure water safety.
NSF International is one of the first names in this space and has collaborated with key industry stakeholders to make pools, spas and recreational water products safer since 1949. The parent document in its suite isNSF 50 Pool, Spa and Recreational Water Standards which covers everything from pool pumps, strainers, variable frequency drives and pool drains to suction fittings, grates, and ozone and ultraviolet systems.
(Standards Michigan is an observer on this and several other NSF committees and is the only “eyes and ears” for the user interest; arguably the largest market for swimming pools given their presence in schools and universities.)
There are 14 task groups that drill into specifics such as the following:
Chemical feeders
Pool chemical evaluation
Flotation systems
Filters
Water quality
Safety surfacing
The meeting packet is confidential to registered attendees. You may communicate directly with the NSF Joint Committee Chairperson, Mr. Tom Vyles ([email protected]) about arranging direct access as an observer or technical committee member.
Almost all ANSI accredited technical committees have a shortage of user-interests (compliance officers, manufacturers and installers usually dominate). We encourage anyone in the education facility industry paying the bill for the services of compliance officers, manufacturers and installers to participate.
We maintain this title on the standing agenda of our Water and Sport colloquia. See our CALENDAR for the next onine meeting; open to everyone.
The use of “maths” instead of “math” is a difference in British English compared to American English. In British English, the word “mathematics” is often referred to as “maths,” with the added “s” signifying the plural form. This is consistent with how British English commonly shortens many words by adding an “s” to the end. For example, “physics” becomes “phys, “economics” becomes “econs,” and so on.
In contrast, American English typically shortens “mathematics” to “math” without the additional “s,” following a different pattern of abbreviation.
The reason for these linguistic differences is rooted in the historical development of the English language and regional linguistic variations that have evolved over time. British English and American English have diverged in certain aspects of vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar, resulting in variations like “maths” and “math.” It’s important to note that neither is inherently correct or incorrect; they are just regional preferences.
Gresham College is a higher education institution located in London, UK. It was founded in 1597 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, a financier and merchant who left funds for the establishment of a college in the heart of the city.
The college’s original aim was to provide free public lectures in a range of subjects, including law, astronomy, geometry, and music. The lectures were intended to be accessible to anyone who was interested in learning, regardless of their background or social status.
Over the centuries, Gresham College has remained true to this mission, and today it continues to offer a range of free public lectures and events that are open to all.
At the moment all titles in this catalog seem to be stabilized although a great deal of economic activity in the commercial real estate market involves adjustment to the circumstances of the pandemic. Largely because a sizeable portion of square footage in every school district, college, university and university-affiliated healthcare research and clinical delivery system derives at least part of its funding from governments at all levels there are workgroups devoted to measuring square footage and documenting its use. For example:
Getting square-footage right is essential for securing an organization’s sustainability and “green” claims for example. The links in previous posts provide for information about future public consultations.
We maintain the BOMA catalog on the agenda of our Space Planning, Hammurabi and Architectural colloquia, hosted 6 to 8 times annually. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting, open to everyone.
We drill into the specifics commonly found in education communities: sub-lease of space to private industry in publicly-owned facilities. The Building Owners and Managers Association International is an ANSI-accredited consensus standard developer and revised its standard — BOMA Z65.5 Retail Properties: Standard Method of Measurement. Measuring the area of a retail building can quickly become complex when variables must be considered such as ancillary space, mezzanines and storefront lease lines. Many large research universities have long since leased space within many of their building envelopes for private industry to service their communities — student unions, hospitals, dormitories and athletic venues, for example. From the project prospectus:
Z65.5 is intended exclusively for retail properties and their associated structures and may be applied to single-tenant, multi-tenant or multi-building configurations. It features a single method of measurement, with two levels of measurement data, known as Partial Measurement and Overall Measurement for retail properties. It does not measure sidewalks, surface parking, drainage structures, or other ancillary site improvements. This standard is chiefly designed to generate Gross Leasable Area figures, a key metric in retail leasing; however, it also produces area figures which may be of interest to those examining space utilization, valuation, benchmarking, and the allocation of building expenses to various cost centers. The scope of this standard is not intended to be submitted for consideration as an ISO, IEC, or ISO/IEC JTC-1 standard.
Public consultation is open until February 8th.
You may obtain an electronic copy from: [email protected]. Send comments (with optional copy to [email protected]) to: [email protected]. We encourage user-interest subject matter experts in education facility management to participate directly in the BOMA standards development process by communicating directly with Tanner Johnson at BOMA ([email protected]) or 202-326-6357 for more information.
We keep the BOMA catalog on the standing agenda of our colloquia devoted to building construction best practice. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
– To promote an unambiguous framework for determining the areas of Industrial Buildings with a strong focus on Rentable Area calculations;
– To facilitate transparency and clear communication of building measurement concepts among all participants in the commercial real estate
industry;
– To allow a comparison of values on the basis of a clearly understood and generally agreed upon method of measurement; and
– To align concepts and measurement methodologies with the International Property Measurement Standards: Industrial Buildings (January 2018)
document.
Standards Michigan follows, but d0es not advocate in most of the BOMA standards suite for the following reasons:
Educational facility occupancies are fairly well accounted for in existing federal and state regulations
Advocacy in energy-related best practice titles are a better use of resources at the moment.
We encourage user-interest subject matter experts in education facility management to participate directly in the BOMA standards development process by communicating directly with Tanner Johnson at BOMA ([email protected]) or 202-326-6357 for more information.
We maintain the entire BOMA suite on our periodic Model Building Code colloquia. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Issue: [15-200]
Category: Architectural, Space Plaaning, Facility Asset Management
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
