U.S. Green Building Council and Princeton Review Release Guide to Green Colleges
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) member and accredited standards developer the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Princeton Review have released the second edition of a free guidebook recognizing the nation's greenest colleges.
The Princeton Review's Guide to 311 Green Colleges: 2011 Edition profiles higher education institutions in the U.S. and Canada that demonstrate a noteworthy commitment to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities, and career preparation. The guidebook includes an introductory section discussing sustainability issues and advice on living green on campus.
This past fall, USGBC launched its Center for Green Schools to increase its efforts to drive change in how campuses and schools are designed, constructed, and operated so that all educational facilities can enhance student learning experiences.
ASHRAE Funds Undergraduate Projects in HVAC&R
Through an ASHRAE undergraduate senior project grant, a toolkit to help better understand the impacts of building construction related to net zero energy targets is being developed by undergraduate students at the University of Oregon. Two students will present the project at the 2012 ASHRAE Winter Conference in Chicago.
This year, 14 colleges and universities from around the world were awarded ASHRAE grants totaling $65,000. The grants are awarded to promote the study of HVAC&R (heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration) in institutions of higher learning.
For more information, visit www.ashrae.org/students.
Video and Paper Competition Celebrate World Accreditation Day
The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) have produced a promotional video in recognition of World Accreditation Day. Celebrated annually on June 9, World Accreditation Day honors the important role that accreditation plays in the global standards and conformity assessment community.
For the official U.S. celebration of World Accreditation Day, ANSI launched the 2011 paper competition on the theme "Accreditation - Supporting the Needs of Regulators." The winning paper will be awarded a $1,000 prize and will be published - along with the second and third-place papers - on ANSI's website. Paper submissions are due by May 6, 2011 to [email protected].
Click here for competition details.Is that Pure Coffee in Your Cup of Joe?
Whether you're a true coffee aficionado or just looking for an energy boost, most people count on at least a cup or two to get them through the day. So it's important to know that the claims on the label of your coffee can be trusted. A new standard from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) helps to avoid incorrect and misleading declarations of instant coffee.
ISO 24114:2011, Instant coffee - Criteria for authenticity, outlines specifications to certify the purity and quality of soluble coffee powder, providing a tool to detect possible adulterations. The criteria in the standard are based on the analysis of more than 1,000 samples of commercial soluble coffees. The standard is intended for use by any industry third parties buying pure soluble coffee to control its purity and quality, with the aid of a qualified laboratory.
ISO 24114 was developed by technical committee ISO Technical Committee (TC) 34, Food products, Subcommittee (SC) 15, Coffee. The AOCS administers the ANSI accredited U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to ISO TC 34; the Specialty Coffee Association of America serves as the U.S. TAG administrator of ISO TC 34 SC 15.
Approval of Accreditation as an ANSI ASD
ANSI's Executive Standards Council (ExSC) has approved the Medical Alert Monitoring Association (MAMA), a full ANSI organizational member, as an ANSI accredited standards developer (ASD) under its proposed operating procedures for documenting consensus on proposed American National Standards (ANSs), effective April 14, 2011.
For additional information, please contact Peter Sucher of LifeStation, Inc., (212.840.5181; [email protected]).