Did You Know? offers a quick look at the broad scope of activities underway within the ANSI Federation, highlighting the people and initiatives making waves in standardization.
New Tool Guides 50-Percent Energy Savings for Retail Stores
Thanks to a new tool developed by American National Standards Institute (ANSI) member and accredited standards developer ASHRAE - along with ANSI members the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), the U.S. Green Building Council (USBGC), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), as well as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) - retail stores now have a means of cutting their annual energy use by 50 percent or more.
Available as a free download, Advanced Energy Design Guide for Medium to Big Box Retail Buildings: Achieving 50% Energy Savings toward a Net-Zero-Energy Building is the third in a series of guides aimed at helping building owners, contractors, architects, and engineers achieve advanced levels of energy savings for specific types of buildings. This latest guide applies to retail buildings with gross floor areas between 20,000 and 100,000 square feet; however, many of the recommendations can be applied to smaller or larger retail buildings.
Click here to learn more.
New AWWA Report Highlights Cost of Repair, Expansion of U.S. Water Infrastructure
According to a new report from ANSI member and accredited standards developer the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the cost of repairing and expanding the U.S. drinking water infrastructure will top $1 trillion over the next 25 years, an expense that will likely be met through higher water bills and local fees.
The report,
Buried No Longer: Confronting America's Water Infrastructure Challenge, analyzes numerous factors, including timing of water main installation and life expectancy, materials used, replacement costs, and shifting demographics. The AWWA report finds that cities will be impacted differently depending on their sizes and geography. For instance, small communities may face the greatest challenges because they have smaller populations across whom to spread the expenses. "The good news is that there is still time to act," said AWWA president Jerry Stevens. "‘Buried No Longer' helps us recognize the challenge ahead. Together, we can take the necessary steps to meet that challenge." The report is available at
www.awwa.org/infrastructure.
New JTC 1 Incubator Group on Digital Preservation Seeks Members
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) / International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Joint Technical Committee 1 (JTC1), Information Technology, has announced the creation of an Incubator Group on digital preservation.
Chartered for one year, the Incubator Group will research digital preservation standardization. Based on a collection and study of digital preservation vocabularies from various standards, the group intends to propose a harmonized vocabulary for digital preservation, and to develop a framework for digital preservation interoperability, which will allow preservation of the full range of digital data types. For information on joining this Incubator Group on digital preservation, contact the group's chair, Linpeng Gao of the China Electronic Standardization Institute (CESI), at
[email protected].
FamilyFarms Applies for Accreditation as an ANSI ASD
FamilyFarms, an ANSI organizational member, has submitted an application for accreditation as an ANSI accredited standards developer. FamilyFarms' proposed scope of standards activity is as follows:
The FamilyFarms group is dedicated to keeping families on farms for generations to come. This takes commitment to new technology, sustainability, and the past technical standards that have created the current farming environment. In the future, business considerations need to include the development of social responsibility criteria for creation of new agriculture markets. Voluntary standards efforts will include, but are not limited to, socially responsible grain production operations needing to trace their product from farm to fork. To obtain a copy of FamilyFarms' proposed operating procedures, or to offer comments, please contact Marj Ocheltree, director of consulting, FamilyFarms/Validus, (515.278.8002;
[email protected]). Comments should be submitted by April 2, 2012, with a copy to Jim Thompson, the recording secretary of ANSI's Executive Standards Council (
[email protected]; fax: 212.840.2298). To view or download a copy of FamilyFarms'proposed operating procedures,
click here.
