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Building and Fire Research Laboratory
Standards Activities
On this page:
Through active participation and leadership in many Standards Development Organizations, BFRL staff contribute significant time and technical expertise to the process of developing national and international standards.
AASHTO
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALSAASHTO Materials Reference Laboratory (AMRL)
Established at NIST (then NBS) in 1965, the AASHTO Materials Reference Laboratory (AMRL) is a research associateship with a staff of 48 that provides a highly-valued quality assurance mechanism for laboratories that use AASHTO standards for highway materials; it also provides technical assistance to the AASHTO Accreditation Program (AAP) that currently accredits about 1100 laboratories. With Mr. Peter Spellerberg as Manager and Mr. Robert Lutz as Assistant Manager, the AMRL provides, upon request, as reimbursable services, laboratory inspection and proficiency sample programs. In 2005, over 1600 laboratories participated in AMRL programs. For those laboratories that wish to participate in the AAP, results of the relevant laboratory inspections carried out by the AMRL and the ASTM-sponsored Cement and Concrete Reference Laboratory (CCRL) are the basis for accreditation. AMRL’s quality assurance services are complemented by standards-related research carried out in collaboration with BFRL researchers.ACI
AMERICAN CONCRETE INSTITUTEDr. Geoffrey Frohnsdorff, guest worker in the Materials and Construction Research Division, is a member of ACI’s Board of Direction.
ACI Committee 216, Fire Resistance and Fire Protection of Structures
Dr. Long Phan, Materials and Construction Research Division, chairs the joint ACI/TMS (The Masonry Society) Committee 216 on Fire Resistance and Fire Protection of Structures. He led the effort to revise the committee guide for Determining the Fire Endurance of Concrete Elements.ACI Committee 236, Materials Science of Concrete
Dr. Chiara Ferraris, Materials and Construction Research Division, chairs ACI Committee 236 on Materials Science of Concrete and Subcommittee ACI 236A on Workability of Fresh Concrete. As the chair of ACI 236A, she led efforts to coordinate an international study to compare and correlate concrete rheometers. As chair of ACI 236 she is fostering a better understanding on how prediction of concrete properties could be improved by better knowledge of material science.ACI Committee 318, Structural Concrete Building Code
Dr. H.S. Lew, Materials and Construction Research Division, serves on ACI Committee 318, which is responsible for developing ACI Standard 318—Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete. Dr. Lew introduced new provisions for adoption by ACI 318. Dr. Lew serves on Subcommittee C on safety, serviceability and analysis and the subcommittee for new materials, products and ideas.Dr. Nicholas J. Carino, Materials and Construction Research Division, served on to ACI 318 Subcommittee A, which is responsible for the portions of ACI Standard 318 dealing with construction through 2004. Dr. Carino has led efforts to update the code as a result of changes to applicable ASTM standards. He was also appointed as chair of the Editorial and Notation Task Group, which is responsible for general editorial issues in ACI 318.
ACI Committee 440 Fiber Reinforced Polymers
Dr. Dat Duthinh, Materials and Construction Research Division, is an Associate Member of the Committee, whose mission is to develop and report information on fiber reinforced polymers for internal and external reinforcement of concrete. The Committee is currently working on a "Guide for the Design and Construction of Externally Bonded FRP Systems for Strengthening of Unreinforced Masonry" and updates of other documents.TAC Specifications Committee
Dr. Nicholas J. Carino, Materials and Construction Research Division, served as chair of the TAC Specifications Committee, which is responsible to coordinating the standard specifications issued by ACI and maintaining the Specification Manual covering the standard format of ACI specifications.ACI Concrete Research and Education Foundation (ConREF)
Dr. H.S. Lew, Materials and Construction Research Division, serves as vice-chair of the ACI/Concrete Research and Education Foundation’s Board of Trustees, which is responsible for establishing overall strategic goals for development of concrete technology and administering funds for education, research, and scientific purposes in order to increase the knowledge and understanding of concrete materials and improve concrete design and construction.
AHAM HRF-1
HOUSEHOLD REFRIGERATORS/HOUSEHOLD FREEZERSDr. David Yashar, Building Environment Division, served on the committee responsible for revising AHAM HRF-1 Household Refrigerators/Household Freezers. This standard governs the evaluation of volume measurement, performance measurement and energy consumption of household refrigerators and household freezers. The efforts of the committee have led to the publication of the first revision of the standard in 14 years to be approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), ANSI/AHAM HRF-1-2002. In 2002-2003, the task force continued to review and revise the text and diagrams to publish an edition which superseded the 2002 edition. This version of the standard contains information specifically relating to compact refrigerators that is based on BFRL research. Dr. Yashar also served as a member of the ANSI canvass board for this standard.
AISC
AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF STEEL CONSTRUCTIONMr. Robert Lipman and Dr. Kent Reed, Building Environment Division, participate in the AISC Electronic Data Interchange Initiative. The purpose of the initiative is to create a means for collaboration and data sharing among the various parties involved in steel construction. In addition to serving on the International Technical Committee which continues to develop the CIS/2 (CIMSteel Integration Standards) specification, they are participating in an international collaboration to harmonize CIS/2 with the Industry Foundation Classes of the International Alliance for Interoperability. This work will enable the seamless interchange of building information between the architectural and structural engineering communities.
AISC Committee on Specifications
Dr. John L. Gross, Materials and Construction Research Division, serves on the American Institute of Steel Construction Committee on Specifications. The Committee is responsible for developing requirements for the design, fabrication and erection of steel buildings and publishes the Specification for Structural Steel Buildings. Dr. Gross serves on Technical Subcommittee 3 (TC3) – Loads, Analysis and Systems, and TC 8 – Temperature Effects.
ASCE
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERSSEI/ASCE Executive Committee on Codes and Standards
Dr. H.S. Lew, Materials and Construction Research Division, serves on the SEI/ASCE Executive Committee on Codes and Standards. He worked closely with committees that develop standards for seismic evaluation and rehabilitation of buildings, for the testing and evaluation of seismic isolation systems and components, and for the blast load resistance of buildings.ASCE Committee ASCE-7
Dr. Emil Simiu, Materials and Construction Research Division, is a member of the ASCE Committee on Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures (ASCE-7).ASCE Committee on Structural Condition Assessment of Existing Buildings
Mr. James Pielert, AASHTO Materials Reference Laboratory, is on the control group of the ASCE Standards Committee on Condition Assessment of Existing Buildings.ASCE Council on Natural Disaster Reduction Technical Committee on Risk and Vulnerability and Technical Committee on Mitigation
Dr. Dat Duthinh, Materials and Construction Research Division, is a Member of the Committee, whose mission is to develop goals and guide action for ASCE's role in hazard mitigation and disaster reduction.ASCE Committee 29-99 Standard Calculation Methods for Structural Fire Protection
Dr. Long Phan, Materials and Construction Research Division, is a member of the ASCE Standards Committee on Standard Calculation Methods for Structural Fire Protection.
ASHRAE
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEATING, REFRIGERATING AND AIR CONDITIONING ENGINEERS, INC.ASHRAE Standards Committee
Mr. Brian Dougherty, Building Environment Division, served on the ASHRAE Standards Committee from July 2001 to June 2005. The committee is responsible for overseeing the development and maintenance of all ASHRAE standards, guidelines, and code language documents. Mr. Dougherty was a member of the Technical Committee Liaison Subcommittee and, for two years, chaired the Inter-Society Liaison Subcommittee.Mr. Steven Bushby, Building Environment Division, began serving on the ASHRAE Standards Committee in July 2005. Mr. Bushby is a member of the Standards Projects Liaison Subcommittee and the Standards Reaffirmation Subcommittee. Mr. Bushby has responsibility for overseeing twelve standard and guideline project committees.
ASHRAE 16 Method of Test for Rating Room Air Conditioners and Packaged Terminal Air Conditioners
Dr. W. Vance Payne, Building Environment Division, is the Vice Chairman of the Standard Project Committee formed to update this standard. The standard prescribes a method of testing for obtaining cooling capacity and airflow quantity for rating room air conditioners and packaged terminal air conditioners. The committee is currently recruiting members from the manufacturing community and other interested parties. The last update of this standard was in 1983.ASHRAE 37R-2005 Methods of Test for Rating Electrically Driven Unitary
Air-Conditioning and Heat Pump Equipment
Mr. Brian Dougherty of the Building Environment Division acted as the lead editor on this recently published revision of the standard, which was last updated in 1988. The revised standard reflects current laboratory practices and instrumentation and better addresses newer equipment features. The laboratory test methods described in the standard are used to obtain the performance data that is ultimately used in calculating federally mandated seasonal rating descriptors.ASHRAE Standard 62.2 Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings
Steven Emmerich, Building Environment Division, serves as vice-chair of ASHRAE SSPC 62.2. This committee is responsible for maintaining Standard 62.2 Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings. This standard was first published in 2003. Mr. Emmerich is also chair of the subcommittee that is developing a companion guideline and overseeing development of a users’ manual.
ASHRAE Standard 116 Methods of Testing for Rating Seasonal Efficiency of Unitary Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps
Mr. Brian Dougherty, Building Environment Division, is a voting member on the Standards Project Committee working to update this companion standard to ASHRAE Standard 37. Each project committee member has been assigned a particular section of the 1995 standard to review and propose revisions. The project committee should have a revised standard ready to public review in 2007.ASHRAE Standard 118.2 Method of Testing and Rating Residential Water Heaters
Dr. William Healy, Building Environment Division, is a voting member of ASHRAE SPC 118.2 Method of Testing and Rating Residential Water Heaters. This standard governs the evaluation of the energy factor which rates the thermal efficiency of residential water heaters and the first-hour rating which provides a metric for the amount of hot water provided by a tank. The committee is currently considering changes in this test procedure to correct errors in calculations and to make the procedure more consistent. Work has been undertaken to determine the differences between the ASHRAE procedure and the Department of Energy’s procedure in an effort to align the two methods of test.ASHRAE Standard SPC 41.4 Standard Method for Measurement of Proportion of Lubricant in Liquid Refrigerant
Dr. Mark Kedzierski, Building Environment Division, serves on the committee responsible for revising the measurement standard for determining the mass concentration of miscible lubricant-and-liquid-refrigerant mixtures and, in limited cases, immiscible mixtures. The goal of this revision is to assure that the standard is applicable to new refrigerants and lubricants.ASHRAE Standing Standards Project Committee 135
Mr. Steven T. Bushby, Building Environment Division, served in various positions on ASHRAE Standing Standards Project Committee 135 (SSPC 135) and its predecessor committee from 1987 – June 2004, including a term a chair. In July of 2004 Dr. David Holmberg became a member of the committee and he currently leads the Utility Integration Working Group. SSPC 135 is responsible for maintaining the BACnet communication protocol standard (ASNI/ASHRAE Standard 135) and a companion standard ANSI/ASHRAE 135.1 Method of Test for Conformance to BACnet. These standards have been adopted by CEN, ISO and over thirty countries around the world. The BACnet standard provides a way to integrate building automation and control products made by different manufacturers for applications such as heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning control, lighting control, access control, and fire alarm systems.ASHRAE 135.1P Method of Test for Conformance to BACnet
Mr. Steven T. Bushby, Building Environment Division, was the principal author of a draft standard, ASHRAE 135.1P, Method of Test for Conformance to BACnet. This proposed standard defines detailed testing procedures for verifying that control products correctly implement the BACnet communication protocol. Although still in the public review process, 135.1P has already been adopted by the newly-created BACnet
Manufacturers Association and the BACnet Interest Group – Europe (BIGEU), as the basis for testing and listing programs in the United States and Europe. Mr. Bushby served as Chairman of ASHRAE Standing Standard Project Committee 135 (SSPC 135) that maintains the BACnet communication protocol standard for building automation and control systems. In 2001 a revised version of the standard was published that included all addenda approved since 1995. Two new addenda have since been prepared and published for public review and comment. Addendum a to 135-2001 adds a number of new features including more advanced scheduling capabilities, more detailed error reporting, and the ability to dynamically discover the presence of MS/TP slaves. Addendum b to 135-2001 modifies trending features to fix some problems that have been encountered in deployed BACnet systems. BACnet has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. It has been adopted as a Korean national standard, a European Community pre-standard, and has recently been adopted as an ISO standard.
ASME
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERSASME Solar Energy Division
Dr. A. Hunter Fanney, Building Environment Division, is an active member of ASME. He is an ASME Fellow, and past Chairman of the Solar Energy Division. This Division is responsible for coordinating all solar energy activities within ASME including the Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, annual conferences, student activities, and awards. He has served as an Associate Editor of ASME's Journal of Solar Energy Engineering and is currently serving as Senior Advisor to the Division as well as Chairman of the Frank Kreith Energy Award. Over the past seven years, Dr. Fanney and his colleagues have received four ASME best paper awards in the topical area of photovoltaics.
ASTM
ASTM Committee C01 Cement
Mr. Jan Prowell, Research Associate with CCRL, chairs ASTM Subcommittee C01.97, Manual of Cement Testing.ASTM C01.23 Subcommittee on Computational Analysis
Mr. Paul Stutzman, Materials and Construction Research Division, is the official voting member for NIST on Committee 01, Cement, chairs the ASTM C 01.23 Compositional Analysis Subcommittee as well as the task groups on X-Ray Diffraction Analysis and Microscopy, and also is a member of the Executive, Administrative Coordination, Coordination of Standards, and Sulfate Content Subcommittees. Under his leadership, standards for improved characterization of Portland cements in terms of the phases present using these two techniques have been established.ASTM C01.25.01 Subcommittee on Particle Size Analysis
Dr. Chiara Ferraris, Materials and Construction Research Division, is an active participant is this subcommittee. Recently, the Standard Reference Material (SRM) 114p certificate was amended to include the particle size distribution (PSD) measured by laser diffraction. A draft method for measuring PSD of cement by laser diffraction is under ballot to the ASTM subcommittee. SRM114q was developed and will include the PDS by laser defraction.ASTM Committee C09 Concrete and Concrete Aggregates
Dr. Nicholas Carino, Materials and Construction Research Division, served as chair of ASTM Committee C09. In addition, he served on numerous subcommittees.Mr. Paul Stutzman of the Materials and Construction Research Division serves on this committee and on the Petrography, Resistance to the Environment, and Concrete's Resistance to Fluid Penetration Subcommittees.
Mr. Peter Spellerberg, AASHTO Materials Reference Laboratory, is secretary of ASTM Subcommittees C09.61 on Testing for Strength, C09.96 on CCRL.
Mr. Raymond Kolos, Research Associate with CCRL, chairs ASTM Subcommittee C09.97, Manual of Testing for Concrete and Concrete Aggregates.
Dr. Chiara Ferraris, Materials and Construction Research Division, is a member of the Subcommittee C09.66 on Resistance to Fluid Penetration and lead the effort to develop “Test Method for Measurement of Rate of Absorption of Water by Hydraulic-Cement Concretes.” The document was approved as ASTM C1585-04.
ASTM C16 Committee on Thermal Insulation
Mr. Robert R. Zarr, Building Environment Division, chairs the ASTM C16 task group on computerized database formats for thermal transmission data obtained by ASTM C16 Standard Test Methods. Mr. Zarr also chairs the committee's task groups on the design and operation of line-heat-source guarded-hot-plate apparatus.ASTM Committee C24 on Building Seals and Sealants
Dr. Chris White, Materials and Construction Research Division, is an active member of ASTM C24 and is also a member of the RILEM Committee on Sealant Durability.ASTM Committee D04 Road and Paving Materials
Mr. Peter Spellerberg, Research Associate with AMRL, is the Secretary of ASTM Committee D04 on Road and Paving Materials.ASTM Committee D18 Soil and Rock
Mr. Ronald Holsinger, Research Associate with AMRL, is on the Executive Committee of ASTM Committee D18 on Soil and Rock; is the secretary of D18.05; and chairs D18.03.ASTM Subcommittee D20.96 Biodegradable Plastics Subcommittee
Ms. Barbara Lippiatt, Office of Applied Economics, has published a standard, “Standard Practice for Evaluating and Reporting Environmental Performance of Biobased Products” as ASTM D7075-04.ASTM Subcommittee D22.05 Indoor Air Quality
Dr. Andrew Persily, Building Environment Division, is vice-chair of ASTM Subcommittee D22.05. This subcommittee has approved and is currently developing a suite of standards related to indoor contaminant measurement, analysis and interpretation. Several of these standards are based directly on research and methods developed by BFRL.ASTM E5 Committee on Fire Standards
Mr. James Lawson, Fire Research Division, is currently the chairman of ASTM Subcommittee E5.15 on Fire Standards for Furnishings and Contents. This committee develops fire standards for building construction, transportation, and furnishings. These fire standards are used by the building codes and other regulating authorities throughout North America. In addition, Mr. Lawson is a voting member of the ASTM F23 Committee on Protective Clothing. This technical committee develops standards for protective clothing and equipment used by the fire service in North America.ASTM Subcommittee E06.23 Lead Hazards Associated with Buildings
Dr. Walter Rossiter and Dr. Mary McKnight, Materials and Construction Research Division, served as a members of many ASTM E06.23 task groups. Both have played key roles in the development and revision of standards.ASTM Subcommittee E06.41 Infiltration and Ventilation Performance
Dr. Andrew Persily, Building Environment Division, chairs ASTM Subcommittee E06.41. Under his leadership, more than 15 standards for evaluating building airtightness, ventilation performance and other aspects of air leakage and airflow in buildings are approved or under development.
ASTM Subcommittee E06.66 Performance Standards for Dwellings
Dr. Robert Chapman, Office of Applied Economics, completed and obtained approval of the economics attribute standard that ties together the E06.66 family of standards that define total building performance. The standard guide was published by ASTM with the designation E 2156. In addition to describing how to measure economic performance, the guide includes a detailed example of how to apply the methodology to a durability-related investment decision that builds on the companion durability attribute (ASTM Standard Guide E 2136.Dr. Andrew Persily, Building Environment Division, is writing the indoor air quality attribute standard, which is expected to be published in 2003. He has recently initiated development of the health and hygiene attribute standard in collaboration with HUD.
ASTM Subcommittee E06.81 Building Economics
Dr. Harold E. Marshall, Office of Applied Economics, has been the chairman of ASTM’s Building Economics Subcommittee, E06.81, since its inception in 1979. He has played major authorship, educational, and leadership roles in writing and shepherding successfully over 20 standards and two software products through the ASTM standardization process. One standard that merits particular attention is an elemental building classification called UNIFORMAT II. This standard is helping owners, project managers, designers, builders, and facility managers construct and manage their buildings more cost effectively.Dr. Robert E. Chapman, Office of Applied Economics, is the secretary and Techniques Task Group chairperson of ASTM’s Building Economics Subcommittee. In addition to his strong leadership role in the subcommittee, he has provided over the last two years the technical content and write-ups for revising two standard economic methods to provide case illustrations of economic decision making in support of improved, cost-effective protection against natural and man-made hazards affecting the nation’s infrastructure. Dr. Chapman has also drafted a new standard guide for developing a cost-effective risk mitigation plan for protecting infrastructure that has been submitted to the ASTM balloting process.
ASTM Committee E11 on Quality and Statistics
Mr. Ronald Holsinger, Research Associate with AMRL, is on the Executive Committee of ASTM Committee E11 on Quality and Statistics.ASTM E44.09
Dr. Hunter Fanney of the Building Environment Division is a member of subcommittee E44.09 that deals with numerous issues concerning the testing and evaluation of photovoltaics. Current areas of interest include developing rating methodologies for photovoltaics that use short-term data to predict long-term performance, and improved indoor and outdoor test procedures.ASTM Standing Committee on Publications
Dr. Mary McKnight, guest worker in the Materials and Construction Research Division, serves on the ASTM Standing Committee on Publications. The Committee advises the Society’s Board of Directors on the formulation of publications policy and administers the Society’s publications program, except for the Annual Book of ASTM Standards.
CCRL
CEMENT AND CONCRETE REFERENCE LABORATORYEstablished at NIST (then NBS) in 1929 as the Cement Reference Laboratory in response to a request from Congress, the ASTM-sponsored Cement and Concrete Reference Laboratory (CCRL) is a research associateship that provides a highly valued quality assurance mechanism for laboratories that use ASTM cement and concrete standards. With Mr. Peter Spellerberg of AASHTO as General Manager and Mr. Raymond Kolos of ASTM as Director, and a staff of 25 ASTM research associates, the CCRL provides, upon request, as reimbursable services, laboratory inspection and proficiency sample programs. In 2005, over 1000 laboratories participated in the CCRL programs. For cement and concrete laboratories that wish to participate in the AASHTO Accreditation Program (AAP), results of laboratory inspections carried out by the CCRL are the basis for accreditation. CCRL’s quality assurance services are complemented by standards-related research carried out in collaboration with BFRL researchers.
CIB
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTIONCIB W14 Fire
Mr. Richard Bukowski, Fire Research Division, is chair of CIB Working Commission 14 on Fire. The oldest working commission in existence, W14 has a long history of making major contributions to the fire science and engineering fields.CIB TG37 Performance-Based Buildings
Mr. Richard Bukowski, Fire Research Division, participates in CIB TG37, a task group that is developing infrastructure and policy in support of performance regulatory systems, internationally. TG37 is closely linked to the Inter-jurisdictional Regulatory Collaboration Committee (IRCC) that is made up of the chief building code official for each member country and who share common experiences and problems in the operation of performance regulatory systems.
FIATECH
AEX PROJECTAlthough most architecture and engineering organizations have adopted aspects of 3D modeling, project web sites, and information integration technologies in the design and initial documentation phases of capital facilities projects, the capabilities and benefits of these technologies are not being exploited in the supplier integration, procurement, fabrication, inspection, materials management and construction phases. Additionally, the use of engineering and construction information for facility commissioning, maintenance, repair and operations is restricted by the lack of effective information sharing and re-use capabilities.
In collaboration with the FIATECH consortium, Mr. Mark Palmer, Building Environment Division, leads the Automating Equipment Information Exchanges (AEX) Project to develop interoperability standards for automating the design, purchase, fabrication, installation and operation of equipment for capital facilities. The AEX project developed and tested XML schemas to support a first set of priority types of equipment, as selected by industry participants. These included centrifugal pumps, centrifugal fans, electric motors and shell and tube heat exchangers. During 2005, the AEX project developed software implementations of the AEX schemas and conducted the AEX Pump Interoperability Demonstration across all stakeholders in the pump supply chain from initial design requirements to completing mechanical design, procurement, request for quote, quote, quote assessment and supplier selection. Eight organizations participated with nine applications demonstrating implementations of the AEX schemas. These interoperability demonstrations were presented at numerous industry conferences and proved to industry that the use of the AEX XML schemas can automate the information exchanges among all participants in the equipment supply chain, with significant savings in cost and time and improved quality.
IAAI
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ARSON INVESTIGATORSIAAI Engineering Committee
Mr. Daniel Madrzykowski, Fire Research Division, was reappointed as the Chair of the IAAI Engineering Committee. Under Mr. Madrzykowski’s leadership, the committee has been developing and reviewing articles for the IAAI Fire and Arson Investigator, assisting with the development of standards and a review process for IAAI technical training programs, and collaborating with IAAI chapters in mutually beneficial large scale fire experiments to address USFA and DoJ funded research programs at NIST.Learning at a Distance Steering Committee
Mr. Daniel Madrzykowski, Fire Research Division, has been instrumental in the development of two programs for the IAAI CFItrainer.net website; Introduction to Fire Dynamics and Fire Modeling and An Analysis of the Station Nightclub Fire. CFItrainer.net (www.cfitrainer.net) is an online training resource for fire investigators around the world. After viewing a program and completing the assigned reading, a student can take an on-line skills assessment in order to receive credit. The education and training modules also will help fire investigators to meet requirements in NFPA 1033 Standard for Professional Qualifications for Fire Investigators. The site is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, and the Insurance Committee for Arson Control. The site has been featured as a DHS Fire Prevention and Safety Grant success story, http://www.firegrantsupport.com/stories/fps_stories.aspx.IAI
INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR INTEROPERABILITYNIST is a government member of the International Alliance for Interoperability/North America. Dr. Kent Reed, Building Environment Division, represents NIST in the IAI/NA, is a member of the IAI technical Advisory Group that functions at the international level, and participates in the Model Support Group that develops the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) Specification. The IAI is a global standards-setting organization dedicated to promoting effective means of exchanging information among all software platforms and applications serving the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Facility Management (AEC+FM) community.
ICC
INTERNATIONAL CODE COUNCILICC Performance Committee
Mr. Richard Bukowski of the Fire Research Division completed a three-year assignment to the ICC Performance Building Code and ICC Performance Fire Code drafting committees. These two committees eventually merged and produced the ICC Performance Code for Buildings and Facilities, the first combined U.S. building and fire code and the first U.S. performance based code. This document has entered into the ICC code development process where it is open to code change proposals prior to formal adoption. Mr. Bukowski has been named to the ICC Performance Code development committee, which is responsible for accepting or rejecting these proposed changes.
IEC
INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING CONSORTIUMIEC/TC 59 A Electric Dishwashers
Ms. Natascha Castro, Building Environment Division, is a member of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to IEC/TC 59A. This committee determines the U.S. position on issues related to IEC standards related to the performance and energy consumption of dishwashers.IFSTA
INTERNATIONAL FIRE SERVICE TRAINING ASSOCIATIONMr. Daniel Madrzykowski, of the Fire Research Division, was appointed to the “Essentials of Fire Fighting” Validation Committee. The Essentials of Fire Fighting handbook is the principle document used to train fire fighters in the United States. Dan’s committee position provides an opportunity to integrate NIST research results into this document and the instructors’ multi-media packages as a means to improve fire fighters’ understanding of fire behavior and the impact of fire fighting tactics on fire behavior.
ISO
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATIONISO TAG8
Mr. Richard Bukowski, Fire Research Division, is the U.S. representative to ISO TAG8. TAG8 is a technical advisory group to the Technical Management Board (TMB) of the international Organization for Standardization (ISO) which develops ISO standards. A current activity is the development of an ISO policy on performance standards.ISO TC 86 Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning
ISO’s Technical Committee 86 Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning is composed of eight subcommittees that address topics such as terms and definitions, safety, and testing and rating methods for refrigeration and space-conditioning equipment. Mr. Brian Dougherty, Building Environment Division, participates as a member of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for ISO TC 86. The TAG monitors and formulates the U.S. position on all TC 86-sponsored standards activities. Mr. Dougherty serves as a member of Panel 6 that makes recommendations to the full TAG on ISO standards activities dealing with factory made air conditioning and heat pump units. Brian Dougherty is also a member of the US delegation on ISO Working Group 1 within Subcommittee 6. WG1 is revising two testing and rating standards that apply to unitary air-conditioners and heat pumps while developing a third testing and rating standard for multi-split air conditioners and heat pumps.Dr. David Yashar, Building Environment Division, served on Panel 5 of the US Technical Advisory Group to ISO/TC 86 for Household Refrigerators. This committee was formed to review and comment on the latest version of the ISO test procedure, ISO 15502 Household Refrigerating Appliances – Characteristics and Test Methods, which encompasses test procedures for different types of refrigerating appliances. This standard was ratified in October 2005, under the condition that a revision of ISO 15502 be initiated. Dr. Yashar is currently serving as a member of the working group for this revision, ISO TC 86/SC 5/WG 1, alongside delegates from standards bodies representing the Americas, Asia, and the South Pacific in addition to those representing the European Union. The ultimate goal of this WG is to work towards a globally acceptable test procedure. This effort is estimated to continue through the end of 2008.
ISO TC92 Fire Safety
Dr. Richard G. Gann of the Fire Research Division chairs SC3, Fire Threat to People and the Environment, and participates in the Technical Program Management Group. He has formulated an agenda for standardization documents for the use of toxic potency information in fire risk and hazard assessment. The Subcommittee has now issued its first eight documents in a decade and has seven more documents in various stages of development. Dr. Gann also chaired the subcommittee’s first Workshop on Fire Threat to the Environment, beginning the development of an agenda in that area. Dr. Richard Gann led the adoption of ASTM E2187-02b, “Standard Test Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes,” and its revision E2187-04 with consensus from regulators, public safety advocates, and the cigarette industry. This method has attracted attention both domestically and internationally. It is cited in regulations in the States of New York, California, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Illinois and in the Dominion of Canada. The method is under consideration in legislation in the United Kingdom and Australia. A coalition of organizations has been formed by the National Fire Protection Association to promote the use of the method in regulations in the remaining 45 States.The International Standards Organization Technical Committee on Fire Safety (TC92) is divided into 4 subcommittees (SC1-SC4). Dr. Walter Jones, of the Fire Research Division, is the U.S. Expert for SC4, Fire safety engineering. He is the principal author of the guide on model validation and verification that is now being balloted as an international standard (ISO 16730, Fire Safety Engineering: Assessment, verification and validation of calculation methods), and will continue this work by developing a guide to implementing this standard using examples.
ASTM International (formerly American Society for Testing and Measurement) has a similar organization for fire safety engineering, Committee E5. Dr. Walter Jones leads two technical groups of this committee on “Uses and Limitations of Models” which sponsors E1895 (Determining Uses and Limitations of Deterministic Fire Models), and “Model Assessment,” which has developed E1355 (Evaluating the Predictive Capability of Deterministic Fire Models).
Dr. John Gross of the Materials and Construction Research Division participates in SC4 WG12, Structures in Fire, and in WG8, Fire Terms and Definitions.
Dr. William Grosshandler, of the Fire Research Division, is a member of SC1, the subcommittee on Fire Initiation and Growth, and a member of SC2, Fire Containment.
ISO TC 205 WG 3Building Control System Design
Mr. Steven Bushby, Building Environment Division, is convener of ISO/TC 205 WG 3 Building Control System Design. The working group is developing a multi-part international standard that addresses several issues related to building control systems including control system functionality, communication protocols, system specifications, and project management. ANSI/ASHRAE standards 135 and 135.1 (BACnet and its companion testing standard) have been adopted as ISO standards through this committee.ISO TC 205 Maintenance Agency for EN ISO 16484-5 and EN ISO 16484-6
Mr. Steven Bushby chairs a maintenance agency created by ISO TC 205 Building Environment Design for the purpose of streamlining the process for updating and maintaining EN ISO 16484-5 and EN ISO 16484-6. These standards are the international version of the ASHRAE BACnet standard and is companion testing standard. The purpose of this activity is to keep these European and ISO standards synchronized with the underlying ASHRAE standards upon which they are based.
NFPA
NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATIONNFPA Standards Council
Mr. Richard Bukowski, of the Fire Research Division, is a member of the NFPA Standards Council. The Standards Council is the body that administers the NFPA Codes and Standards system including making all committee appointments, initiating and terminating standards projects and issuing all documents. This is an especially important time for the Standards Council in administering the development of the NFPA Building Code and related Codes through strategic partnerships. Appointments to the thirteen-member Council run for two, three-year terms.NFPA Alternative Approaches to Life Safety Committee
Mr. David Stroup, Fire Research Division, chairs NFPA 101A Committee on Alternative Approaches to Life Safety. The Alternative Approaches to Life Safety standard provides methodologies for measuring equivalency to the prescriptive requirements of NFPA 101, Life Safety Code. The document includes several Fire Safety Evaluation Systems
(FSES) developed at NIST for various building occupancy types. As chair of the committee responsible for this fire safety standard, Mr. Stroup presents the committee’s report for adoption at the NFPA Fall Meeting.NFPA Toxicity Advisory Committee
Dr. Richard G. Gann, Fire Research Division, chairs the NFPA Toxicity Advisory Committee. This committee brings special expertise on combustion toxicity to advise any other NFPA technical committee on toxicity issues that might be part of any proposal under consideration.NFPA Automatic Sprinkler Committees
Mr. Daniel Madrzykowski, Fire Research Division, is chair of the Technical Committee on Residential Sprinkler Systems. This committee is responsible for developing the standard on the design and installation of sprinklers in one-and two-family dwellings, and in residential occupancies up to 4 stories in height. In addition, Mr. Madrzykowski serves on the Technical Correlating Committee on Automatic Sprinklers and is the NIST alternate on the NFPA Technical Committee on Sprinkler System Discharge. Mr. Madrzykowski revised the residential sprinkler section in the NFPA Automatic Sprinkler Systems Handbook, 9th ed., and was principal author on the Residential Sprinkler Chapter in NFPA Fire Protection Handbook.
NFPA 921 Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations
Mr. W. D. Walton, Fire Research Division, is a member of the NFPA 921 Committee, Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations. This committee provides guidance to investigation professionals based on scientifically defensible materials and referenced technical data. NIST utilizes its research expertise to provide the latest technical and scientific research information to the committee. At the current time, NIST is studying the formation of fire burn patterns, which is one of the tools used by investigators to determine the origins and causes of fires and explosions. The burn pattern research is supported by the National Institute of Justice via the NIST Office of Law Enforcement Standards and the United States Fire Administration. Dr. Daniel Madrzykowski, Fire Research Division serves on this committee as alternate.NFPA Technical Committee on Gaseous Fire Extinguishing Systems
Dr. Jiann Yang, Fire Research Division, is a member of the NFPA Technical Committee on Gaseous Fire Extinguishing Systems developing standards for replacements for halon extinguishing agents. This activity is coordinated with the BFRL research on halon replacements.NFPA National Fire Alarm Code Technical Correlating Committee
Mr. Richard Bukowski, Fire Research Division, serves on the TCC for the National Fire Alarm Code. Like other TCC’s this committee addresses technical consistency and correlation among the technical committees responsible for specific parts of the Code.NFPA and ASTM Rail Transportation Committees
Mr. Richard Peacock, Fire Research Division, represents NIST on the NFPA 130 committee and the ASTM E5.17 committee developing standards for fire safety in passenger rail vehicles.NFPA Safety to Life Correlating Committee
Mr. Richard Bukowski, Fire Research Division, is a member of the Technical Correlating Committee (TCC) for the Safety to Life Project. The TCC provides oversight to the technical committees developing requirements for individual topics and assures that the requirements are consistent and correlated throughout the document.NFPA Urban/Wildland Interface Committee
Dr. William Mell and Mr. Alexander Maranghides, are members of the NFPA Technical Committees on Forest and Rural Fire Protection. Dr. Mell's is the developer of the NIST Wildland Fire Dynamics Simulator and Mr. Maranghides manages the NIST Large Fire Laboratory.NFPA Committee for the Standard on Protective Ensemble for Structural Fire Fighting
Mr. James Lawson of the Fire Research Division serves on this committee, while Mr. Robert Vettori serves as alternate. This standard specifies the minimum design, performance, and certification requirements, and test methods for structural protective ensembles that include protective coats, protective trousers, protective coveralls, helmets, gloves, footwear, and interface components.NFPA Fire Test Technical Committee
Mr. James Lawson is a voting member of this committee. This committee has responsibility for documents on fire testing procedures, for reviewing existing fire test standards and recommending appropriate action to NFPA, for recommending the application of and advising on the interpretation of acceptable test standards, and for acting in a liaison capacity between NFPA and the committees of other organizations writing fire test standards.NFPA Research Section
Mr. Dan Madrzykowski, Fire Research Division, was elected as the Chair in 2004. The Research Section’s principle activity is the facilitation of communication between researchers and research end users. One means the Research Section uses to provide a forum for technology transfer is the development of technical programs for the Annual NFPA World Safety Conference.
OASIS
ORGANIZATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF STRUCTURED INFORMATION STANDARDSIn technical work funded by the NIST Systems Integration for Manufacturing Applications program, Mr. Edwin Begley of the Building Environment Division completed the specification of the Materials Markup Language (MatML) during 2002 and delivered it to the industry-based MatML Steering Committee. The MatML Schema, currently available at http://www.matml.org, contains the formal specification for the materials markup language and represents the efforts to date of a cross section of the international materials community with contributions from private industry, government laboratories, universities, standards organizations, and professional societies. The specification has been submitted as the base technical document to the newly formed OASIS Materials Markup Technical Committee.
RILEM
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF RESEARCH AND TESTING LABORATORIES FOR MATERIALS AND STRUCTURESRILEM Technical Committee HTC Mechanical Concrete Properties at High Temperatures: Modeling and Applications
Dr. Long Phan, Materials and Construction Research Division, is a Senior Member of RILEM Technical Committee HTC, Mechanical Concrete Properties at High Temperatures: Modeling and Applications. The committee is working to develop recommendations to standard methods for determine properties of concrete at high temperatures.
SFPE
SOCIETY FOR FIRE PROTECTION ENGINEERINGSFPE Board of Directors
Mr. Daniel Madrzykowski of the Fire Research Division serves on the SFPE Board of Directors. The purpose of the Society is to advance the science and practice of fire protection engineering and its allied fields, to maintain a high ethical standard among its members and to foster fire protection engineering education.
UN/CEFACT
UNITED NATIONS CENTRE FOR TRADE FACILITATION AND ELECTRONIC BUSINESSAs part of the NIST work for the GSA Office of Government wide Policy to develop the technical foundation and strategy for the U.S. participation in UN/CEFACT (United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business), Mr. Mark Palmer, of the Building Environment Division, chairs the U.S. Technical Advisory Group for UN/CEFACT and is a vice chair for UN/CEFACT. As vice chair of UN/CEFACT, Mr. Palmer defined and instituted needed improvements in the UN/CEFACT organization, management, procedures and work program. Additionally, he led the development of the UN/CEFACT eBusiness standards strategy and the UN/CEFACT strategy for cooperation with other eBusiness standards development organizations.
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Last updated: 10/19/2006