text:
LEED, PassivHaus & BREEAM Housing ~ Atrocious Fire Safety !!
2016-04-11: It Happened One Night !
And Maybe … if it hadn't been that particular night, during all the festivities of New Year's Eve 2015, we would never have heard about the Address Supertall Hotel Fire, in Dubayy (UAE). A long search on the Internet afterwards led to the detailed, post fire analysis report on the 2014 Lacrosse Docklands Fire, in Melbourne (Australia) … followed by some more searching, and a very large can of worms opened up … similar nasty façade (external fabric) fires in many, many countries … involving large chunks of flaming debris falling from terrific heights, carried by the wind to a significant distance away from the building of fire origin.
Some people have tried to suggest that the only reason for these fires is inadequate building codes/regulations. No … the reason for these fires is much more than that … it's the 'SYSTEM' ! In other words, how the International Construction Sector is organized and goes about its ordinary, everyday activities and tasks. We must also talk about poor quality design and construction … and a lack of stringent, independent enforcement of effective building codes/regulations and standards. I have written this down many times before … Self-Regulation is NO Regulation !!
It is very clear that Conventional Fire Engineering … as currently practiced, internationally … is no longer 'fit for purpose'. For discussion at SFE 2016 DUBLIN. Check out the Fire Conference Website: www.sfe-fire.eu … and on Twitter: @sfe2016dublin
The general public was shocked and stunned, to put it mildly, by a very rapid and extensive 2015 Terraced Housing Fire on the outskirts of Dublin …
[ See my Blog, dated 2011-04-06 … about a different, but related, 2011 Terraced Housing Fire in Terenure, a suburb of Dublin City.]
[ Fast forward from 2011 … overtaking Priory Hall (see my series of Blogs) … to Longboat Quay, a large residential development on the south bank of the River Liffey, which flows through the middle of Dublin. A recent visual/surface inspection of one of the units there revealed not just a poor quality of construction … but a lack of care and attention, with a mixture of incompetence and ignorance thrown in for good measure.]
The 2015 Terraced Housing Fire, shown above, should not have been a surprise to the 'System' in Ireland. Research carried out in the U.S.A., Belgium and The Netherlands since 2012, and a serious PassivHaus Apartment Fire in Köln, Germany, on the night of 5 February 2013 … have all shown that the modern home (highly insulated, airtight, packed with electronic equipment and wiring, and fast-burning synthetic furnishings, etc.) is the 'perfect storm' of fire conditions and outcomes. More open residential design + increased fuel loads + new construction systems and materials = faster development of fires, much reduced times to flashover, far less time for occupant evacuation, particularly people with activity limitations … and shorter building collapse times.
The time to flashover in modern high-performance housing, i.e. Sustainable/Green/PassivHaus/Eco/LEED/Bio/+Energy/Low Carbon/BREEAM/Zero Carbon/SMART … can be 7 times faster than in conventional/legacy housing … or less than 5 minutes, compared with just over 29 minutes !
All of this research can be found on the Links & Docs Page of the SFE 2016 DUBLIN Website.
Let us be crystal clear … there is nothing Sustainable/Green/PassivHaus/Eco/LEED/Bio/+Energy/Low Carbon/BREEAM/Zero Carbon/SMART about the post-fire scenes of destruction shown above. And only for the physical separation between terraces, which can be clearly seen in the last photograph … the fire would have kept spreading.
Without a balanced, proper approach to the issue of Fire Safety in this type of modern, high-performance housing … occupant safety is seriously threatened. And if, in the event of a fire incident, the occupants are asleep … or people with activity limitations are living in the house … that threat will be extremely grave indeed.
Reality – Reliability – Redundancy – Resilience !
So … what needs to change ? In Ireland, our immediate problem is Timber-Framed Housing (as shown above) … and the following is an outline of what must change … NOW !
- Party Walls, i.e. the walls separating one house from another, must be constructed of solid masonry, with a uniform and uncompromised thickness of at least 200mm … plastered on both sides, not dry-lined, for adequate smoke resistance … and be continued above the roof covering for at least 300mm.
- An effective Fire Detection System must be installed. The conventional 'package' of one smoke detector per floor in the hallway and staircase of a standard 2 storey semi-detached house is nowhere near being adequate.
- An effective Residential / Domestic Fire Suppression System must be installed, e.g. low pressure water mist. See later post, dated 2016-06-13, for a costed notional installation.
- If there is a Controlled Ventilation System, either mechanical or natural, in the house (for the purposes of air quality, heat exchange and energy conservation), it must be linked to the fire detection system. In the event of a fire incident, the Ventilation System must immediately cease operation, and remain 'fully open'. This is in order to mitigate the build-up of high positive pressure, within a confined airtight space, caused by a developing fire … and to provide an exhaust route for smoke and toxic gases … during the short period of time prior to activation of the fire suppression system.
- Intermediate Timber Floors and Evacuation Routes, including fire resisting doorsets, must be reliably protected from fire and smoke. The minimum period of fire and smoke resistance must be linked to local fire service support infrastructure. In other words, the local fire services must be allowed sufficient time to arrive at the scene of a fire in strength … to search for any occupants still remaining in the fire building … and to bring the fire under control.
- Uppermost Ceilings under a trussed timber roof structure, including any trap doorsets into the roof space, must be similarly and reliably protected from fire and smoke. Once fire enters a roof space, the light trussed timber structure will collapse within a few minutes.
- Front and Back Entrance/Egress Doors must be outward opening. In the 2013 German PassivHaus Apartment Fire, the occupant found it extremely difficult to open inward opening doors and windows because of the high positive pressure caused by the developing fire. This unusual phenomenon was confirmed in the 2015 Finnish Apartment Fire Tests, when much higher positive pressures were observed.
- Internal Linings of External Walls must comprise 2 layers of plasterboard, with all joints staggered … steel fixed, at not more than 150mm centres. Once fire breaches the internal lining of an external wall, the whole building will become involved in the fire. Horizontal and vertical fire sealing behind these linings, even if properly installed (!), are too little and too late.
- Frontline Firefighters must be supported by specialist structural engineering and hazard appraisal units … and light/portable/reliable Thermal Imaging Cameras must be recognized as a standard tool of firefighting.
These building types are more popularly known as Green, PassivHaus / Passive House, LEED, Eco, Bio, BREEAM, +Energy, Zero / Low / Nearly Zero Carbon, or SMART, etc., etc, etc. In ALL of these cases, however, an Effective Residential Fire Suppression System MUST BE INSTALLED, e.g. low pressure water mist !
In everyday practice … Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ's), and the Organizations and Individuals responsible for the far-too-rapid construction of these innovative building types are either completely and blissfully ignorant, or callously and negligently in denial, about the seriously negative impacts on Occupant & Firefighter Fire Safety and Building Fire Protection.
BUT … slowly … more and more reliable evidence is being gathered ! Please visit the Links & Docs Page on: www.sfe-fire.eu … and also view this Presentation on some very interesting 2015 Apartment Fire Tests in Finland: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ss_ONolzLY
In refurbishment projects where insulation is fixed to the internal surfaces of external walls … similar fire safety problems exist, and they must be solved by reviewing the full checklist above. Refer again to the PassivHaus Apartment Fire in Köln, Germany, on the night of 5 February 2013 … and to the 2015 Apartment Fire Tests in Finland
SFE 2016 DUBLIN – A Benchmark Fire Engineering Event !
2015-11-06 ! We are very pleased to announce that the Fire Safe Europe Alliance … www.firesafeeurope.eu … has become actively involved, together with Glasgow Caledonian University and FireOx International, in co-hosting SFE 2016 DUBLIN. To facilitate the Network's full engagement and provide sufficient time for promotion, etc … it was jointly agreed that the new dates for this Event shall be from 28-30 September 2016.
We have every confidence that SFE 2016 DUBLIN will now be a much better event … having a wider range of stakeholder participation.
2015-06-29 …
Sustainable Fire Engineering – Effective Fire Safety for All in Sustainable Buildings !
28-30 September 2016 Dublin, Ireland
www.sustainable-firengineering.ie or www.sfe-fire.eu
Approved Regional Sustainable Built Environment Conference in the 2016-17 Series
The Gresham Hotel, O'Connell Street, Dublin, Ireland
Céad Míle Fáilte (Hundred Thousand Welcomes) to Dublin, in Ireland … and to the First International Conference devoted to this complex subject !
The 21st Century has had a cruel and savage birth: extreme man-made events, hybrid disasters, severe natural events, complex humanitarian emergencies, with accelerating climate change and variability. The old certainties are crumbling before our eyes …
The resolute Answer to these threats and the rapidly changing social and environmental needs of our world is Sustainable Fire Engineering !
• SFE fulfils a critical role in the realization of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment for All ;
• SFE facilitates positive progress towards the United Nation's 17 Sustainable Development Goals & 169 Performance Targets, which were adopted in September 2015 ;
• SFE fast-tracks proper compliance with the Basic Requirements for Construction Works in the European Union's Construction Products Regulation 305/2011 (Annex I), specifically the interlinked Requirements 7, 2, 1, 3 & 4.
Please join us in an informal, multidisciplinary and pre-normative forum … as we examine Sustainable Fire Engineering more deeply.
INTRODUCTION to SFE 2016 DUBLIN
Fire Losses – both direct and indirect – amount to a very significant percentage of GDP in all economies, whether they are rich or poor … and result in enormous environmental damage and social disruption. Fire Engineering, including Fire Prevention and Protection in Buildings, is a major multi-billion Euro/Dollar component of the Construction Industrial Sector – worldwide.
Unfortunately … a fundamental conflict exists between Sustainable Building Design Strategies and the fire safety responses adopted in today's Conventional Fire Engineering. To take a simple example: for cooling, heating or ventilation purposes in a Sustainable Building, it is necessary to take advantage of natural unobstructed patterns of air movement in that building. On the other hand, fire engineers in private practice and control personnel in Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ's) will demand that building spaces be tightly compartmented in order to limit the spread of fire and smoke … dramatically interfering with those natural patterns of air movement.
Unusual fire behaviour and a range of difficult fire safety issues (critical, in the case of firefighters) also arise from the Innovative Design Features (for example, 'green' roofs, elaborate intelligent façades) and Building Products / Systems (for example, photovoltaic panels) being installed in Sustainable Buildings.
A wide chasm separates the language and understanding of these two very different design disciplines. As a result, the performance of Sustainable Buildings can be seriously compromised. If, on the other hand, adequate independent technical control is absent on site … it is fire safety which is weakened.
And because, in most countries, the emphasis is placed on pre-construction design intent rather than the 'real' performance of the completed/occupied building … these problems are ignored and remain hidden … until a serious fire breaks out !
SUSTAINABLE FIRE ENGINEERING's AIM
The Aim of Sustainable Fire Engineering is to dramatically reduce all direct and indirect fire losses in the Human Environment (including social, built, economic, environmental, virtual, and institutional) … and to protect the Natural Environment.
Towards Zero Preventable Fires in the Built Environment !
In essence … Sustainable Fire Engineering heavily front-loads Fire Prevention and Fire Protection Measures … above and beyond the minimal and very limited fire safety objectives mandated by current legislation.
SFE's Key Concepts are … Reality – Reliability – Redundancy – Resilience !
SFE Design Solutions are …
- Adapted to local geography, climate change and variability, social need, economy, and culture ;
- Reliability-based ;
- Person-centred ;
- Resilient.
1. To initiate discussion and foster mutual understanding between the International Sustainable Development / Climate Change / Urban Resilience Communities and the International Fire Science & Engineering Community.
2. To bring together today's disparate Sectors within the International Fire Science and Engineering Community … to encourage better communication between each and trans-disciplinary collaboration between all.
3. To transform Conventional Fire Engineering into an ethical and fully professional Sustainable Design Discipline which is fit for purpose in the 21st Century … meaning … that fire engineers can participate actively in a sustainable design process, and can respond creatively with sustainable fire engineering design solutions which result in Effective Fire Safety for All in Sustainable Buildings.
4. To launch a CIB W14 Research Working Group VI Reflection Document: 'Sustainable Fire Engineering Design & Construction' … which will establish a framework for discussion on the future development of Sustainable Fire Engineering.
Today ! Visit the SFE 2016 DUBLIN Website at … www.sustainable-firengineering.ie or www.sfe-fire.eu
Download the Information on the Links Page … Review the wide range of Topics which will be examined and discussed at SFE 2016 DUBLIN … Submit an Abstract for a Paper … and Give serious consideration to becoming an Industry Exhibitor, or an Enlightened, Far-sighted Sponsor !!
2015 Dublin Declaration on 'Fire Safety for All' Adopted !
2015-04-20: After a lengthy, constructive and very interesting discussion which resulted in some important text revisions … on Friday afternoon in Dublin, 10 April 2015, at the 'Fire Safety for All' Conference (www.fire-safety-for-all.eu) … all participants voted to adopt, support and promote the 2015 Dublin Declaration on 'Fire Safety for All' in Buildings !
With regard to International Distribution and Promotion of the Declaration … many readers of this Technical Blog belong to varied professional, social and business networks. I would earnestly ask you to circulate the Declaration widely within those networks, and to actively seek the support of as many organizations and individuals as possible. This support should be confirmed by means of a simple e-mail message to: firstname.lastname@example.com … and I will then add the names of supporters to the Fire Safety for All WebSite (www.fire-safety-for-all.eu). Copies of the Declaration, in PDF and WORD Formats, can also be downloaded from the WebSite.
This Benchmark Declaration on Accessibility and Fire Safety for People with Activity Limitations … is an essential reference document for all stakeholders and interested parties. It draws a long-awaited, broad, distinct and stable line in the shifting sands of a rapidly evolving Sustainable Human Environment (social, built, virtual, economic, and institutional) ….
1. As of 14 July 2015 … 156 Countries, plus the European Union, have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Since the Convention became an international legal instrument in 2008, however, the UN CRPD Preamble's Paragraph (g): 'mainstreaming disability in sustainable development strategies' … and Paragraph (v): 'the importance of accessibility in enabling people to fully enjoy their rights and fundamental freedoms' … have tended to receive insufficient public attention and scrutiny. The Dublin Declaration on 'Fire Safety for All' in Buildings and the related CIB W14 Research Working Group 5's Reflection Document have been drafted with those two paragraphs very much in mind.
2. Although a situation of serious risk for vulnerable building users … it is not appropriate to deal with Fire Safety for All in Buildings under Article 11: 'Situations of Risk & Humanitarian Emergencies' of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities … where situations of grave risk are handled, e.g. Extreme Man-Made Events, Hybrid Disasters, Severe Natural Events, Complex Humanitarian Emergencies … all amid Accelerating Climate Change & Variability.
Take the case of an earthquake, for example … where there will be large-scale serious building damage and many, many building collapses throughout an affected region. On the other hand, when considering fire safety for all in any building … it is necessary that the building shall remain not just structurally stable, but serviceable.
3. It is more appropriate, particularly since the publication of International Standard ISO 21542 (2011) with its expanded definition of Building Accessibility, that Fire Safety for All be incorporated into the meaning and implementation of Article 9: 'Accessibility' of the CRPD … in exactly the same manner that fire safety is fully integrated into everyday mainstream building use, and mainstream building fire safety codes and standards.
As there are no references, at all, to either 'fire' or 'safety' in Articles 9 … there is much to be explained and clarified in the 2015 Dublin Declaration on 'Fire Safety for All' in Buildings, if 'real' implementation is to be both practical and successful.
An improved and updated definition of Building Accessibility is contained in Principle 3 of the Dublin Declaration …
'Accessibility of a Building encompasses the complete cycle of independent use, in a dignified manner and on an equal basis with others … and includes the approach, entry and use of a building and its facilities, egress during normal conditions and removal from its vicinity … and, most importantly, safe evacuation during a fire incident to a place of safety which is remote from the building and reached by way of an accessible route.'
4. The Dublin Declaration contains a Preamble, Principles 1-9 which are headlined below, and an Appendix with many Terms and Definitions …
Principle 1 – A Human Right
Principle 2 – Successful Implementation
Principle 3 – Building Accessibility
Principle 4 – Design for Safe Evacuation
Principle 5 – Accessible EICT's
Principle 6 – Fire Safety Skills
Principle 7 – Reasonable Spatial Provision
Principle 8 – Building Management
Principle 9 – Firefighters
5. Existing approaches to Fire Safety, Protection & Evacuation in Buildings for People with Activity Limitations … as described and illustrated in the notable examples of British Standard B.S. 9999 (2008), Singapore's FSR 7 (2011), and Hong Kong's Fire Safety Code Addendum (2014) … are technically inadequate, tokenistic, discriminatory, create barriers to social participation, and violate human rights. Therefore, any further use or recourse to such existing approaches must be terminated immediately !
A Call to Action and Successful Implementation !
(Adopted in Dublin, 2015-04-10)
Meeting In Dublin, Ireland … on Thursday and Friday, 9 and 10 April, 2015 …
In Co-Operation With the International Council for Research & Innovation in Building & Construction (CIB), Rehabilitation International's International Commission on Technology & Accessibility (RI-ICTA), the Global Alliance for Accessible Technologies & EnvironmentS (GAATES), and the EUropean Concept for Accessibility Network (EuCAN) ;
Recognizing the integral and interdependent nature of the natural and human environments (social, built, virtual, economic and institutional) on this small planet Earth, our common home … and the need for harmonized principles to inspire and guide the peoples of the World in the enhancement of a human environment which cherishes the dignity, worth and many abilities of every person ;
Whereas in the United Nations Charter, the U.N. Member States pledged their respect for, and the protection and observance of, fundamental human and social rights … and have determined to promote social development and better standards of living for all ;
Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted on 10th December 1948 … which established a global framework of human and social rights – basic needs and protections – and fundamental freedoms for every person and communal gathering ;
Recalling Also the Rio de Janeiro Declaration on Sustainable Social Development, Disability & Ageing, adopted on 11th December 2004 … which stressed the importance of the social aspects in Sustainable Human & Social Development ;
Mindful Especially of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), adopted on 13th December 2006 … the principal aim of which is to ensure that the human environment is sufficiently accessible to permit a vulnerable and major population group in all communities to safely exercise and enjoy the human and social rights and fundamental freedoms described in the 1948 UDHR ;
Working Towards the achievement of justice, equality of opportunity, social inclusion, active participation and development for every person with an activity limitation in all communities … and recognizing that accessibility of the human environment is an essential prerequisite for the above, and that fire safety for all is a critical life safety component of that accessibility ;
Aware Always of the universal reality that there is still a strong social stigma associated with disability and, particularly, mental ill-health … that much of the human environment is not accessible for all, and even where it is robustly mandated in law, the quality of that accessibility is poor … and that fire safety guidelines for people with activity limitations in buildings, if they exist, are inadequate and/or tokenistic, and rarely implemented ;
Welcoming the launch of the CIB Working Commission 14: Fire Safety – Research Working Group 5's Reflection Document: Buildings & 'Fire Incident Human Behaviour and Abilities' which presents a practical examination and general overview of fire safety for all …
Addressed to every Country and the European Union – those many Voluntary Parties to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – and the Politicians, Authorities Having Jurisdiction, State Agencies, Professional Bodies & Institutions, Non-Governmental Organizations, Charitable & Private Organizations, etc., based within those separate jurisdictions:
We Declare That The Following Principles Must …
Be carefully studied, successfully implemented, and independently monitored … supported by Benchmarking, reliable Data and Statistics, and the informed use of pertinent Accessibility & Fire Safety Related Performance Indicators …
Principle 1 – A Human Right
Full and effective accessibility of the Human Environment (social, built, virtual, economic and institutional) is a fundamental human and social right, i.e. a basic need, for people with activity limitations – it is an essential prerequisite for the safe exercise and enjoyment of those rights, protections and freedoms set down in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent international rights instruments … and crucially, for their health, participation, inclusion and development in all communities.
Principle 2 – Successful Implementation
Successful accessibility implementation … meaning high quality accessibility performance in the built environment … is reliant upon:
- A robust legal base mandating accessibility for all and fire safety for all ;
- Determined political will ;
- Sufficient public financial resources ;
- A compassionate and understanding bureaucracy at all levels ;
- Competent … meaning duly educated, trained and experienced in accessibility and fire safety design … spatial planners, architects, structural engineers, fire engineers, quantity surveyors, technical controllers, industrial designers, building managers, and people at all levels in construction organizations ;
- Independent monitoring of accessibility and fire safety performance ;
- Innovative, well-designed accessibility and fire safety related products and systems which can be shown to be 'fit for their intended use'.
Principle 3 – Building Accessibility
Accessibility of a Building encompasses the complete cycle of independent use, in a dignified manner and on an equal basis with others … and includes the approach, entry and use of a building and its facilities, egress during normal conditions and removal from its vicinity … and, most importantly, safe evacuation during a fire incident to a place of safety which is remote from the building and reached by way of an accessible route.
Principle 4 – Design for Safe Evacuation
Accessibility design criteria must be infused into all of the practical, day-to-day work of building designers and, especially, in the development of project-specific fire engineering design objectives … and be applied from the initial stages of building design, through to the construction and reliable life cycle operation of vertical and horizontal fire evacuation routes facilitating contraflow, areas of rescue assistance, fire safety related signage, controls and fittings, fire prevention and protection measures, fire safety management procedures, routes to and locations of places of safety, etc., etc.
• Evacuation way finding in buildings must be intuitive and obvious ;
• 3 Keywords for building designers must be: reality – reliability – redundancy.
Principle 5 – Accessible EICT's
Electronic, information and communication technologies are ubiquitous in today's complex built and virtual environments. During a real fire incident in a building, they serve a function which is critical for the safety of all building users and firefighters, property protection, minimizing environmental damage and harm, and sustainability. For that reason, they must have a control and/or user interface which is accessible for all.
Principle 6 – Fire Safety Skills
People with activity limitations who occupy or use a building frequently must be included in all practice fire evacuations, in order to learn the skill of safe independent evacuation to an accessible place of safety remote from the building. During a real fire incident, evacuation assistance provided by other building users or rescue by firefighters, and the time spent waiting for that assistance or rescue in the building must be kept to an absolute minimum.
People with activity limitations must be actively encouraged to participate in fire safety preparatory planning and regular practices … and, without exception, must be consulted and included in all activities concerning their own evacuation from a building.
Management systems and fire protection measures in buildings are never 100% reliable. People with activity limitations must, therefore, be actively encouraged to be self-aware in situations of risk, and facilitated in learning the skill of self-protection.
Principle 7 – Reasonable Spatial Provision
Reasonable spatial provision must be allocated in a building for the needs of real users, who vary in the range of their individual behaviour and abilities … and for the real building user population profile which, avoiding discrimination, must reflect a society as a whole. Concerning fire safety for all and the necessary size, for example, of an area of rescue assistance which adjoins a fire evacuation staircase on every floor in a building … the following indicators, exclusive of extra provision for assistants, must guide the architect and fire engineer in the collaborative design process:
(a) Minimum reasonable provision for people with disabilities in a building – 10% of design occupant/user population ;
(b) Minimum reasonable provision for people with activity limitations in a building … 15% of design occupant/user population.
Principle 8 – Building Management
Building managers must ensure that fire safety for all preparatory planning is effective, and that practices are held regularly … before any real fire incident occurs. And as part of their normal, day-to-day functioning … managers must be fully aware that, without due attention to accessibility-related services, product maintenance and occupant/user welfare policies, the quality of accessibility in a building will rapidly deteriorate.
Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPS) must not be used to limit or restrict access to any part of a building and its facilities.
Principle 9 – Firefighters
Firefighters must be trained to interact with and rescue people with activity limitations from buildings, using procedures and equipment which will not cause injury to either. Fire services must ensure that they operate such procedures and possess such regularly serviced equipment.
Emergency service organizations must operate reliable systems to notify the fire services of emergency situations, which are accessible for all and useable by the public at all times.
APPENDIX – Terms & Definitions
Area of Rescue Assistance: A sufficiently large building space directly adjoining, and visible from, a main vertical evacuation route – robustly and reliably protected from heat, smoke and flame during and after a fire – where people may temporarily wait with confidence for further information, instructions, and evacuation assistance or rescue, without obstructing or interfering with the evacuation travel of other building users.
Contraflow Circulation in a Fire Building: Emergency access by firefighters or rescue teams into a building and towards a real fire … while building users are still moving away from the fire and evacuating the building.
Evacuation from a Fire Building: To withdraw, or cause to withdraw, all users from a building which is on fire … in pre-planned and orderly phased movements to an accessible place of safety remote from the building.
Fire Compartmentation: The division of a building into fire-tight compartments by fire, smoke and heat resisting elements of construction, in order to …
a) contain an outbreak of fire, including any smoke and heat generated by the fire ;
b) prevent damage, within the building, to other adjoining compartments and spaces ;
c) protect a compartment interior from external fire attack, e.g. fire spread across the building's facade or from an adjacent building ;
d) minimize adverse, or harmful, environmental impacts outside the building.
Human Health: A state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
People with Activity Limitations (E) / Personnes à Performances Réduites (F): Those people, of all ages, who are unable to perform, independently and without aid, basic human activities or tasks – because of a health condition or physical / mental / cognitive / psychological impairment of a permanent or temporary nature.
The above Term includes …
- wheelchair users ;
- people who experience difficulty in walking, with or without a facilitation aid, e.g. stick, crutch, calliper or walking frame ;
- frail, older people ;
- the very young (people under the age of 5 years) ;
- people who suffer from arthritis, asthma, or a heart condition ;
- the visually and/or hearing impaired ;
- people who have a cognitive impairment disorder, including dementia, amnesia, brain injury, or delirium ;
- women in the later stages of pregnancy ;
- people impaired following the use of alcohol, other 'social' drugs e.g. cocaine and heroin, and some medicines ;
- people who suffer any partial or complete loss of language related abilities, i.e. aphasia ;
- people impaired following exposure to environmental pollution and/or other irresponsible human activities, e.g. war and terrorism ;
and …
- people who experience a panic attack in a real fire situation or other emergency ;
- people, including firefighters, who suffer incapacitation as a result of exposure, during a real fire, to smoke and poisonous or toxic substances, and/or elevated temperatures.
Place of Safety:
• Any accessible location beyond a perimeter which is [100] metres from the fire building or a distance of [10] times the height of such building, whichever is the greater ; and
• Where necessary triage can safely be rendered … and from where effective medical care and supervision can be organized and provided within one hour of injury (the 'golden hour') ; and
• Where people can be identified.
Note: If there is a risk of an explosion associated with a fire – multiply the numbers in square brackets above by 4.
Progressive Damage in Fire / Fire-Induced Progressive Damage: The sequential growth and intensification of structural deformation and displacement, beyond fire engineering design parameters, and the eventual failure of elements of construction in a building – during a fire and the 'cooling phase' afterwards – which, if unchecked, will result in disproportionate damage, and may lead to total building collapse.
Note: Fire-induced progressive damage may commence long before there is any breach in the integrity of a fire compartment's boundaries.
Real Fire: A fire which develops in a building and is influenced by such factors as the type of building and its occupancy (numbers, abilities and activities) ; the combustible content (fire load) ; the ventilation, geometry and thermal properties of the fire compartment or building space (should no fire compartmentation exist) ; the fire suppression systems in the building, and the actions of firefighters.
Skill: The ability of a person – resulting from proper training and regular practice – to carry out complex, well-organized patterns of behaviour efficiently and adaptively, in order to achieve some end or goal.
Social Environment: The complex network of real and virtual human interaction – at a communal or larger group level – which operates for reasons of tradition, culture, business, pleasure, information exchange, institutional organization, legal procedure, governance, human betterment, social progress and spiritual enlightenment, etc.
Social Rights: Rights to which an individual person is legally entitled, e.g. the right to free elementary education (Art.26(1), UDHR), but which are only exercised in a social context with other people, and with the active support of a competent legal authority, e.g. a Nation State.
Social Wellbeing: A general condition – in a community, society or culture – of health, happiness, creativity, responsible fulfilment, and sustainable development.
Virtual Environment: A designed environment, electronically generated from within the built environment, which may have the appearance, form, functionality and impact – to the person perceiving and actually experiencing it – of a real, imagined and/or utopian world.
'Fire Safety for All': Open Call for Innovative Products & Systems
2015-02-02: This is NOT … I repeat NOT … a small niche market in the Global Multi-Billion Euro Fire Safety & Protection Related Construction Industrial Sector ! This IS the whole nine yards !!
This is an Open Call for Innovative, Well-Designed Fire Safety / Protection and Accessibility Related Construction Products and Systems, Other Measures and Means, Mechanical and Electronic Devices, ETC, ETC, ETC, ETC !
This Call is particularly aimed at Manufacturers, Suppliers and Distributors in China, India, Japan, and Mainland Europe !
We want to see 'Real' Products and Systems, Measures and Means, Mechanical and Electronic Devices, ETC, ETC, ETC, ETC … not flashy brochures … at the 2015 Dublin 'Fire Safety for All' Industrial Exhibition, on 9 & 10 April !
An Accessible Building is Safer, Easier to Use and More Comfortable for ALL Building Users
If Fire Safety for All is properly considered at Building Design Stage :
• Buildings are easier to understand (intuitive) during a Real Fire Evacuation
• Fire Evacuation Routes (obvious) are easier to find and to use
• Everyone can safely evacuate a Building on Fire – no more tragic tales about people being left behind in multi-storey schools and offices
• Reality – Reliability – Redundancy – are the 3 Essential Keywords
Client Organizations: A Building which is NOT Accessible is difficult, if not impossible, for everybody to evacuate during a real fire incident !
So …
Grab a Bicycle – Get a Horse – Take a Train or a Plane – Come to Dublin in April !
To Exhibit / To Sponsor … please go to the Event WebSite: www.fire-safety-for-all.eu
'Fire Safety for All' Update: Dublin Declaration & Press Release
2015-02-01: This important Event is still a few months away, but the following update will be of interest …. a mixture of some good news and some bad news …
To Register / To Attend … please go to the Event WebSite: www.fire-safety-for-all.eu … places are limited in the New Conference Venue.
1. 2015 Dublin 'Fire Safety for All' Declaration – A Call to Action & Successful Implementation !
From the beginning, we promised that this would not be a polite gathering in Dublin. It will, instead, be a time for hard work and straight talking by everybody attending … and a good opportunity to have some fun also. Dublin is a very 'sociable' city !
As an indication of our serious intent … please now download and examine the Proposed 2015 Dublin Declaration on 'Fire Safety for All' in Buildings (PDF File, 153 Kb) …
If you would like to comment on this document, or if you have any questions … please send an e-mail message to: firstname.lastname@example.com
Drafting of the CIB W14 Research Working Group V Reflection Document has already commenced.
2. Dublin Fire Safety for All Event's First Press Release
A strong message from and about the Dublin Event must be widely disseminated at international and national levels … download and read / forward / circulate / publish FireOx International's First Event Press Release (PDF File, 49 Kb), dated 1 February 2015 …
Please help us to spread the word !
3. Embarrassment about Original Conference Venue
Accessibility of a Building … encompasses the complete cycle of independent use, in a dignified manner and on an equal basis with others … and includes the approach, entry and use of a building and its facilities, egress during normal conditions and removal from its vicinity … and, most importantly, safe evacuation during a fire incident to a place of safety which is remote from the building and reached by way of an accessible route.
As I write … Ireland has a truck load of accessibility-related National Building Regulations and EU Safety at Work Law (transposed at national level a long, long time ago). We have strong Equality Law. We have ease of access to accessibility-related International Standards (such as ISO 21542: 2011) and National Standards from other European Countries, North & South America, and Asia. We have accessibility-related National Guidance Documents coming out of our ears, and easy access to all sorts of other guidance from around the world. Lots and lots and lots and lots of paperwork, in digital and hardcopy formats !
Ireland today … is still one of only a few remaining countries which have yet to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the principal aim of which is to ensure that the Human Environment (including the built, social, economic, virtual and institutional environments) is sufficiently accessible for people with activity limitations to participate positively in all aspects of their local communities … a basic human right, which every able-bodied person takes for granted !
" This is not just a national disgrace, it is a huge embarrassment for our country when you consider that the European Union itself and most of the EU's Member States have already ratified this UN Convention."
AND … as I look around Dublin … the City is NOT accessible for its many vulnerable residents and foreign visitors !
Are you sitting comfortably ? Then I will tell you a short story … a 'real' story, not a fairy tale … about the Original Conference Venue …
Mr. Sean Sherlock, T.D., Minister of State at Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for Overseas Development Aid, has agreed to open the Event on the evening of Thursday, 9 April 2015. All of Irish Aid's Partner Countries in Africa have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Given the serious, socially transformative topic of this Conference … the Minister had also kindly offered to waive the fee for the hire of the Printworks Building in Dublin Castle – a very prestigious location in the City, and a building which was been extensively refurbished in time for Ireland's recent Presidency of the European Union. The audio-visual fit-out for this building is magnificently elaborate. Most unfortunately, the building's accessibility is entirely inadequate ('ATROCIOUS' would be a better word to describe it) !
However, with the right attitude and positive co-operation from the Venue Management Team, many improvements to the building's accessibility could have been made for the Conference. From the beginning, however, the Management Team's response to this issue was negative.
" It is entirely unacceptable that this State's New and Heritage Building Stock is designed, constructed, and/or managed without a full and proper consideration … and successful implementation … of Accessibility for All and Fire Safety for All ! "
The Venue Management Team has refused to honour the Minister's waiver.
We have had no other option but to move the Conference and Workshop to a far better Venue just around the corner … the Radisson Blu Hotel in Golden Lane, Dublin.
A Building which is NOT Accessible is difficult, if not impossible, for everybody to evacuate during a real fire incident …
'Rigorous enforcement of building codes and standards by state and local agencies, well trained and managed, is critical in order for standards and codes to ensure the expected level of safety. Unless they are complied with, the best codes and standards cannot protect occupants, emergency responders, or buildings.'
(2005 U.S. NIST NCSTAR 1: Final Report on the Collapse of the World Trade Center Towers … Page 202, Chapter 9: Recommendations)
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
UN CRPD Article 33 – National Implementation & Monitoring
1. States Parties, in accordance with their system of organization, shall designate one or more focal points within government for matters relating to the implementation of the present Convention, and shall give due consideration to the establishment or designation of a co-ordination mechanism within government to facilitate related action in different sectors and at different levels.
2. States Parties shall, in accordance with their legal and administrative systems, maintain, strengthen, designate or establish within the State Party, a framework, including one or more independent mechanisms, as appropriate, to promote, protect and monitor implementation of the present Convention. When designating or establishing such a mechanism, States Parties shall take into account the principles relating to the status and functioning of national institutions for protection and promotion of human rights.
3. Civil society, in particular persons with disabilities and their representative organizations, shall be involved and participate fully in the monitoring process.
The Access Consultants for Dublin Castle were O'Herlihy Access Consultancy.
2015 Paris Hive Attacks & Fire Engineering for Urban Resilience !
2015-01-31: The beginning of this 21st Century is deeply unsettling … history is catching up on us, and old certainties are crumbling before our eyes …
The recent, extremely violent Paris Hive Attacks … which occurred between Wednesday and Friday (7-9 January 2015) … have again shown that co-ordinated attacks on a small number of carefully chosen, low-level targets can be just as effective in causing widespread social and economic disruption in a City as a single attack on a high-level target. Search for our previous detailed discussion, here, on the 2008 Mumbai 'Hive' Attacks.
On this tragic occasion, the attacks happened in Europe … not, as before, in far-off India.
Following the 2001 WTC 9-11 Attacks in New York City … the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in 2005 and 2008, recommended that these Building Types should be treated as 'Risk Priorities' …
• Tall / High-Rise Buildings ;
• Iconic Buildings ;
• Buildings Having a Critical Function ;
• Buildings Having an Innovative Design.
However, a typical medium-rise office building (in Paris) and off-street supermarket do not fall into the above categories … another indication that the NIST Recommendations must soon undergo a thorough international review and updating.
In the real world, the whole urban and sub-urban infrastructure of a City is at risk from Extreme Man-Made Events … one more risk among significant others, i.e. Hybrid Disasters (e.g. 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Incident), Severe Natural Events (e.g. earthquakes, typhoons, tsunamis) and Complex Humanitarian Emergencies (e.g. mass human migrations, regional famines). And with 50% of the world's population already living in Cities, and substantial urban population growth projected over the coming decades … it is clear that, in the short to medium term, Cities must become much more resilient. Search for our continuing discussion, here, about Sustainable Urban Resilience.
In this context, compliance solely with the minimal and limited fire safety objectives in current national legislation – from whatever source around the world – is so far from being either adequate or acceptable … that it is no longer worth a moment's consideration.
A Fire Engineering which is 'fit for purpose', i.e. is both ethical and professional, in today's complex and dynamic Human Environment … has an essential and critical part to play in the realization of a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment for All !
Global Event: 'Fire Safety for All' in Buildings – Reboot & Reload !
2014-12-09: FireOx International, the Fire Engineering Division of Sustainable Design International Ltd., is very pleased and proud to present the following Global CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Event …
9 & 10 April 2015 – Dublin Castle, Ireland
'Fire Safety for All' in Buildings – Reboot & Reload !
[ www.fire-safety-for-all.eu ]
Co-Sponsored by CIB & RI-ICTA
Kindly supported by Fáilte Ireland
This will not be a polite gathering intended just for an Irish audience, or even for Europeans … this is a Global Event – a catalyst for Substantive Social Transformation everywhere !
Within the professional discipline of Fire Engineering … either a building is Fire Safe or it is not ; the design philosophy of the fire engineer is irrelevant. Similarly, now, we must begin to think and act in the simple terms of a building either being Accessible for All, or not. And if the building is accessible for all, does it tick all of the right accessibility boxes well, i.e. effectively ?
While building fire safety codes and standards exist in almost every country … guidelines relating to the Fire Safety of People with Activity Limitations – IF those guidelines exist at all – are technically inadequate, entirely tokenistic, blatantly discriminatory, and rarely implemented.
This is a very significant obstacle to Effective Building Accessibility everywhere !!
Accessibility is now understood to mean the full cycle of independent building use, in an equitable and dignified manner … and this term includes the approach, entry to and use of a building, egress during normal conditions and removal from the vicinity of the building … and, most importantly, evacuation during a fire incident to a 'place of safety' which is remote from the building. (ISO 21542 : 2011)
Cogently mandated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) … the CRPD's principal aim is to ensure that the Built, Social, Economic and Virtual Environments are sufficiently 'accessible' to permit a vulnerable and major(!) population group in all of our societies to enjoy the fundamental freedoms and human rights described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).
Refer to Preamble Paragraph (g) in the UN Convention …
' Emphasizing the importance of mainstreaming disability issues as an integral part of relevant strategies of sustainable development,'
and to … Article 3 (General Principles), Article 9 (Accessibility), Article 11 (Situations of Risk & Humanitarian Emergencies), Article 19 (Living Independently & Being Included in the Community), Article 20 (Personal Mobility), Article 24 (Education), Article 27 (Work & Employment), Article 31 (Statistics & Data Collection), Article 32 (International Co-Operation), and Article 33 (National Implementation & Monitoring).
The focus of this event, therefore, is Real Accessibility. In other words, Effective Accessibility for People with Activity Limitations (which includes people with disabilities, and children under the age of 5 years, frail older people, women in the later stages of pregnancy, and people with health conditions, etc.) … an accessibility which actually works well for all potential building users. And it is appropriate also, now, to introduce the concept of Monitoring and Targeting this 'real' accessibility … independently, i.e. by 3rd Parties !
It is time to Reboot this ridiculous, professionally negligent and obsolete old system … Reload with innovative and practical building design, construction, management and personal self-protection solutions … and Implement !
Traditional Construction – Roof Tile Crests in Himeji Castle, Japan
2014-11-11: Traditional Building Construction Practices have a meaning and value within the Heritage of every Living Culture …
' We consider that in the face of mounting challenges such as population growth, urbanization, environmental degradation, disasters, climate change, increasing inequalities and persisting poverty, there is an urgent need for new approaches, to be defined and measured in a way which accounts for the broader picture of human progress and which emphasize harmony among peoples and between humans and nature, equity, dignity, social wellbeing and sustainability.'
Preamble, UNESCO 2013 Hangzhou Declaration
' We reaffirm that heritage should be considered to be a fundamental enabler of sustainability, being a source of meaning and energy, a wellspring of creativity and innovation, and a resource to address challenges and find appropriate solutions. The extraordinary power of heritage to foster and enable truly sustainable development is especially evident when a person-centred and place-based approach is integrated into development programmes and peace-building initiatives.'
Preamble, UNESCO 2013 Hangzhou Declaration
" We recognize that one size does not fit all and that different cultural perspectives will result in different paths to development. At the same time, we embrace an understanding of heritage that is open, evolving and strongly framed within a rights-based approach and the respect for diversity, the free access to which enables all individuals 'to live and be what they choose', thus enhancing their opportunities and human capabilities while promoting mutual understanding and exchange among peoples."
Preamble, UNESCO 2013 Hangzhou Declaration
Open E-Mail to ISO TC 92 (Fire Safety) – Treatment of 'Disability'
2014-11-05: ISO TC 92: 'Fire Safety' is a long-established Technical Committee within the International Standards Organization (ISO) … www.iso.org/iso/home/standards_development/list_of_iso_technical_committees/iso_technical_committee.htm?commid=50492 … and down through the many years of its existence, since 1958, it has laboriously constructed a robust foundation which has facilitated the modern evolution of Fire Science and Engineering and the development of many standard fire safety practices and procedures around the world.
BUT … and in spite the existence of ISO/IEC Guide 71: 'Guidelines for Standards Developers to Address the Needs of Older Persons and Persons with Disabilities' (a weak document which is badly in need of revision and updating !) …
Recently, having examined some draft standards being processed through ISO TC 92 … I have become very tired of the blatant incompetence … and lack of care and concern merging with feigned ignorance and/or stubborn resistance, within the Technical Committee, when it comes to the issue of 'disability' … in other words, the major matter of the real fire safety of vulnerable building users and occupants, i.e. people with activity limitations, in real buildings.
SO … a few days ago, I wrote the following e-mail message to a Working Group Chairperson (who shall remain nameless, because this same problem pervades the whole TC) …
Dear X,
With regard to All Aspects of the WG's Work … one issue, in particular, sticks out like a sore thumb … how you treat 'disability'. There is no clarity here, only confusion. There are no precise terms, only a garbled use of language and concepts.
Please allow me to suggest, with accompanying explanations, a suitable and necessary path forward.
I will circulate this e-mail message separately within ISO, and beyond.
Concerning Normative References … reference must be made to …
ISO 21542 (2011): 'Building Construction – Accessibility & Usability of the Built Environment'
Within this document, Accessibility is understood to mean the full cycle of independent building use, in an equitable and dignified manner … and to include the approach, entry to and use of a building, egress during normal conditions and removal from the vicinity of the building … and, most importantly, evacuation during a fire incident to a 'place of safety' which is remote from the building.
Texts relating to 'fire safety' have been incorporated into the main body of this International Standard. It is, however, just a small beginning. Much work remains to be done.
Accessibility Design Criteria, as described in ISO 21542, must now be applied to the design and maintenance of all fire evacuation routes, fire safety related signage and fittings, etc., etc.
Use of the word escape, in any context, is strongly discouraged.
Concerning Terms & Definitions …
People with Activity Limitations: Those people, of all ages, who are unable to perform, independently and without aid, basic human activities or tasks – because of a health condition or physical/mental/cognitive/psychological impairment of a permanent or temporary nature.
Attached, please find the FireOx International 'Fire Safety for All' Matrix … which illustrates how the separate pieces, including 'disability', fit together.
Contraflow: Emergency access by firefighters or rescue teams into a building and towards a fire, while people are still moving away from the fire and evacuating the building.
Concerning Building User/Occupant Numbers & Provision … 'token' is not only entirely unacceptable, it is a clear case of professional negligence …
And why, suddenly, all of these 'musts' ??
Cogently mandated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) … the UN CRPD's principal aim is to ensure that the Built, Social, Economic and Virtual Environments are sufficiently 'accessible' to permit a vulnerable and major population group in all of our societies to enjoy the fundamental freedoms and human rights set down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).
The language of the Convention is always very robust and very direct: 'States Parties shall …'
Also attached, please find a United Nations Global Map showing the status of Convention Ratification back in July 2014. At the time of writing this e-mail message, 151 Countries have ratified the UN CRPD.
Full and Effective Accessibility of the Built Environment is a human right. Adequate provision must be made for people with disabilities to use all buildings … not just some buildings … and certainly not just limited parts of a building !
In practice, people with disabilities must be included in all practice evacuation drills … and they must be included in all activities related to 'fire safety' and/or necessary to prepare for safe evacuation.
Furthermore … because Electronic, Information and Communication Technologies (EICT's) now serve a function which is critical, during a fire incident, for the safety of all building users and firefighters, property protection, minimizing environmental damage, and sustainability … they must have a user interface which is Accessible for All … from both ends.
With regard to 'adequate' provision … please find attached the 2010 USA Disability Statistics … which indicate:
- Minimum Reasonable Provision for People with Disabilities in a Building … 10% of User/Occupant Population ;
- Minimum Reasonable Provision for People with Activity Limitations in a Building … 15% of User/Occupant Population.
The numbers of people with disabilities in developing and the least developed economies far exceed numbers in developed economies !
Best wishes for the success of your meeting in Sydney.
C.J. Walsh – Consultant Architect, Fire Engineer & Technical Controller.
FireOx 'Fire Safety for All' Matrix – Revised & Updated
2014-10-17: Within the professional discipline of Fire Engineering … either a building is 'fire safe', or it is not. The Design Philosophy of the Fire Engineer is irrelevant. In fact, nearly everybody involved with fire safety in buildings would collapse in a fit of laughter at the delusional notion that a design philosophy was relevant. People's lives are at stake !
Similarly, now, we must begin to think and act in the simple terms of a building either being 'accessible', or not. At stake, this time, is the quality of life and living for very many vulnerable people in all of our societies.
Accessibility for All, according to International Standard ISO 21542 (2011) … includes the approach, entry to and use of a building, egress during normal conditions and removal from the vicinity of the building … and, most importantly, evacuation during a fire incident to a 'place of safety' which is remote from the building.
Concerning that All above … FireOx International's 'Fire Safety for All' Matrix shows who exactly we are talking about … and who must be considered in the development of a Fire Safety Strategy for every building … not just some buildings !
This is not just good design practice … it is also mandated in International Human Rights Law.
FireOx International's 'Fire Safety for All' Matrix (2014) – PDF File, 25 Kb
Building Fire Safety Codes and Standards exist in almost every country. However – IF they exist at all – those guidelines relating to the Fire Safety of People with Activity Limitations are technically inadequate, entirely tokenistic and/or blatantly discriminatory.
Refer to my previous post … BS 9999:2008 & BS 8300:2009 – Sleepwalking into Problems ?
It is time to Reboot this ridiculous, professionally negligent and obsolete old system … Reload with innovative and practical building design, construction, management and personal self-protection solutions … and Implement !
2015 'Fire Safety for All' Global CSR Event – Dublin, 9 & 10 April
Register Now !
Follow SFE2016Dublin on Twitter
Recent Comments
- Recent Terenure Terraced Housing Fires – Party Wall Failures !! on
- Recent Terenure Terraced Housing Fires – Party Wall Failures !! on
- Recent Terenure Terraced Housing Fires – Party Wall Failures !! on
- Recent Terenure Terraced Housing Fires – Party Wall Failures !! on
- Recent Terenure Terraced Housing Fires – Party Wall Failures !! on
- architecture
- art
- built environment
- cinema
- climate change
- design
- economic environment
- eu law
- european union
- fire
- human & social rights
- human environment
- human health & safety
- institutional environment
- international law
- judicial
- media
- national law
- natural environment
- photography
- political environment
- regulations & standards
- resilience
- social environment
- sustainability
- technical control
- travel
- uncategorized
- virtual environment
|« Jul
- 'Spirit of Ireland' Project – National Energy Independence. At last … some 'real' Innovation in this country !
- AL JAZEERA – News & Views from the ARAB WORLD (1440 H)
- ALBA – Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América / Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America
- Amnesty International – Irish Section
- CJ Walsh: Architectural, Design & Technical Control Practice (Ireland, Italy & Turkey)
- Contact Us – Sustainable Design International Ltd. (Ireland, Italy & Turkey)
- Department of Housing, Planning & Local Government (DHPLG) – Ireland
- EL NACIONAL – News & Views from VENEZUELA
- EU E-PRTR – European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register … Europe-Wide Register providing easily accessible key environmental data from industrial facilities in the EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein & Norway
- EU ECC-Net – European Consumer Centres' Network: Network of Consumer Protection Centres in the European Union (EU), Iceland and Norway
- EU EFFIS – European Forest Fire Information System … supporting local services with responsibility for protecting forests against fires in the EU Member States, and providing the EU Institutions with reliable information about wildfires
- EU EPPO – European Plant Protection Organization … co-operation in plant health within the Euro-Mediterranean Region
- EU EUROPEANA – Access to Europe's Cultural & Scientific Heritage though a Cross-Domain Digital Portal
- EU Fundamental Rights Agency – The Agency focuses on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union (EU) and all of its Member States
- EU WISE – Water Information System for Europe … where information on water-related issues can be found for the whole of Europe
- EUR-Lex – Full, direct and free access to all European Union (EU) Legislation
- FireOx International – SDI's Fire Engineering Division: Fire Engineering Consultancy, Research & Design Practice (Ireland, Italy & Turkey)
- GRANMA INTERNACIONAL – News & Views from CUBA
- HÜRRİYET – News & Views from TURKEY
- Ireland – Information about Public Institutions & Government Services, including updates on the continuing madness that is 'Brexit' !
- Irish Seed Savers Association … protecting Ireland's Food Crop Heritage for future generations
- JOURNAL DE BRASÍLIA – News & Views from BRAZIL
- Kanchi – Changing Society's View of Disability for the Better
- PRAVDA – News & Views from RUSSIA
- Robert F Kennedy Centre for Justice & Human Rights (USA)
- Rocky Mountain Institute (USA) – Super Energy Efficiency by Design
- RTE Lyric FM – Classical Music for Inner Harmony and Mindfulness !
- Sustainable Design International … Theory & Implementation of Sustainable Human & Social Development
- UNFCCC – United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
- UNHRC – United Nations Human Rights Council
- US Congress for the New Urbanism – International NGO working to build vibrant communities where people have diverse choices for how they live, work, and get around
- WikiLeaks … a multi-national media organization and associated library
- XINHUA News Agency – News & Views from CHINA
- July 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- June 2018
- October 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- September 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- June 2015
- April 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- February 2014
- September 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- July 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008


text:
When it comes to ornaments, I like ...
... pretty color combinations. Blue and green is a favorite.
Friday, December 23, 2011
An Ornament a Day - Day 23
3 comments:
Like you, Greta, blue and green are two of my favourite colours, especially the deep rich, jewel shades here. I have enjoyed reading your Christmas series, and would like to do something similar next year. Thank you for the idea.ReplyDelete
Merry Christmas and Joyeux Noël from my house to yours.ReplyDelete
Susan - I look forward to seeing your series next year, and thank you for following mine! I really love those jewel colors.ReplyDelete
Lori - Thank you; hope your Christmas was a great one!
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Death Valley Day
Mark Wilson March 7th, 2010
ZZYZX, CALIFORNIA–Today the Wooster Geology Mojave Desert field trip team visited the southern half of Death Valley National Park. We left Zzyzx (love that name) early in the morning and drove straight north to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center. After our orientation we headed south to the Natural Bridge trail. There we hiked up a narrow canyon to look at the faulting associated with a metamorphic core complex. As a bonus we studied a beautifully-dissected fanglomerate along the way. We next spent quality time at Badwater, a fault-dissected cinder cone, and Shoreline Butte with its evidence of the receding levels of the ancient Lake Manly. The weather could not have been better. The little bit of rain as we drove back to Zzyzx produced one of the most brilliant rainbows I've ever seen.


text:
Trading Resources
23Traders offers traders plenty of resources to help both new and experienced traders carve out a successful binary trading career. Its Trading Academy is the best and most comprehensive, with traders having access to numerous educational eBooks, a 23Traders stock trading guide, a video library with over 50 videos, a detailed glossary and a trading basics manual as well as access to a personal instructor. The free economic calendar and an in-depth news trading strategy can also ensure that 23Traders stock trading can be very profitable for traders. In addition, resourceful live webinars, organized and conducted by veteran traders and experts both weekly and monthly, are also available and are accessible to traders for free. In these webinars, 23Traders CFD trading is also discussed with these products providing traders with the best opportunity to profit from market volatility.
Payment Methods
23Traders allows traders to make deposits and withdrawals using a variety of safe, secure and convenient payment methods that include bank wire transfer; credit cards and debit cards, such as Maestro, Visa, Visa Electron, MasterCard and American Express; as well as a choice of popular eWallets, such as Skrill, ecoPayz, CashU and Neteller. The minimum deposit at 23Traders is $250, while the maximum is $100,000. Deposits reflect immediately on traders' trading accounts if a credit card is used for depositing, whereas all funds withdrawn will be available to traders within 2-5 days.
For traders' safety, 23Traders reviews its systems regularly and currently uses the latest and advanced 128-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to transmit all transactions. 23Traders also utilizes a high-end enterprise-level firewall, while all card transactions are secured by the industry best PCI DSS service.
Customer Service
In addition to having comprehensive Help and FAQs pages on their website, which 23Traders reviews and updates regularly, the broker also has a customer support team dedicated to helping traders with all their inquiries 24/7. If you need any help, you can contact them any time via live chat, phone or email. The team is warm, friendly, very responsive, and will handle all your inquiries professionally.
For the short time it has existed, 23Traders has built a reputation as the most trader-centered broker in the binary options industry. By allowing traders to trade on the superior SpotOption platform, offering plenty of trading resources, providing outstanding customer support as well as operating secure and efficient payment processing methods, 23Traders ensures that all types of traders have all they need to enjoy a consistently profitable trading career.


text:
I am sitting on a tutorial on categorical semantics of dependent type theory given by Peter Lumsdaine. He is talking about categories with attributes and other variants of categories that come up in the semantics of dependent type theory. He is amazingly good at fielding questions about definitional equality from the type theorists. And it looks like some people are puzzling over pullbacks showing up, which Peter is about to explain using syntactic categories. Here is a pedestrian explanation of a very important fact:
I will stick to "ordinary math". No dependent types, no contexts, no fancy logic. Suppose we have an expression $t(x)$ which describes a function $A \to B$ mapping $x$ to $t(x)$, and a predicate on $B$, i.e., an expression $P(y)$ which tells us whether any given $y \in B$ has a given property. Then we can define a new predicate $Q(x)$ on $A$ by
$$Q(x) \equiv P(t(x)).$$
We substituted the term $t(x)$ for $y$ in the expression $P(y)$. This is completely obvious and it gets used all the time. For example, whenever we say something like "$2 x + 1$ is even", we have substituted the expression $2 x + 1$ for $y$ in the predicate $\exists z . y = 2 z$, where all variables range over integers.
Let us think in terms of sets. The expresion $t(x)$ corresponds to a function $t : A \to B$. The predicate $P(y)$ on $B$ corresponds to a subset $P \subseteq B$ of those elements which satisfy it. Then $Q(x) \equiv P(t(x))$ corresponds to a subset $Q \subseteq A$, namely
$$Q = \lbrace x \in A \mid t(x) \in P \rbrace.$$
But this $Q$ is the pullback of the inclusion $P \hookrightarrow B$ along $t$. And if you draw the relevant pullback diagram for yourself, and figure out why we have a pullback, you will have understood why substitution is pullback.
Isn't substitution composition?
Sometimes we substitute terms into terms. Suppose we have an expression $t(x)$ which maps $x \in A$ to $t(x) \in B$, and an expression $s(y)$ which maps $y \in B$ to $s(y) \in C$. Then we can substitute $t(x)$ for $y$ in $s(y)$ to obtain the expression $s(t(x))$ which maps $x \in A$ to $s(t(x)) \in C$. In terms of functions this is composition. So the full story is that
Substitution of a term into a predicate is pullback, but substitution of a term into a term is composition.
Or if you are a type theorist:
Substitution of a term into a dependent type is pullback, but substitution of a term into a term is composition.


text:
Published on
May 04, 2014
Nobel Laureate Gary S. Becker, AM'53, PhD'55, made historic changes to the study of economics and the social sciences, combining disciplines to understand decisions in everyday life, while spawning rich new questions for scholars in diverse fields to pursue.
Becker, 83, University Professor of Economics and of Sociology at the University of Chicago, died on May 3 following complications from a recent surgery. He won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1992 "for having extended the domain of microeconomic analysis to a wide range of human behavior and interaction, including non-market behavior."
Becker pioneered study in the fields of human capital, economics of the family, and economic analysis of crime, discrimination, addiction, and population. University of Chicago President Robert J. Zimmer said Becker will be remembered as one of the foremost economics scholars of the 20th century.
"Gary was a transformational thinker of truly remarkable impact on the world and an extraordinary individual," Zimmer said. "He was intellectually fearless. As a scholar and as a person, he represented the best of what the University of Chicago aspires to be."
In 2011, the University recognized Becker's contributions by naming a research institute in honor of him and his mentor, Milton Friedman, also a Nobel Prize-winning economist at UChicago. The Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics brings together many of the world's outstanding economists to advance and disseminate innovative research. Becker was named chair of the institute.
"Gary Becker was an exceptional intellectual leader," said Lars Peter Hansen, the David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, Statistics, and the College, research director of the Becker Friedman Institute and a fellow Nobel laureate in economics. "His pathbreaking research was remarkable in terms of its breadth, importance and creativity. For years he has been the personification of Chicago economics with his penetrating insights and analyses focusing on important economic and social challenges. His dedication to the University of Chicago and to Chicago economics was truly unique."
His friend, colleague, and fellow Nobel Laureate James J. Heckman remembered Becker as a brilliant and tough-minded thinker.
"He was a creative mind, and he ranged in his thinking across a large set of issues—the economics of education and skill formation, economics of discrimination, law and economics, the economics of social interactions, and economics of the family," Heckman said.
"He kept a finger on the pulse of American public policy [and] analyzed 'relevant' problems in a much deeper way than is usually associated with public policy," Heckman said. "It was not a 'quick answer' kind of analysis. He laid the framework for discussing social problems."
Longtime Becker collaborator Kevin Murphy recalled his senior colleague's love of economics and the University.
"He was devoted to and helped define Chicago Economics, a rich tradition that uses economics to understand and shape the world around us," said Murphy, the George J. Stigler Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the Chicago Booth School of Business. "Gary was an inspiration to several generations of Chicago students—instilling in them the love for economics that he lived and breathed."
"Gary was an outstanding scholar and a beloved professor," said Sunil Kumar, Chicago Booth Dean and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Operations Management. "The Booth community has suffered a great loss."
Becker broke new ground by approaching economics as the study of human behavior. He crossed disciplinary boundaries to apply core economic tenets—maximizing behavior, market equilibrium, stable preferences, and rational choice—to subjects thought to be the domain of sociology, psychology, law, and other fields.
Much of his work illuminates diverse aspects of human behavior that were previously considered to be largely irrational.
The Economics of Discrimination (1957) applied economic analysis to the study of prejudice against minorities. His 1964 book, Human Capital, examined how investments in a person's education and training pay off. In his 1981 book, A Treatise on the Family, he expanded that work to a study of the interactions within a family, including those between parents and children, husbands and wives, and among siblings. Becker concluded that women's entry into the work force and their increased earning power have reduced demand for children, because women's time has become more valuable.
Becker became one of the most-cited economists, yet his early career was fraught with controversy. Early on, economists questioned the value of his analysis of social problems. "For a long time, my type of work was either ignored or strongly disliked by most of the leading economists," Becker wrote in his autobiography. "I was considered way out and perhaps not really an economist."
Those early challenges only strengthened Becker's work, according to Heckman.
"He persevered in a scholarly way," said Heckman, the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor in Economics. "He didn't just listen to the critics—he responded to the critics. It always enriched him."
Born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Becker completed his undergraduate work summa cum laude in mathematics at Princeton University, where he "accidentally took a course in economics" as a freshman and was "greatly attracted by the mathematical rigor of a subject that dealt with social organization." He earned a master's degree and a PhD from the University of Chicago, where Milton Friedman became his enthusiastic mentor.
"Friedman considered him the best student he ever had," Heckman said. In later years Friedman would call Becker "the greatest social scientist who has lived and worked in the last half century."
After serving as an assistant professor in economics at UChicago from 1954 to 1957, Becker joined the faculty at Columbia University, where he conducted research at the National Bureau of Economic Research in New York.
At Columbia he started a workshop on labor economics and related subjects. He was joined after a few years by Columbia economist Jacob Mincer. "We had a very exciting atmosphere and attracted most of the best students at Columbia. Both Mincer and I were doing research on human capital before the subject was adequately appreciated in the profession at large, and the students found it fascinating. We were also working on the allocation of time and other subjects at the forefront of research," Becker wrote in his autobiography.
Upon returning to Chicago in 1970, Becker resumed his contact with leading economists on the faculty. In particular, he collaborated with George Stigler, also a Nobel Prize winning economist, with whom he wrote influential papers on the stability of tastes and an early treatment of the principal-agent problem, while pursuing his interest in the family.
Economics pervaded every aspect of Becker's life—even his marriage to University of Illinois at Chicago historian Guity Nashat Becker. The two met haggling over the price of a dining room set Becker had advertised. Becker refused to lower the price, but said he would allow her to take the furniture and pay for it later.
"I asked how come he wouldn't come down on the price, but he trusted me with the table before paying for it," she later recalled. He said: 'I didn't care about getting the money. But it was the principle, I did not want to sell it below what it was worth.' What surprised me even more was when he asked me to dinner."
The two married in 1980.
Reflecting his multidisciplinary interests, Becker was appointed professor in sociology in 1984 and held appointments at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the Law School in addition to serving on the economics faculty.
He worked with noted sociologist James Coleman, and the two taught an interdisciplinary faculty seminar on rational choice in the social sciences. He also taught a workshop for many years with Richard Posner, a federal appeals court judge and member of the University's Law School faculty. The two started the popular Becker-Posner blog in 2002. Becker was to remain active as a scholar and as a public intellectual until shortly before he died. His last two blog posts this year presented arguments in favor of legalizing marijuana and ending the U.S. embargo of Cuba. The blog led to a book based on their exchanges, Uncommon Sense: Economic Insights, from Marriage to Terrorism.
Becker was a founding member of the National Academy of Education and a fellow in the American Statistical Association, the Econometric Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population.
He also was a member of the American Economic Association, serving as its president in 1987.
In 1967, Becker was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal, then given once every two years to the most outstanding American economist under the age of 40. He also won the Seidman Award and the first social science Award of Merit from the National Institute of Health. He was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2000 for his work in social policy and the Presidential Medal of Honor in 2007. He received the University's Alumni Medal, the highest award the Alumni Association bestows, in 2010.
Gary Becker is survived by his wife Guity; two daughters, Catherine Becker and Judy Becker; a sister, Natalie Becker; two stepsons, Cyrus Claffey and Michael Claffey; two step-grandchildren; and two grandchildren.
The University of Chicago will plan a memorial service to honor Becker's life and work, with details to be announced at a later date.
- See more at: http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2014/05/04/gary-s-becker-nobel-winning-scholar-economics-and-sociology-1930-2014#sthash.aBvHiThy.dpuf
Read More Latest News »
Read More Booth In The News »
Aug 22, 2019 | Newsweek
Aug 20, 2019 | The New York Times
Aug 20, 2019 | The Washington Post
The University of Chicago
Booth School of Business
Office of Media Relations and Communications
5807 South Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60637
Contact Us »
Explore our University:
Faculty and Research »
Academic Programs »
Locations »
Follow Us
© Copyright 2004-2019 The University of Chicago Booth School of Business | Privacy Notice


text:
Groupon's stock was up 23% today.
Bloomberg is reporting there's speculation that Google might take over Groupon.
Two years ago, Google wanted to buy Groupon for $6 billion, but was rejected. Today, the company is worth $3 billion. While growth has slowed, its core business is bigger. Google might think that it could buy Groupon, shutter the underperforming businesses and fix the flaws.
Or, this could just be chatter. Bloomberg doesn't really source where the speculation is coming from.


text:
Harvey leaves Arsenal for Seattle
Friday 21 December 2012
Article summary
Laura Harvey is to step down as manager of UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-finalists Arsenal LFC to join Seattle Reign FC in the new American professional league.
Article top media content
Article body
Laura Harvey is to step down as manager of UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-finalists Arsenal LFC to join Seattle Reign FC in the newly-formed National Women's Soccer League.
Harvey joined Arsenal's coaching staff in 2008 and became manager during the 2009/10 season, earning three straight league titles and making two European semi-finals. She has also been part of the England women's coaching set-up having previously played for and managed at Birmingham City LFC. She will move to Seattle in January.
According to a club statement: "With Arsenal Ladies not returning to competitive action until their Champions League quarter-final tie with ASD Torres in March 2013, the Club will now undertake a considered and thorough search for Laura's replacement."
"I've had a wonderful four and a half years with Arsenal Ladies and would like to thank everyone at the club for the fantastic support they have shown me thoughout my time here," Harvey said. "A special thanks must go to [general manager] Vic Akers for giving me the opportunity to manage this special club. It was always going to be a huge challenge taking over from such a legendary figure in the women's game but I've learnt so much from Vic and can't thank him enough for all that he's done for me."
Akers, the manager that led Arsenal to the 2007 UEFA Women's Cup in his 20th year in charge not long before stepping aside, added: "I want to thank Laura on behalf of everyone at the Club for the fantastic work she has done over the last few years. What she has achieved with this team, both in terms of the trophies she's won and the players she's brought through, has been remarkable."
Arsenal, in their 11th quarter-final, take on Torres over two legs on 20/21 & 27/28 March, with the first at home, for the right to play either VfL Wolfsburg or FC Rossiyanka in the semi-finals. The final will be held in London on 23 May at Stamford Bridge.


text:
Parkers free car valuations
Before you click through, would you like to be kept up to date? Our advice is free, impartial and everything we do, is to help people like you find the right car for the right price!
Please do let us keep in contact so we make sure you don't miss out. You can unsubscribe at any time from any email we send you via the unsubscribe link or by emailing email@example.com
For our privacy policy go to Bauer data promise.
Bauer Media Group consists of Bauer Consumer Media Ltd, Bauer Radio Ltd and H Bauer Publishing
Visited before and already registered?
Simply enter your email address to access your valuation


text:
Salt Lake City, UT – September 30, 2010—ChartLogic, Inc. (www.chartlogic.com), a leading provider of Electronic Health Records (EHR) to physician practices since 1994, was one of the first vendors to receive EHR certification, Wednesday, September 29 by the Drummond Group, Inc. (DGI). DGI is one of three Authorized Testing and Certification Bodies (ATCB) accredited by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). ChartLogic's EHR certification is a critical milestone for its physician practice clientele who now have the assurance that ChartLogic's products will support achievement of meaningful use objectives. *
Continue reading: ChartLogic, Inc. – One of First EHR Providers to Receive ONC-ATCB Ehr Certification


text: Costume includes sequin corset, Sequin Skirt, Feather Wings, Halo. Sweetheart neckline corset dress made of high quality sequin fabric. Premium zipper used on side zipper closure with privacy panel behind zipper for comfort, 8 spiral steel bones and 4 static bones. 100% Cotton Twill lining, 6' Modesty panel, Nickel brass grommets with laces at back. Thick cording in the back for cinching. Hand Wash Only Sequin skirt has zipper closure and is fully lined. Style: costume-fantasy-fff2-td-932sequinangel This item is FINAL SALE and is not eligible for return or exchanges. NOTE: This item is an Expanded Assortment*. Please allow 3-4 business days for item to leave the warehouse.


text:
|Associate Head Men's Basketball Coach
|1st Season
|Alma Mater:
|Ithaca College, 2007
Tyler Papadinis begins his sixth season with the UMass Boston men's basketball team. The 2014-15 season will mark his first as the newly appointed Associate Head Coach, which was announced in October.
During the past few seasons, Papadinis has served as the Beacon's recruiting coordinator. He has helped recruit over 20 student athletes, most notably D3Hoops Northeast Region Rookie of the Year and Little East Conference Rookie of the Year Vinny DeLucia. He also recruited all conference rookie team members Carl Joseph and Dontreal Thomas.
Papadinis also assists in day to day basketball operations, including practice preparation, player development, film breakdown and game-day preparations.
Prior to his arrival at UMass Boston, Papadinis worked for the NBA's New York Knicks as the Basketball Operations Intern. He worked directly with players, coaches and staff members at the Knicks' training facility where he performed various tasks such as scheduling, creating travel itineraries, scouting reports and video coordination.
During his college years, he gained experience in collegiate athletics working for Cornell University and Ithaca College. He performed administrative duties and game-day operations for both schools and took a particular interest in the men's basketball programs.
Papadinis graduated from Ithaca College in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in sports management. He spent 2 years at St. Bonaventure University before transferring to Ithaca College in 2006. In 2012, he graduated from UMass Boston with a Master's degree in Business Administration. Papadinis works during the school year in several Boston Public Schools and spends his summer working basketball camps across New England. He currently resides in Quincy, Ma.


text:
Back to work (and highlights from a whirlwind trip)
I felt incredible driving to work yesterday morning. Refreshed, renewed, strong... at least until about 10:30 when we started pulling out silos to grade the seed. Our babies exploded while I was away! Not only was I huffing and puffing trying to pull the massive seed out, but my arms were completely out of shape. After a week. So pathetic. Yesterday we hit the tide early to change over some of the nursery bags to a larger size -- the seed we put out there a few weeks ago is massive but some of it may be out there for another 4-6 weeks so we want to make sure it has plenty of room to breathe. I love seeing the difference in size -- it seems so dramatic in such a short period of time.
As for the upwellers, I was happy to see that Eva and Catie (the other seed mamas) kept things under control. It's insane how heavy our silos have gotten. But, the fantastic news is: We've started planting. Just today in fact. For those who don't know, once Island Creek Oysters have reached a certain size in the nursery (about the size of a half dollar), they're planted on the bottom of the bay floor where they're grown "free range" as we like to call them. They won't attach to anything; they simply grow loose on the bottom. Over the next several months, they'll grow pretty big until the water temperature drops in November when they'll go dormant. Once the water warms back up in the spring, they'll continue growing until they reach full size (about three inches) around harvest time. We'll be harvesting this batch sometime in Fall 2010.
To get started with planting, we pulled about 75 bags of seed out of the river and spent the morning dumping it into the bottom of our boat. Skip then took the boat out to the now empty lease (we spent the last few weeks cleaning all of the oysters off the bottom) and with a snow shovel, carefully flung loads of seed out onto the bay floor (he did it at low tide so he could watch the way the seed distributes).
While planting is a good sign, we still have a ways to go with the seed. Skip is planting the first batch of seed we received this past May and he'll leave the newest seed in the nursery and upwelling system until they're as big as what he planted today. Berg broke it down for me yesterday: we keep the seed growing in the bags for as long as we possibly can because once we plant it, the growth that occurs on the bottom of the bay floor is out of our control. By keeping it in the bags, we're keeping them safe from predators and giving them a little breathing room to grow.
Essentially, my job as Mama-Seeda is winding down but we still have a long way to go to get it all planted.
In the meantime, summer is definitely winding down. Quinn headed back to Indiana University last weekend. Eva is here just one more week (which is devastating since she's been an enormous help on the seed); Pops is off to college in a few weeks and Maggie's headed back to grad school at the end of August. "In the fall," Maggie said yesterday, "you guys will feel like it went by in a blink." She's right. Summer is just way too short. But don't worry about us. We're soaking up every second. We wind down the day with a swim and are doing everything we can to soak up the sun (with sunscreen on, of course).
Now, to the trip. There are way too many great stories to tell so I'll keep it focused on the food. A few dining highlights:
Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland We found this spot on Saturday night after taking in a baseball game. It's right in the theater district and had the best crispy frites topped with a poached egg. Also discovered Dogfish Brewery's Theobroma. Love it.
Founder's Brewing, Grand Rapids, MI Dave has become quite the beer nerd which pleases me to no end since it gives us an excuse to hit up every divey beer bar and brewery we come across. At the Publick House (where he bartends) he serves Founders' Centennial Ale among others so we stopped into the brewery on our way through Michigan. Beautiful space with lots of windows and long, winding bar plus views into the on-site brewery. The beer cheese dip (made with cream chese, gouda, plus three of their beers: Pale Ale, Red Rye, and IPA) was a gooey, outstanding road snack.
Alinea, Chicago Words can hardly describe this one. We were blown away from the minute we sat down. It's a dining/theatrical experience, from the rock-heated basil and tomato vines (served as an aromatic essence to accompany heirloom tomato salad) to the nitrogen-frozen mousse finale (wherein chef Grant Achatz himself arrives at the table to plate a variety of blueberry sauces, maple-wood globes, the mousse, malted ice cream, and fresh thyme artistically across a silicon pad set directly on the table and then tells the diner: "the rest is up to you.")
I am still wide eyed over the white chocolate sphere filled with watermelon liquid and accompanying straw filled with raspberry jam AND Bubbilicious bubble gum and piece of caramel-drizzled bacon served from a string. Also adored the "steak and potato" course with sous vide wagyu beef, potato crisp covered potato cream cube and involved a centerpiece that spewed dry ice and the smell of the grill (garlic, thyme, smoke) across our table in wisps of smoke. Oh, and there was a packet of powdered A-1. We managed to catch a little piece of it here.
[vodpod id=Groupvideo.3175647&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]
Map Room, Chicago Another beer lovers' haunt, complete with volumes and volumes of National Geographics stacked in the bookcase. We hit this post-Alinea so our palates were fuzzy but the Guldenberg was a nice nightcap.
The Publican, Chicago Our final stop before the long car ride home. The design and decor are really unique with long, communal tables, tall, stiff-backed chairs and beautiful wood and brass fixtures. We were there for afternoon service (3:30-5:30) so didn't have the full menu or a big crowd but the space was filling up by the time we left. The limited menu was a perfect sampling of their easy, lighter dishes. We took in some frites (also offered with a poached egg - I'm seeing a midwest trend here) as well as some oysters (the chef's selection, decent but ultimately disappointing since they weren't our own) and the charcuterie plate (pork pie; duck liver terrine; spicy Spanish sausage; and a first for me, raisin mustard).
Eastern Standard, Boston
Ok, ok. Not on the itinerary but we did end our vacation here on Sunday night. Garrett Harker invited locally based friends that are originally from in and around the Maryland area to join him for an authentic Maryland-style crab festival and it was glorious. Newspapers, mallets, Old Bay, Natty Bo in the can, tasty crabs, and yes (YES!), TastyCakes for dessert (Mom, you would have loved it.) It ended with CJ laying face down on the table due to a self-induced food coma (he survived) along with us leaving in time to get a full night sleep and head back to work on Monday morning.
It is fantastic to be home but sadly, staring into our far-too-empty fridge makes me really want to go back to Chicago. Or at least crack open some Island Creeks.


text:
Childrens Character Disney Cars 3 Lightning McQueen Bubble LCD Watch DC315
Sorry, this product is now discontinued and is no longer available.
We Price Match!Seen it cheaper?
Character Disney Cars 3 Lightning McQueen Bubble LCD DC315 is a functional Childrens watch. Case material is Plastic/Resin while the dial colour is LCD. The features of the watch include (among others) a date function. The watch is shipped with an original box and a guarantee from the manufacturer.
This watch is supplied with:
- check Official Character presentation box
- check Official Character guarantee
- check Instruction manual (where applicable)
This product can be shipped to:
- UK (United Kingdom)
- EU (European Union)
Share this product
Should you find any item not to your liking, simply return the unwanted item(s) to us using the enclosed returns form and your purchase will be refunded in full. We assure you of a smooth, easy, and zero hassle returns procedure if you change your mind for any reason. Please note that earrings and other items of body jewellery cannot be returned for refund as unwanted items in the interests of hygiene. Currently, refunds are processed in an average of 2 days after receipt (Live statistic)
FREE Click & Collect for orders over £25.00 from any mainland participating partner showrooms* (excluding airports and orders paid for by PayPal or Interest Free Credit). For more information on our new Click & Collect scheme please see this link (*UK only)
Own this item? Click here to write a review
Other independent review sources
Past Reviews
this watch is digital watch but it has big bubble .. littile difficult to see the time .. and it was mentioned that it has back light which is not.. . but any ways my son liked it because of mcqueen character..
Inspired by iconic characters from blockbuster film and television franchises, this fantastic range of timepieces certainly catches the eye. From the unmistakable blue and yellow of the Minions or the frosty sparkle of Frozen, to the dark shadows of Batman's Gotham and the striking red and gold of Iron Man's armour, Character's colourful collection is unashamedly fun for children (and adults!) of all ages.
Watch Shop is an authorised Character stockist.
Love Character?
Sign up to receive email updates when new styles of Character are added to Watch Shop!


text:
Iran Live Coverage: Seizing the Children of the Detained Opposition Leaders
See also Syria & Iran Follow-Up: The Real Story of "Syria's Iran-Hezbollah 50,000-Man Militia" in 3 Easy Steps br>
Monday's Iran Live Coverage: "Viva Spring" --- Ahmadinejad Launches An Election Campaign
1845 GMT: The Battle Within. The "Council of Explaining Basij Student Positions of Greater Tehran" has warned President Ahmadinejad, Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, and head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani that they will be branded "traitors" if they continue their disputes.
The Council said that, if the disagreement persisted, "[We will] certainly confront you in the way that is suitable."