Standards Spotlight

Roses are red; violets are blue. We love standards, and so do you! Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, but not even a pandemic can put a stop to love. According to a survey by the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend nearly $22 billion on gifts for their loved ones, including pets and family members this year. There are so many ways to celebrate your loved ones in a pandemic, and ANSI members support various kinds of romantic dates.

With indoor dining closed or at lower capacities, many businesses are getting creative with beautiful outdoor dining areas. Many restaurants offer patrons the option of personal tents or heated glass boxes, which shield diners from the elements while still keeping different parties distanced from one another. In 2020, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), an ANSI member and audited designator, published a fact sheet on "Building and Life Safety Issues for Tents." Additionally, NFPA's “Outdoor Heater Safety” fact sheet provides guidelines for safe use of portable outdoor heaters at restaurants (in addition to schools, offices, and other spaces).

We’re still a long way away from being able to go to movie theaters again safely, but dinner and a movie is still a classic way to spend time with a loved one. For now, the safest place to watch a movie with a loved one is probably in our own homes. CEA CEDIA CEB23-2010, Home Theater Video Design, is a bulletin published by the Consumer Technology Association, an ANSI member and ANSI-accredited standards developer. This guide provides a standardized approach to theater installation and performance objectives with recommendations for the design of high performance home theaters that meet or exceed the commercial experience. CSA C382-11, Energy performance of television and displays, specifies the test method for measuring the energy performance and defines the performance requirements of displays with a viewable screen size greater than or equal to 75 cm (30 in) diagonal and of televisions of all sizes. CSA C382-11 was developed by CSA Group, an ANSI member and accredited standards developer.

By now, we’ve probably all tried making our own bread to pass the time, but how about trying to make your own wine? Thanks to the internet, grape presses for wine making are easy to find and purchase, and there is perhaps nothing more romantic than making wine with your significant other, except for perhaps drinking the wine together. ISO 5703:1979, Equipment For Vine Cultivation And Wine Making - Grape Presses - Methods Of Test, specifies technical test methods for grape presses and applies to continuous and discontinuous presses. ISO 5703 was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 23, Tractors and machinery for agriculture and forestry. The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) administers the ANSI-accredited U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to ISO TC 23.

However you decide to celebrate your loved ones this Valentine’s Day, it is now more important than ever to let the people in your life know that you love and cherish them. Whether you go out or stay in, we hope you have a good Valentine’s Day!