Overall Rating Platinum - expired
Overall Score 86.82
Liaison Richard Demerjian
Submission Date March 28, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of California, Irvine
IN-26: Innovation C

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Michael Klopfer
CalPlug Technical Director
California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2)
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name or title of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome:
Coffee Buddy

A brief description of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome that outlines how credit criteria are met and any positive measurable outcomes associated with the innovation:

The innovative Coffee Buddy project is the result of a collaboration among UCI students, faculty, and staff engaged in developing energy savings solutions for point-of-use water heating or cooling, a significant contributor to plug load energy use and related carbon emissions. The device, named “Coffee Buddy,” has the potential to reduce commercial coffee maker energy use up to 50 percent. The device attaches to the appliance and uses intelligent sensors and controls to raise the temperature of the coffee maker when it senses nearby customers, workers, and students. The retrofit has gained the attention of several national retail chains that have offered to help conduct field tests.

The project received significant institutional support as it was developed through the PlugLoad Advanced Controls (PAC) program within UCI’s California Plug (CalPlug) Load Research Center. CalPlug is currently continuing to develop the core energy management control system of the Coffee Buddy device to enable original equipment manufacturers to implement the intelligence software when new coffee makers are constructed. The two-pronged PAC program aims to develop consumer-friendly solutions for managing energy use in smaller devices as well as developing the engineering and technical policy leaders of the future.

UCI students working on the Coffee Buddy – Siddhant Kasat, Omair Farooqui, Cameron Haddad, Nicholas Vong, and Arya Kalantar – presented a business model for the Coffee Buddy and advanced to the final rounds of the 2017 Beall New Venture and the Beall and Butterworth Product Development competitions at the UCI Paul Merage School of Business.

See: http://antrepreneur.uci.edu/blog/startups/coffee-buddy/


Which of the following impact areas does the innovation most closely relate to? (select up to three):
Research
Energy
Food & Dining

A letter of affirmation from an individual with relevant expertise or a press release or publication featuring the innovation :
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The California Plug Load Research Center (CalPlug) was established to improve energy efficiency in the use and design of appliances and consumer electronic devices. CalPlug focuses on energy efficiency solutions, efficiency evaluations of consumer electronics, standards development, education and public outreach, and user behavior studies. CalPlug will address challenges in plug load efficiency for both residential and commercial buildings by collaborating closely with utilities, manufacturers, advocacy groups, research institutions, and energy policy makers.
See: http://calplug.org/about


The California Plug Load Research Center (CalPlug) was established to improve energy efficiency in the use and design of appliances and consumer electronic devices. CalPlug focuses on energy efficiency solutions, efficiency evaluations of consumer electronics, standards development, education and public outreach, and user behavior studies. CalPlug will address challenges in plug load efficiency for both residential and commercial buildings by collaborating closely with utilities, manufacturers, advocacy groups, research institutions, and energy policy makers.
See: http://calplug.org/about

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.