IDC Awarded Energy Optimization Research Contract From the EPA

Rolla, Missouri [4/26/2010] - IDC has been awarded a grant from the EPA to research automated energy optimization algorithms for residential buildings. This work aligns with projects being completed on the Missouri S&T campus for the solar house team. This marks one of the few times a small business owned and operated by students has applied and won this type of research grant.

The Interdisciplinary Design Collaborative (IDC) has won its first Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant funded by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). After five attempts at acquiring SBIR funding, IDC was awarded its first full Phase 1 grant for energy monitoring and optimization techno logy. Four awards from Missouri Technology Incentive Program grants in early 2009 gave them the opportunity to pursue multiple SBIR grants. Winning this award will give IDC and Missouri S&T the chance to research potentially groundbreaking technology and, through further funding, take this technology to market within the next couple of years.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) administers the SBIR program. This program ensures that the nation's small, high-tech, innovative businesses are a significant part of the federal government's research and development efforts. The EPA participates in the SBIR program, along with ten other federal departments.

The period of performance for this grant is six months, in which time the team will use the awarded monies to determine the feasibility of an adaptive energy management system that will use a series of calculated optimization algorithms to suggest or execute energy saving actions. A computer will automatically collect and analyze data to determine and locate energy losses and wasted energy in a building. These optimization algorithms will learn users’ habits and use historical data to instantaneously analyze building energy needs to reduce energy consumption. By using this information, a home can be managed and controlled more efficiently by manual (suggesting) and automatic (executing) management. This innovation will provide basis for any homeowner to easily save energy based on their usage requirements.

Original concepts for the research came from team members' involvement in the Solar Decathlon competition. IDC coordinated talent from the student design team and is working closely with the university to place a series of sensors in S&T's Solar Village to collect data correlating to energy consumption over time. With this in place, a series of algorithms can be designed to optimize energy consumption in a building. These algorithms will be tested to assure greatest optimization throughout the project.

The SBIR program's merits lie in the highly technical and innovative technologies that it produces for small businesses. IDC is one of the few known companies to receive a such a grant which is solely owned and operated by undergraduate and graduate students at a university. As recent winners of the Missouri Small Business & Technological Development Center's Rising Stars of Entrepreneurship Award and Nominees for the Missouri System Entrepreneurs of the year, IDC has had a successful 2009 and this award is a good indication of an even more fruitful 2010.

IDC's business model relies on the technological talents of students at Missouri S&T that are looking for real world industry experience while still attending school. Students with specific skills are subcontracted by IDC and rely on IDC's collective business acumen to capitalize on their technical prowess. Started in 2008, IDC has since launched a video production operation winning multiple significant contracts, carved into Apple’s iPhone App market, and won multiple government R&D grants to advance cutting edge technology in a variety of sectors.

For media inquiries and more information contact:

RJ Miller

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www.idesignco.org

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