EPA Experts Review Draft Of Energy Star Criteria For Coffee Brewers

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- A highlight of the NAMA Coffee, Tea & Water conference was a workshop conducted by representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency, which is developing Energy Star specifications for commercial coffee brewing equipment. The EPA's Kirsten Hesla, Tom Schultz and Adam Spitz explained that the agency presently is meeting with manufacturers and users to refine the first draft of energy efficiency criteria for coffee brewers, which was published in March of last year, reviewed at stakeholder meetings, assembled into a framework document and released as a first draft in October. Stakeholder meetings are now in progress, and the CTW workshop is part of this process.

Hesla led off by recalling that the Energy Star program, an alliance between government and business designed to reduce energy costs, is more than two decades old and has won widespread consumer recognition. Its specifications now cover some 70 product categories, and have been developed cooperatively by 16,000 businesses and public sector organizations. Once consensus is reached on a standard, third-party certification evaluates a piece of equipment according to the specification.

Of particular interest to the coffee service segment is "Type II" equipment, which is defined in three volume classifications and evaluated by ASTM's F2990-12 standard test method. "Small" brewers deliver between 24 fl.oz. and 128 fl.oz. (1 gal.) of coffee; "medium" models produce between 1 gal. and 2 gal.; and "large" ones handle between 2 gals. and 3 gals. Higher-capacity equipment (urns and satellite brewers) producing more than 384 fl.oz., identified as "Type III," are outside the scope of current testing methods.

So are "Type I" single-cup brewers -- and bean-to-cup brewers, espresso machines and liquid- and soluble-coffee dispensers. Hesla explained that the scope of covered products will be expanded when the necessary testing methods have been developed, or sufficient information on their performance becomes available. She noted that, at present, home single-cup brewers' energy consumption is so similar among models that no energy saving seems possible.

For Type II brewers, the proposed energy efficiency standard calls for normalized power consumption of 65W. per gallon when ready to brew, and 280W./gal. under heavy-use brewing. Normalization, she explained, allows EPA to set one performance level that accounts for differences in tank capacities and brewing ratios.

In the ensuing discussion, an audience member pointed out that the temperature of water in the tank has to be high enough to ensure that the water is at the optimum temperature for flavor extraction when it actually enters the grounds bed. Depending on a number of variables, this should be between 190°F. and 205°F. If the criterion determined for the tank assumes that water will reach the grounds at 190°F., then the same machine will consume more energy if it's adjusted for a brewing temperature of 205°F. The altitude at which the brewer is used also affects this variable.

Another participant pointed out that the water in the tank should not be allowed to fall below 143°F. for any length of time, since bacteria will grow readily at lower temperatures. It also was pointed out that lowering the tank temperature can accelerate mineral deposition.

Additional reporting requirements include pre-heat time and energy use, production capacity (volume per hour) for heavy-use brewing and average tank temperature when in "ready to brew" idle mode. Draft 1 does not include requirements related to machines that offer an "energy-saving" mode, since there are too few data points presently available.

Hesla asked the audience to consider ways in which the industry can work cooperatively with EPA in gathering the data needed to develop practical, comprehensive standards. She concluded by reporting that the second draft is slated for completion by mid-December, and comments on it will be invited through mid-January 2016. The final draft then will be prepared and issued in February of next year, with another comment period ending in March.