---
title: "Frio - Smart fridge system for hotels"
description: "Frio - Smart fridge system for hotels (NKC Nakanishi Metal Works, 2019/20): A slimmer hotel minibar switches itself on and off with guest bookings"
url: "https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/frio-smart-fridge-system-for-hotels-2019-20/"
lang: "en"
---

# Frio - Smart fridge system for hotels

**A slimmer hotel minibar switches itself on and off with guest bookings**

_Small sized cooling technology, for the dignity and health of society_

- **Corporate partner:** [NKC Nakanishi Metal Works](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/network/partners/nkc-nakanishi-metal-works/)
- **Cohort:** [2019/20](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/cohort/2019-20/)
- **Theme:** [Sustainability & resources](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/projects/themes/sustainability-resources/)
- **Type:** Physical product
- **Key fact:** 100 mm Smaller exterior at the same inner volume
- **Universities:** [Design Factory Melbourne · Swinburne](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/network/universities/dfm/), [Kyoto Institute of Technology](https://www.sugar-network.org/en/network/universities/kyoto-it/)
- **Team:** 7 master students
- **Disciplines:** Architecture, Computational Design, Design, Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- **Further partners:** 

## Challenge

Hotel minibars run all the time because they are not tied to key-card power, which wastes energy across every room. NKC Nakanishi Metal Works wanted its Kaimen micro-cooling technology to create value for society.

## What the team learned

Hotel fridges are among the most energy-hungry appliances in a room. Their size limits room design, and buying in-room items is often cumbersome for guests.

## What they built

Frio pairs a compact smart fridge, cooled by Kaimen micro-cooling, with software linked to the hotel's property management system. It reads bookings to switch fridges on and off, monitors temperature and costs, lets guests check prices and order, and tracks consumption for billing.

## Impact

Hotel staff can monitor power use and savings across all rooms with less manual effort. The team expects the space and energy savings to pay off for hotels over time.

## Full project text

Frio is a comprehensive energy saving solution that comprises a physical smart fridge which will be placed in the hotel rooms.

### Challenge

In a hotel room, minibars or hotel fridges are usually available in standard sizes since they need to provide an appropriate inner volume for users. As the food stored within could be perishable, they are not dependent on the key cards that control the electrical supply to hotel rooms and their power supply needs to be turned on and off manually. Continually switched on fridges would consume a large amount of energy in all the hotel rooms as a whole unit.

### Solution

Our solution Frio is a smart device that uses the micro-cooling technology by Kaimen to provide a compact exterior surface that is smaller than the current standard size by 100 mm while providing the exact same inner volume. Frio is a comprehensive energy-saving solution that comprises a physical smart fridge which will be placed in the hotel rooms and an integrated digital system can be controlled by the hotel staff to monitor the power consumption and profit savings in varying periods across all hotel rooms.

### Impact

The system can be integrated with varying property management systems as per the convenience of the hotel staff to identify the check-in and check-out dates of the customers to accordingly switch the refrigerator on and off. It is a space and energy optimization solution that can be monitored and controlled to minimize manual effort and yield profits in the long run.

## Who built it.

- Prarthan Baxi, Design (Design Factory Melbourne · Swinburne)
- Ricardo Costa, Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Design Factory Melbourne · Swinburne)
- Sanika Dandekar, Design (Design Factory Melbourne · Swinburne)
- Matthew Wohlabaugh, Design (Kyoto Institute of Technology)
- Narumi Ono, Architecture (Kyoto Institute of Technology)
- Reo Yasue, Computational Design (Kyoto Institute of Technology)
- Takumi Kaiya, Computational Design (Kyoto Institute of Technology)

## Video

- vimeo: https://vimeo.com/423483710

## Sources

Summarised by the SUGAR editorial team from the team’s project page and SUGAR Expo booklet.

Open the 2019/20 booklet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HRinlCvEZz5PSpew8VDcZzSIFRCUEvxc/view?usp=sharing