Innovation Crossroads company secures ORNL Lab MATCH win

ThermoVerse, a startup founded by Shantonio Birch, has taken a step forward with its win in Phase 2 of the Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions’ American-Made Lab MATCH Prize. In collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Birch’s company is developing transactive energy management systems based on thermal energy storage, a technology with the potential to shift and reduce heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) heat loads by 40% or more Building performance standards.

Expanding Frontiers also secured a Phase 2 award for an innovative carbon capture technology developed by ORNL’s Kashif Nawaz, a research associate and department head for building technology research. The cooling tower-based system captures carbon dioxide using existing building infrastructure. This method reduces greenhouse gas emissions by absorbing CO2 into a liquid medium that can then be used for other products. The technology is cost-effective, adaptable to different building types and improves thermal management of waste heat, making it a sustainable solution for reducing emissions in commercial buildings, industrial plants and power generation plants.

The Lab MATCH – Laboratory Making Advanced Technology Commercialization Harmonized – Prize is a three-phase competition that accelerates innovation in clean energy through prizes, training, mentorship and cross-sector collaboration. As Phase 2 winners, both companies will receive $50,000 in commercialization funding.

ThermoVerse’s work focuses on integrating distributed energy resources such as electric vehicles, solar energy and other sustainable technologies into the grid while managing thermal loads in buildings. Birch, a graduate of the National GEM Consortium and a 2023 Innovation Crossroads Cohort Fellow, has worked with ORNL scientists to commercialize his startup’s proprietary technology called LATCHES (large-scale transactive cooling, heating and energy storage).

“Winning Phase 2 is not only a victory for ThermoVerse, but also for energy justice,” Birch said.