Preparing for the AI Energy Era
ThermoVerse is a Detroit-based urban innovation startup founded by engineer and researcher Shantonio Birch. The company’s work centers on advanced thermal energy storage and people-focused building technologies that reduce waste, stabilize indoor environments, and free up electrical capacity. SBN Detroit interviewed Birch about the future of grid resiliency, energy equity, and why Southeast Michigan is positioned to lead in next-generation smart city innovation. Q: What is the impetus behind the work you do? A: ThermoVerse is focused on one of the biggest stability issues we face: how do we allow high-energy users like data centers to coexist in communities without competing for the same energy we need to heat homes and businesses? Our goal is to reduce the largest source of energy consumption in buildings — the HVAC system — so more energy is available at the panel. We want to empower building owners to turn their buildings into value-added assets instead of liabilities. Q: What are the biggest challenges buildings face? A: It all comes down to energy. There are many issues in the built environment, and I think of buildings like the human body — everything is connected. We talk about indoor air quality and comfort, but when you look at economic development, the thing that will get this nation moving is our relationship to energy. Right now, poor power quality is being distributed through the grid and into homes, affecting how our devices and systems function. When you layer on additional demand from advanced manufacturing, EVs, and AI data centers, we’re going to experience more brownouts and blackouts. That’s the biggest challenge buildings are facing: how do we allow this huge economic wave — fueled by AI — without compromising communities? Q: What technologies or approaches will have the greatest impact on reducing energy waste in buildings? A: Anything simple. The biggest barrier for new technology is integration, so solutions have to be straightforward. I believe thermal energy storage is a major opportunity. It will play a huge role in meeting grid-resiliency needs. Renewables like solar are valuable, but they don’t solve the smart-growth challenge we face. We need growth that strengthens the grid rather than stressing it. Q: How does better thermal management translate into healthier or safer living conditions? A: I found my way into this field because I experienced heat stress in my own townhouse apartment during the pandemic while studying at U-M. I was close to heat stroke. We’re seeing more and more cases of heat stress in hospitals and communities now. Better thermal management helps reduce those risks. Beyond the health impact, there’s the economic side. Many people are spending a significant portion of their income on utilities. Improved thermal performance means lower bills, better living conditions, and more resilience as heat waves become more frequent. Q: What role can innovation play in addressing energy inequity — especially in aging housing stock and low-income communities? A: I’ll say this boldly: most existing building technologies were not designed with equity or people in mind. They were built around the question, “How do we cool this space so we can have people here?” At ThermoVerse, we flip that script. We build around the people first. People-centric technologies will play a huge role in reducing energy demand and supporting smart growth so AI and other advancements can coexist with communities instead of overwhelming them. Q: What makes Southeast Michigan a meaningful place to build and test smart-city and energy-efficiency technologies? A: If you look at major cities like Chicago or New York, Detroit stands out. We have the greatest potential for smart-city innovation because our built environment is underdeveloped in certain areas, making the starting point ideal. We can embed smart infrastructure into buildings more easily to enable fluid energy transfer between the grid and the built environment. There’s also a level of openness and willingness here that you don’t always find in cities that are already fully built out. Q: What barriers still slow down the adoption of innovative building technologies, even when they’re proven to reduce waste? A: Integration. That is the barrier for most proven technologies. We also have split incentives in the built environment. Building owners are our customers, but their customers — the tenants — want a better user experience. Then you have utilities, with power-purchase agreements and rate structures that complicate adding new technologies. And finally, the contractors. They’re the ones installing the equipment. If they don’t understand how a new technology fits into existing systems, it won’t be integrated. Heat pumps are a good example — contractor knowledge gaps can slow down adoption, even when the technology is solid. Q: For building owners looking to modernize, where should they focus first to get the biggest energy impact? A: If you’re going to modernize, you have to measure. Establish a baseline. Invest in sensors and meters to understand your energy use down to the unit. You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Once you have visibility, you can start thinking about the ecosystem of technologies that will create the biggest short-term and long-term impact. Ultimately, we need buildings — and neighborhoods — where energy flows bi-directionally between the grid and the built environment. Q: Looking ahead, what do you believe will define the next chapter of energy innovation in Detroit and more broadly? A: Detroit has a deep understanding of how communities and businesses coexist. The next evolution of the built environment here will be people-based — designed around the experience of living and working well. Nationally, we’re at a very interesting moment in energy. For years, the “energy transition” has been politicized, and we’re now looking at it through an economic lens driven by AI. The biggest opportunity ahead is doubling our energy production to meet the demands of AI data centers. The White House recently launched the Genesis Mission — the largest investment in strengthening our national energy reserve to prepare for the new digital era. There’s an enormous opportunity for young people to enter this
Ascend Energy & Mobility Accelerator Works to Bring Sustainability Solutions to Fruition
The Ascend Energy & Mobility Accelerator – a collaboration of VentureWell and TechTown Detroit funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Translations – offers support to entrepreneurs creating solutions focused on emissions reductions, smart mobility technologies, and infrastructure development. Ascend is entering its second year after providing resources and training to ten startups in 2023. SBN Detroit spoke to Tricia Compas-Markman, director of National Venture Programs for VentureWell about the program and its impact on businesses and the economy in Southeast Michigan. Q: What is the Ascend Energy and Mobility Accelerator and how did it come to be? A: Ascend is powered by VentureWell and TechTown Detroit and is funded through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of Technology Translations. VentureWell, a nonprofit providing training, funding, and resources to science- and technology-focused innovators and startup teams across the country partnered with TechTown in 2017 to create an investor engagement program to educate innovators and entrepreneurs on how to raise funds to support their inventions. We began to see a gap. These individuals and startups needed more support when it came to customer discovery and commercial launch. We received a $500,000 award from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions to create programming and support for energy startup teams and entrepreneurs and launched the Ascend Energy & Mobility Accelerator, which trained its inaugural cohort of ten Michigan startups in 2023. We were then one of four incubators to receive a grand prize in the Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC). This prize funding will also support VentureWell and TechTown Detroit in running additional Ascend programs in 2024-2025 and beyond. Q: Tell me about the program. A: It’s a six-week program that helps bridge that gap I mentioned between customer discovery and investment readiness. We focus on mostly hardware solutions around energy and mobility problems, so these can be innovations around EV batteries, charging stations, safety, performance, and more. Q: What are some examples of startups you worked with in the launch-year program? A: Surge Mobility is a great example. This is a software management program that streamlines the EV charging process for drivers. Another example is Freight Miner, a startup based in Ann Arbor that’s developing autonomous driving technologies for commercial fleet trucks. Energy-focused startups in the cohort included ThermoVerse, which is developing cost-effective heating and cooling energy retrofits for low-to-middle-income housing property managers, enabling energy-efficient building upgrades without the need to open up walls. Another is VMX Green, a woman-owned recycling company that is now developing a recycling process for automotive end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, allowing for safer and more sustainable disposal of hazardous waste materials. Q: How does the work you are doing involve businesses and the economy in Southeast Michigan? A: In a couple of ways. First, VentureWell acts as a connector, so we are working within the regional ecosystem to help these innovators and startups connect and network. This provides opportunities for all. The community is already robust, and we are there to elevate existing resources. Second, we bring in mentors who act as an extended part of the teaching team. Many of our mentors are active investors and successful entrepreneurs who also assist in getting the teams connected to local business opportunities and networks. Example mentors include Erika Block, Ellington Ellis, Anne Maghas, Domineca Neal, and DeWayne Williams. VentureWell and TechTown Detroit are also supported by an active regional advisory committee made up of mobility and energy experts in Detroit and the local region, including Tu Le (Mobility EIR, TechTown), Alisyn Malek (serial entrepreneur and mobility expert), Clay Phillips (Mobility Technology Lead, Michigan Small Business Development Center), and Sherelle Streeter (Senior Mobility Strategist, Office of Mobility Strategy – Detroit). Q: What is the end goal? A: The end goal for the teams following the intensive six-week program is to make progress (validate product-market fit, clearly tell their story, and understand the financing landscape) and leave the program with a community of people supporting them, including peers, program mentors, and connections to the local ecosystem so they can achieve their next milestones. Our intention is for them to come out with a viable financial and business model. During the final two days of the program, we host in-person networking events at TechTown to connect these startups to partners, service providers, and investors with the intention of creating more resources and opportunities. It can be overwhelming to navigate the ecosystem here so we provide support to our alumni teams and, oftentimes, those who don’t make the cohort and need more preparation to do so. Q: How do you think the startups coming out of the program will impact the region? A: First, these entrepreneurs and startups create job opportunities for others. We also had two teams last year that were not from Michigan, who are now establishing business operations in Michigan – Surge Mobility from Turkey and Voltaic Marine Inc. from Beaverton, Oregon. There is a lot of innovation coming out of Michigan, but often founders leave to follow the money. When we can keep talent here, and also bring talent in, I think that’s a big win. We want inventors to stay local and give back to their communities. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates on sustainable business practices in and around Detroit.
