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Shift Thermal debuts FLEX technology with commercial installation

New technology launched at the Oak Ridge Civic Center

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Shift Thermal's Mitch Ishmael at ribbon cutting ceremony.
Mitchell Ishmael, Shift Thermal cofounder and chief technology officer, celebrated the first commercial deployment of the FLEX technology at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on October 23. Credit: Alonda Hines/ ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Shift Thermal, part of the 2017 Innovation Crossroads cohort at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has partnered with the city of Oak Ridge to launch their thermal energy storage system, FLEX, at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. 

The technology:

  • Shift Thermal’s FLEX technology is designed to help commercial users lower their energy costs. Low-cost, off-peak power is used to make ice, which is then stored inside the tank. The stored ice supplements the cooling system and improves operational efficiency during hotter parts of the day, when power is more expensive.
  • The technology builds on a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) signed with ORNL and the company is positioned to move into a rapidly growing market, data center cooling.

The impact:

  • Shift Thermal, members of the inaugural cohort of Innovation Crossroads, has installed their first commercial system at the Oak Ridge Civic Center. This technology will help lower energy costs.
  • The FLEX system is scalable for buildings of varying shapes and sizes, because it can be added in separate, modular increments, or simply in one large field erected installation.
  • Shift Thermal is exploring expansion into data center cooling. According to the Pew Research Center, U.S. data centers consumed more than 4 percent of the country’s total electricity consumption in 2024. By 2030, this figure is projected to grow by 133 percent. A significant component of energy use at data centers are the cooling systems that prevent servers from overheating. This share ranges from about 7 percent at efficient hyperscalers to over 30 percent at less efficient enterprise facilities. 

ORNL’s Innovation Crossroads advantage:

  • Shift Thermal came to Oak Ridge in 2017 to join Innovation Crossroads. They stayed in the area after the completion of the program, expanding operations. They have since grown their staff.
  • The Innovation Crossroads program not only provided Shift Thermal with the resources to develop their technology from idea to market technology, but it also connected the startup with members of the local entrepreneurship community, including eventual investors Three Roots Capital and Market Square Ventures.
    • “The Innovation Crossroads team has believed in me, coached me and helped me grow and mature into the entrepreneur I am today,” said Mitchell Ishmael, cofounder and Chief Technology Officer, Shift Thermal. “ORNL researchers at the Building Equipment Research Group worked with me on CRADAs, made invaluable introductions within industry, and provided exceptional feedback on technical ideas. ORNL has been a crucial part of my resilient team, and I am so thankful to be a part of this ecosystem.” 

What’s next:

Interested in learning more? Are you an aspiring hard tech entrepreneur? Learn more about Innovation Crossroads.