The U.S. Department of Energy will continue to support vacuum insulated glass maker LuxWall’s Detroit expansion under a negotiated cost-sharing agreement, the company announced Sept. 10, continuing federal support for a 276,000-square-foot manufacturing plant.
The agency did not immediately respond to ENR’s questions about the current federal cost share, how the agreement relates to the $31.7 million grant originally awarded to the project under the Biden administration and rescinded by the Trump administration last year, or how much funding has been disbursed to LuxWall.
Company CEO Scott Thomsen said in written responses to ENR that the deal is “a continuation of the existing project” rather than a new federal award. The company declined to disclose the amount of federal funding the deal provides.
Luxwall said the building shell is complete, with equipment installed and commissioned. Series production is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2027, with the first commercial shipments expected in the second half of the year.
Oliver/Hatcher, based in Novi, Mich., is the general contractor for the design and construction of the plant, and Detroit Architectural Group is the architect of record. LuxWall said the facility would have up to 277 employees at capacity. A Detroit building permit issued on April 7, 2025, lists a contractor-estimated construction cost of about $14.3 million for a 275,000-square-foot high-impact manufacturing facility at the site.
Federal funding makes a round trip
DOE selected LuxWall in November 2023 for a $31.7 million federal cost share through the Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program, which supports eligible manufacturing projects in communities affected by the closure of coal mines or coal-fired power plants. The agency classified LuxWall’s vacuum-insulated glass as an energy-saving technology.
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) said LuxWall’s funding ended in the fall of 2025 and the company appealed the decision to the DOE.
On October 1, 2025, the DOE announced it was ending 321 financial awards supporting 223 projects worth about $7.56 billion, although the department did not identify LuxWall. ENR later reported that two West Coast hydrogen centers also appealed the funding termination.
Dingell said he intervened with the DOE after LuxWall notified him of the termination. “When I heard that this administration was trying to revoke federal funding for Michigan manufacturing, I knew I had to act,” he said in an April 8 statement. “Working with LuxWall, we were able to recover the $31.7 million federal grant.”
When asked what changed during the negotiations, LuxWall said the DOE and the company “aligned on an updated path” that maintains the project’s core goals while incorporating lessons from LuxWall’s first manufacturing plant in Litchfield, Michigan.
The Detroit plant is moving toward production
Equipment installation and commissioning is taking place at LuxWall’s 276,000 square meter Detroit manufacturing facility ahead of series production expected in 2027.
Image courtesy Detroit Architectural Group
Michigan also approved a $6 million performance-based grant in 2023 for a larger LuxWall expansion expected to involve $165.6 million in capital investment and create 453 jobs at the company’s Michigan operations.
LuxWall raised another $51 million from private investors by 2024. The company said the funding would support production at its Litchfield factory, construction and expansion of the Detroit plant and research and development operations in Ypsilanti.
When federal funding ran out in October 2025, the company said the Detroit factory would open in late 2026. It now expects series production to begin in the third quarter of 2027.
