Strategic Energy Solutions announced its investment in energy efficiency for the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) project, Glorious Cannabis, has been validated through massive utility rebates totaling just under $1 million.
The owner, Glorious Cannabis Co., understood that future market pressure would require low operating costs in order to be successful, and therefore made the choice to invest in energy efficiency early in the design of their 72,000 square foot cultivation facility in Orion Township, Michigan. The facility features several design features that help save money and energy, including:
- Non-proprietary and non-cannabis-specific mechanical equipment. This not only avoided the “green tax” often seen in the cannabis market, but it allowed owners to achieve the best pricing through a competitive bidding process with the added benefit of having the support of major manufacturers.
- High-performance dehumidification, providing flexibility, stability, and repeatability needed to consistently maintain strict room setpoints with respect to temperature and humidity.
- Central chilled water plant, which can modulate capacity to meet various cultivation requirements, adapting to different plant counts, watering rates, and set points.
- Free cooling feature, air-cooled chillers do not operate below 37°F, saving a tremendous amount of energy. It’s expected to save approximately 3.7mkWh annually, making its payback less than three years.
- Ultrasonic humidifiers, which use just 10% of the electricity required by traditional humidification methods.
- Dimmable LED lighting with the highest lighting output per watt of power input.
- Water reclamation system. A majority of the 10,000 gallons of water used daily is recycled and reused, allowing the facility to approach net-zero water consumption. The dehumidification system pulls moisture that plants transpire from the air and collects it before cleaning it, mixing it with fertilizer, and sending it back to the plants for watering.
- Fertigation reclamation system, preventing fertilized water from getting back into the sewer system and avoiding negative impacts on the environment.
Creative thinking and clever engineering have resulted in annual savings of over 15.6 million kWh of electrical energy and 13.9 million MBH in natural gas savings for Glorious Cannabis Co. The ingenuity of this facility has already earned its recognition and multiple awards from engineering industry organizations such as The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Engineering Society of Detroit (ESD).
For more information:
Strategic Energy Solutions 
www.sesnet.com