ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY

Cannabis Energy Efficiency Design Services

Licensed Producers (“LP”) need to control costs to improve profitability. Looking at energy efficiency solutions is an obvious approach.  For an LP, this means, Lighting, HVAC, Controls, and onsite generation. Typically, the process follows these steps:

  1. Energy Baseline (what are you spending now?),

  2. Energy Audit (where can you save?),

  3. Business Case Development (What is the return/savings including Incentives),

  4. Engineering Design (how will the new systems fit into the current operations),

  5. Implementation (how will this upset our Cannabis operations?),

  6. Monitoring and Verification (prove the savings), and

  7. Repeat.

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Once an energy audit is completed or your operations manager has an energy efficiency project in mind, the next step is the design process.  Working with an independent energy firm is critical to ensure your needs are met and not geared towards a specific solution or equipment mix.  The value of using a licenced engineering firm to design and oversee any facility improvements cannot be overstated.  Professional Engineers have a sworn duty to protect the public’s interest and will ensure that any work done on your behalf complies with all applicable codes and standards.  In short, a Professional Engineer will make sure that the work is done right.

LPs will be faced with many mechanical and electrical issues as operations get underway (especially those opening in existing facilities).  Ventilation, air emissions, lighting, building controls, heating and cooling are some of the areas that will likely need attention over the short term.  The team at Efficiency Engineering is ideally suited to study and address these issues on your behalf (preferably after an energy audit is performed, and a consensus on next steps is achieved).  Concept drawings of the proposed solution would be provided for your review, and then a complete tender package (engineering drawings, technical specification) would be published so that the work can be competitively quoted.  The ORTECH, with our Efficiency Engineering Inc. (“EEI”) team, can also assist with quote review and Vendor selection if needed. 

During construction, ORTECH, with our EEI will monitor the project progress on your behalf.  ORTECH will ensure that work is done to code and complies with our drawings.  Any deficiencies will be noted and addressed so that you can be sure your building investment is safe hands. This is a key benefit of working with an independent engineering firm on your energy efficiency projects.

ORTECH’s partner in this area is our sister division, EEI.  EEI has performed Energy Audits for LPs in the past and assists with energy efficiency projects for greenhouses and other agricultural operations.  They have provided an end to end solution mix to help their clients including design and audit work on over 3,250 facilities covering 370M ft² of space.  EEI’s work is predicated on savings, utility bill savings.  The reason EEI has worked on 3,250 facilities is their ability to show savings after implementation.  This proves the projects are effective in reducing costs, thus, our clients want to find other areas of savings. Their experience across multiple sectors, types of buildings and sizes of buildings will be invaluable to LPs across Ontario and Canada.

If you would like to discuss further please reach out to our team. 

 

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