Anyone who has ever built a cultivation facility can confirm that it’s a long and stressful process. And for those who haven’t? Hear us now: It’s a long and stressful process and it’s important to have realistic expectations about timelines during the pre-planning stages.
The obvious benefit to tiered applications is the ability to increase canopy square footage without additional building square footage. Although there are some drawbacks to multi-tier growing, there can also be great reward, and so we’re seeing more and more of our clients choose to go this route in their facilities.
Apart from our deep expertise and value in engineering design, where we can provide equal value to our clients is in the design-build HVAC model. The complexity of systems in cannabis facilities usually necessitates a well-coordinated effort, with an experienced, well-qualified central party taking responsibility for the mechanical system from concept to design to equipment and integration.
When given the opportunity to work with some of our design and construction peers to put together a design/build resource for the industry, we jumped at it. The result was “Build Your Grow,” which you can read here. However, we thought it would also be helpful to do a quick recap of the top takeaways for a quick read.
According to urbandictionary.com, if you flip something you make a profit out if it. The same could be said in our industry for the term flip. There are a several good reasons to operate your grow on a “flip.” This basically means to never run all your grow rooms on the same schedule. Why is this important? To understand this, we must understand peak energy times.
For many, the cannabis industry is an exciting new world. The days of secret, basement cultivation are behind us and we’re moving into an era of legitimate commercial businesses. Besides the obvious benefits of avoiding prosecution and participating in a legal enterprise, this migration also offers the industry a chance to share ideas and best practices to achieve a quality, consistent and safe product.
As cultivators and owners know, building out a commercial sized facility takes a lot of time, patience and money but can be extremely lucrative in the long run. Large-scale commercial facilities that are up and running are generating huge profits, mostly in cash. But this type of revenue takes time. To get to a place where a facility can sustain itself financially, owners first must go through the long and expensive process of licensing, permitting, obtaining land and/or buildings and, of course, choosing lighting and environmental control.
You’ve finally gotten your license and funding, picked out a facility, picked out equipment and pulled the trigger. Now what? Sometimes, the hardest part of setting up a facility comes when you’re ready to begin construction and have to get everything in order. You want to be sure that your new equipment is going to be installed and maintained correctly and efficiently, offering you savings on operating costs and the peace of mind that your plants are healthy and safe all hours of the day.