Cannabis and indoor agriculture can slash overhead costs with energy efficiency

Jay OwenSustainability News, Resource Efficiency

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Cannabis and indoor agriculture can slash overhead costs with energy efficiency

By Jennifer Thorne Amann, Buildings Program Director

As the market for indoor agriculture in North America surges, businesses, growers, and states are finding innovative ways to slash energy costs that demonstrate the potential for much greater savings.

Indoor agriculture — primarily flowers, herbs, lettuces, tomatoes, berries, and cannabis in greenhouses and other buildings — is a rapidly expanding and evolving industry across North America. Known as controlled environment agriculture (CEA), this energy-intensive industry was valued at roughly $47 billion in 2017. While its compound annual growth rate is projected at 3.4% for 2018-2023, some markets anticipate even faster growth, such as cannabis, with a projected 14.4% annual increase through 2025. As the industry expands, so does its energy use.

The latest issue brief in our Emerging Opportunities in Buildings series provides a snapshot of energy consumption in CEA facilities and the significant efficiency opportunities available. Reducing energy costs is vital to the industry’s success, because they account for as much as 25% of operating costs.

Efficiency investments can provide an important boost to the bottom line. While the food and flower crops grown in CEA facilities are typically higher in value than commodity crops, margins for growers are still relatively low. And in the cannabis sector, experience has shown that the high prices common when a state first legalizes adult use tend to collapse after a few years as the market becomes saturated and stabilizes…

To continue reading the blog post, visit: https://www2.aceee.org/e/310911/bis-and-indoor-agriculture-can/9ddrgx/358081001?h=1wTWM01QQy28ibYOH-6RS9aQ5MlpYlNGYckFGuXqgEY

To download the issue brief on indoor agriculture, visit: https://www2.aceee.org/e/310911/topic-brief-indoor-ag/9ddrgs/358081001?h=1wTWM01QQy28ibYOH-6RS9aQ5MlpYlNGYckFGuXqgEY
To download the issue brief on dual-fuel programs, visit: https://www2.aceee.org/e/310911/topic-brief-eo-dual-fuel/9ddrgz/358081001?h=1wTWM01QQy28ibYOH-6RS9aQ5MlpYlNGYckFGuXqgEY