With climate control an essential component of indoor and greenhouse growing environments, most growers turn to HVAC systems—but not all. Results from the 2022 “State of the Growing Environment” study revealed that 13% of research participants “do not have an HVAC system” in their cultivation operations. Of those research participants who do have HVAC systems, nearly half indicated they purchased their system from an “HVAC contractor/distributor” (27%) or “direct from manufacturer” (18%) rather than a contractor (7%) or engineering firm (3%).
When deciding which HVAC system to purchase, study participants with HVAC systems noted “performance/efficiency” (91%) and “price” (74%) were leading priorities. An expanded desire for integration in growing environment systems was also reflected this year: 71% of participants cited “compatibility with control systems” as a priority in their HVAC purchase, up 22 percentage points from 2020.
Among research participants with HVAC systems, “size of facility” (80%) remained the leading HVAC purchasing consideration, up 7 percentage points from 2020. Climate control goals followed: “Target growing humidity” (62%) was up 11 percentage points from 2020, with “target growing temperature” (61%) next on the list of considerations. Notable shifts compared to 2020’s study include considerations of “number of plants” (52%) and “type of lights” (51%) in 2022, up 12 and 11 percentage points from 2020, respectively.
