1. How does energy consumption play into equipment selection for growers?
More cannabis companies care about the environment, but they also have a business to run. Aside from the environmental impact, growers can face power restrictions that force them to limit energy consumption. So, at Hawthorne, we make cutting-edge solutions that allow growers to easily transition into products that consume less energy without compromising on performance.
For example, our HVAC selection and design takes into account the grower’s specific cultivation practices, making sure not to over or undersize HVAC needs by room and facility.
2. In what ways is maximizing water efficiency critical for indoor growing operations?
This is a concern for many of our customers, which is why Hawthorne continues to integrate and optimize facility-wide water system offerings and custom design work. By designing as a system, we can reuse up to 80% of the collected water through condensate reclaim in a sealed greenhouse. We are also designing systems that collect condensate from dehumidification.
3. What structural aspects must be considered when selecting equipment? Which parameters are important not to overlook?
With new builds, growers are able to construct ideally sized rooms with optimal ceiling height, ducting, drainage and more.
But many of our customers are working with rooms that have already been designed or built. For this reason we have to consider room dimensions, columns, ceiling heights, etc in order to optimize all equipment selections together. Each room we work with is a snowflake—it’s unique.
4. What factors does Hawthorne consider in the complete equipment optimization process to be sure all systems work together effectively?
We design as a system. We collect all the relevant information about the grower’s needs, constraints, and cultivation practices in one form. Our designs are biologically relevant, which is why we consider cultivar plant heights and create nutrient programs, in addition to equipment selection and simulation. It’s an iterative process.
5. In what ways is a holistic approach critical to cannabis production?
Using this approach is easier said than done because the cannabis industry does not have the same type of shared knowledge you will find in food crops due to industry-specific restrictions. At Hawthorne, we feel it’s our responsibility to help solve this. That is why we have a cannabis-specific R&D facility in Kelowna, British Columbia, and why we work with MEP and Architect firms to provide specifications and cultivation design strategies so that the equipment is properly sized from the beginning. With over 3000 integrated designs each year, we can see how different types of equipment and consumables work in the field.
