Agriculture

Indoor Agriculture

Energy Resources Integration (ERI) specializes in achieving savings for new construction in indoor agriculture, greenhouses, wineries, dairies, cold storage, and agriculture processing facilities with precision and consistency. Our engineering team is agricultural focused, yet diverse in disciplines, consisting of mechanical, electrical, and industrial engineers. Our team, based in San Francisco and having served PG&E customers since ERI’s inception eight years ago, collectively has over 160 years’ experience in agricultural energy efficiency. We are a customer-centric group skilled in finding the savings and speaking the language to convey the benefits. ERI’s deep knowledge of both agricultural systems and drivers of agricultural customer investments allows us to help prioritize projects and build relationships through repeated engagements.

ERI has been working with agriculture customers for nearly a decade. Our past experience for the agriculture industry includes:

• Project Development for new construction and retrofit projects
• Systems analyses and design for lighting, HVAC, and process equipment
• Technical reviews for new construction and retrofit projects
• Emerging technology assessments, test demonstrations, pilots, M&V
• New measure development, product workpaper creation, and technical manual
• Market characterization studies

Energy Efficiency Experts for the Cannabis Industry

ERI has been working closely with the cannabis market in California to assess projects for viability, baseline considerations, energy savings of new technologies, and eligibility within custom incentive and on-bill financing programs. Our staff is well-versed in indoor agriculture systems, technologies, and key design criteria. We have worked with utilities, growers, and their contractors in support of their energy and cost reduction goals to identify savings opportunities, model baseline and proposed systems/technologies, and perform M&V to confirm savings. Some examples include:

• Technical reviewer for the first several cannabis lighting retrofit projects in California
• Engaged with one of California’s most efficiency-focused growers to provide guidance for the mechanical design and energy efficient operation of their HVAC systems
• Provided utility program design support and guidance to establish best practices around the technical approach to these projects and criteria to consider in project development
• Developed a new measure for holistic pumping system upgrades and technical manual

Technical Review Work

As a technical reviewer for custom projects, ERI is responsible for ensuring projects meet the technical and policy requirements set by the state and IOUs. Our quality control standards help mitigate risk across the utility portfolio. Among the hundreds of technical reviews performed, ERI has honed its specialization in new construction for the agriculture sector. This expertise includes:

• Deep knowledge of building codes and industry standards
• Custom process and policy expertise
• Understanding of complex interactive systems for indoor ag to ensure savings are accurately modeled and reflected on the grid
• Experience with the use, review, and creation of tools to model and analyze these systems

With the increase of cannabis greenhouses and heightened interest in urban farming in California, our team has reviewed numerous emerging technologies and products for lighting, HVAC, and ventilation. Our reviews bring solutions that ultimately improve the quality of both the custom process and the indoor agriculture project portfolio.

Project Development for Agriculture

ERI works directly with agriculture customers and their design teams to identify custom energy efficiency solutions. Through our network of agriculture equipment manufacturers, vendors, and trade associations, our experienced staff model various system designs and/or technology options (lighting, HVAC, process systems) to establish a solution that optimally balances efficiency, production, and financial priorities. Our team has worked on new construction projects with customers in the following ag subsectors:

• Ag Processing
• Refrigerated warehouses
• Cannabis (indoor and greenhouse)
• Wineries
• Dairies
• Non-dairy animal production
• Flowers
• Mushroom

ERI takes a comprehensive approach to new construction projects. Our energy modeling tools analyze systems and interactions to achieve energy efficient design in all aspects. To allow customers the freedom to invest in premium efficiency options, we explore mulitiple avenues for funding projects including incentives, on-bill financing, tax credits, and grants.

Technology Advancement

The agriculture industry, and particularly indoor ag, has seen a variety of new technologies introduced to the market. Some of these have demonstrated tremendous potential while others have not lived up to their performance and/or efficiency claims. ERI has experience analyzing these technologies to better understand how they operate compared to the industry standard baseline. We understand the barriers and key factors to consider when new facilities or systems are built. For the indoor agriculture industry, these include things like:

• Lighting design and technology selection based on photosynthetic photon flux (PPF)
• HVAC design requires strict balance of temperature, humidity, and CO2 levels
• Building envelope should be sufficiently insulated to minimize weather impacts
• Rooms designed to accommodate load requirement for all stages of plant growth
• Controls sequences need to be carefully orchestrated to align with plant development

ERI takes these and other considerations into account when developing new construction projects for incentives, understanding that the importance of production far outweighs the incentive for this sector. Thus, the energy efficient design must not be inferior to their traditional approach. The industry has a certain comfort level with a proven “recipe” to maximize crop production. Many of these systems are not energy efficient and there exists a strong risk aversion to any new or unproven options. This is where test demonstrations, pilots, project financing, and demonstrated future financial returns play a large part in the decision to step up to an energy efficient design. ERI has successfully worked with these customers to help them understand the technologies and realize the many benefits of a strategic, holistic design approach that maximizes efficiency.

Energy Efficient Cannabis Cultivation

Energy Resources Integration (ERI) is an engineering consulting firm that specializes in energy efficient cannabis cultivation which includes indoor facilities, greenhouses, and drying/curing buildings. Our engineering team is agriculturally focused, yet diverse in disciplines, consisting of mechanical, electrical, and industrial engineers. ERI’s deep knowledge of both agricultural systems and drivers of cannabis producers and cultivators allows us to build relationships through repeated engagements.

ERI has been working with cannabis cultivation clients in various capacities over the past decade. Some of our recent work includes:

• Emerging technology assessments and testing for Lighting & HVACD systems
• Utility Program implementation for customized incentives (New Buildings and Retrofits)
• Development of Market characterization studies (SCE Study)
• Direct customer analyses and design for lighting, HVAC, dehumidification, and curing
• Investor Grade Energy Audits and Studies
• Bid procurement and selection

Energy Efficiency Experts for the Cannabis Industry

Our engineering team has a wide set of expertise and experience to help our clients meet their yield and efficiency goals while maintaining product quality. Our staff can assist with everything from facility design & equipment recommendations, to identifying energy incentive programs across all state and utility boundaries. We also offer facility audits & system assessments to assist customers in understanding the benefits of retrofits. We work hand in hand with growers to improve the value of their business by increasing their yields, reducing operating expenses, and connecting clients with incentive money available from utilities. ERI also works with utilities, vendors, and contractors in support of various incentive programs to identify energy savings opportunities, model baseline energy consumption, propose more efficient systems/technologies, and perform M&V to confirm savings and cost reductions. Some examples include:

• Utility technical reviewer for cannabis lighting and HVACD retrofit projects in California
• Engaged with one of California’s most efficiency-focused growers to provide guidance for the mechanical design and energy efficient operation of their HVAC systems
• Provided utility program design support and guidance to establish best practices around the technical approach to these projects and criteria to consider in project development

Direct Customer Consulting

Stemming from our program support in the Cannabis industry, ERI provides direct to customer support to identify, review, and manage the implementation of energy efficiency solutions. Our experienced staff model various system designs and technology options (lighting, HVAC, dehumidification, controls) to establish a solution that optimally balances efficiency, production, and financial priorities. Once modeled we support product selection and installation through our network of equipment manufacturers, vendors, and trade associations.

Lighting

Whether it is supplemental lighting for greenhouses or full lighting for indoor facilities, artificial lighting is viewed as the major impacting feature on the plant’s quality, yields, and overall health. ERI works with our clients to understand their needs and requirements to identify an integrated solution other than a direct lighting replacement. Our engineering team guides our clients to ensure the correct spectrum, quality, and amount of light (PPFD) is provide to their plants to achieve their desired product.

HVACD

In order to assess any customer holistically, ERI uses our diverse engineering experience to analyze the interaction of lighting, HVAC, dehumidification, and carbon dioxide. Based on our experience, HVAC performance and requirements are under constant flex which we assess to find the most cost effective and efficient options for our clients. During every assessment we work with the grower to ensure their dehumidification controls and equipment are operating in appropriate bounds to avoid vapor pressure deficit issues on their product.

Greenhouses

With the increase of cannabis greenhouses and heightened interest in urban farming, our team has worked with numerous customers and vendors to explore emerging technologies and products for lighting, HVAC, and ventilation. This allows ERI to provide increased value to your greenhouse clients by providing working case studies of innovating technologies that are leading the market for the cannabis sector.

Technology Advancement

The indoor and greenhouse cannabis sector has seen a variety of new technologies introduced to the market. ERI has experience working with & analyzing these technologies. We know how they operate compared to the industry standard baseline. We understand the barriers and key factors to consider when new facilities or systems are built. For the indoor agriculture industry, these include things like:

• Lighting design and technology selection based on photosynthetic photon flux (PPF)
• HVAC design requires strict balance of temperature, humidity, and CO2 levels
• Advanced insulation for building envelope to minimize weather impacts
• Rooms designed to accommodate load requirement for all stages of plant growth
• Controls sequences need to be carefully orchestrated to align with plant growth

ERI takes these and other considerations into account when assessing new technologies for client designs and systems integration. The agriculture industry has a certain comfort level with a proven “recipe” to maximize crop production. Many existing systems are not inherently energy efficient and there exists a strong risk aversion to any new or unproven options. This allows much room for advancement. Due diligence through field assessments, laboratory testing, demonstrations, and pilots help in the initial stages of incorporating energy efficient technologies into a facility or system. ERI has successfully worked with industry stakeholders in these efforts.