skip to Main Content

Cannabis Grow Facility Design

CE+C designs cannabis cultivation facilities, from initial concept through permitting and commissioning.

Our cannabis grow facility designs are sustainable, reliable, constructable, and maintainable.

to learn more.

CE+C & Cannabis Cultivation Facility Design

With more than completed 70 cannabis projects and the backing of an established parent company, you know we’re here for the long-term. Our engineers are passionate about developing holistic, custom solutions that meet your needs, and which will help you reach your goals. Some design companies give you the same implementations they offer to every grower. At CE+C, part of our work is getting to know you and your facility, and finding the right mix of settings and equipment for you. Your business is like no other, and engineering should be, too.

cannabis grow facility greenhouse

How to Design a Cannabis Grow Facility

When you have your own grows, your plants are the most valuable resource your business has, so you want to give them everything they need to thrive. That means your grow facility design needs to include:

tight controls on temperature and humidity
proper lighting
a CO2-enriched environment
Control of air quality and humidity

All of these design elements are very energy-intensive, which means keeping your plants happy can suck up a lot of cash. In fact, cannabis cultivation is one of the most energy-intensive industries around. So how do you find a balance between a healthy cannabis grow and energy bills you can afford? And how does this balance factor into facility upgrades or expansions?

When you’re designing your cannabis grow facility, make sure to consider the following elements to maximize production while minimizing energy costs.

Temperature Control in your Cannabis Grow Facility

Temperature control is critical to keep cannabis plants and facility staff happy and healthy. But HVAC and temperature control can mean high energy costs. Heat pumps, systems that move heat from one location to another instead of creating heat by burning something, can maintain facility temperatures while minimizing energy use.

The lights in your cannabis grow rooms add significant heat to your grow. Further, many locations need to be heated when lights are off. The air in your grow-house needs to be overcooled to dehumidify it, then reheated to prevent condensation and mold/mildew issues.

At CE+C, we’re passionate about heat pumps as an energy-saving solution for temperature control in grow facilities. Contact us to learn more.

For all of these processes, heat pumps use only about a third of the energy that other systems would. Heat pumps also allow “free” reheat of air that is cooled for dehumidification, effectively using the hot side and cold side of the cycle at the same time. And if you’re concerned about using bleeding edge technology, worry not; heat pumps have been around for more than a century. They’re becoming more popular now as many states mandate them as a way to combat climate change. But even if they’re not required, we highly recommend using them in your cultivation facility design as a simple way to lower your energy costs, giving you a higher profit margin.

Indoor Lighting Design for your Cannabis Cultivation Facility

Your plants require light to survive, and the right light will help them thrive throughout every stage of their growth. Seedlings need different light than a plant in the flowering stage, but there are even more choices to make. We see many growers moving to LED systems now, and there are good reasons to make that choice. It’s flexible, energy-efficient, and cost-effective.

Cannabis Plants Under LED Lights

Pros of LED Lighting for Cannabis Grows

Lower energy costs and carbon footprint due to lower power usage
Can be fine-tuned to optimize for each stage of your grow
Emit a lower level of UV light and stay cool, eliminating harmful burns on plants

Cons of LED Lighting for Cannabis Grows

More expensive than fluorescent or halogen systems
Can color-shift as they age

Overall, in most cases, we recommend LED lighting as your most flexible, cost-effective solution for healthy grows and high yields.

Great design saves time! Contact us to learn how CE+C can help.

Improving your Cannabis Grow Yields with CO2 Enrichment

Many cannabis growers are experimenting with CO2 enrichment as a way to increase their yields. CO2 is necessary for photosynthesis, and the benefits increase as you add more CO2 into your grow house air. The results of CO2 enrichment are well-documented in other areas of agriculture, and the practice of CO2 enrichment is generally accepted. It is also expensive and may be out of reach for new producers.

Code Requirements for CO2 in Cannabis Cultivation Facilities

Cannabis grow facilities with CO2 enrichment systems over 100 lbs. trigger more stringent code requirements that add to your building and operating expenses. Part of those code requirements include enhanced safety systems and emergency exhaust, as what’s good for your plants can be deadly to your staff. CO2 levels above 5000 ppm is dangerous for humans (and is the OSHA limit), with 35000 ppm considered lethal. However, environments up to 10,000 ppm are proven to have a positive impact on cannabis crop yields, so enrichment is definitely a factor worth considering.

CE+C Tip: Make sure you understand what your jurisdiction requires before you make your decision about CO2 enrichment in your grow facility. It’s a choice you want to explore very carefully. Fortunately, there are other ways to protect your crop and encourage maximum yields that bring fewer concerns along with them.

industrial ventilation in cannabis grow facility

Air Quality & Humidity in your Cannabis Grow Facility

Controlling air quality is a key factor in having a healthy grow. Your plants prefer a specific level, which can vary from strain to strain. The right level of humidity can also reduce instances of mold, a problem that can render your entire crop worthless. There are multiple ways to dehumidify with significant cost and energy impacts.

Proper industrial ventilation allows you to maintain precise control of temperature and humidity in the range that makes your strains happy. Beyond that, your system can filter out pests and diseases from your outside air intakes so they can’t harm your plants. Filtration isn’t just important for air coming in; your ventilation system can also meet local odor control regulations, which are becoming more and more common across the country. Some growers actually use odor control where it is not required as a means of enhancing the security of their crops.

How an Expert can Help you Plan your Cannabis Cultivation Facility

To roll it all up, the systems in your grow matter to the health of your plans and the cost of doing business. The choices you make now will have impacts far into the future. Make sure you’re making both the best individual choices, and ones that will all work together to give you a healthy, productive grow.

An expert cannabis engineer can guide you through the process of planning your facility and getting occupancy permits.

Are you ready to talk to a professional about your project?

Call us today: 206.385.3417

Back To Top