Season 2 | Episode 27: Optimal Tier Spacing for Multi-Tier Cultivation

Summary:

Michael and Anders cover topics such as tier heights in flower rooms, considerations for tier spacing, pros and cons of different heights, ideal tier spacing, and considerations for veg and mother rooms.

Overall, they emphasize the importance of considering factors like lighting efficiency, airflow efficiency, ceiling height, plant stretch, environmental control, substrate type and volume, handling processes, and the use of inner canopy lighting when determining tier spacing in different cultivation environments. They suggest that a tier spacing of around 5.5 to 6 feet is often ideal for flower rooms, while tier spacing in veg rooms can vary depending on factors such as cultivation strategy and plant growth duration.

Tier Spacing in Multi-Tier Cultivation:

Multi-tier cultivation or vertical farming involves spacing between grow trays and the bottom of grow lights, known as tier heights or tier spacings.
Different tiers correspond to different stages of plant growth, such as mother, veg, and flower rooms.
Flower rooms typically have two levels with equidistant tier spacings.
New cultivators often worry about plant stretch and request tall tier spacings to prevent plants from growing into lights.
Tall tier spacings (over 6.5 ft) can lead to inefficiencies in lighting and airflow, requiring lights to run at higher percentages and airflow systems to work harder.
Ceiling height is a critical factor when determining tier spacings; maximizing rack height may not be ideal due to constraints like mechanical installations and air circulation.
Shorter tier spacings (around 4 to 4.5 ft) can improve lighting uniformity and penetration but require precise cultivation schedules to avoid plant stretch and light burn.
The ideal tier spacing for flower rooms is around 5.5 to 6 ft, providing a balance between efficient lighting, airflow, and environmental control.

Considerations for Tier Spacing in Flower Rooms:

Ceiling height should accommodate the total height of racks and leave room for environmental buffer space above the racks.
Tall tier spacings may lead to inefficient lighting and airflow, requiring higher energy consumption.
Shorter tier spacings can improve light uniformity and penetration but require careful management of plant height and cultivation schedules.
Inner canopy lighting can enhance light distribution and increase yields, especially in tall plant environments.

Considerations for Tier Spacing in Veg Rooms:

Veg rooms typically have shorter tier spacings (around 3 to 3.5 ft) to accommodate smaller plants and shorter growth cycles.
Advanced cultivators may opt for longer veg cycles (10 to 14 days), requiring taller tier spacings (up to 14 ft) to accommodate plant growth.
Longer veg cycles may lead to stalling moments and reduced vigor if not managed properly.
Considerations include plant density, growth medium, and cultivation strategy when determining tier spacings in veg rooms.

About Cultivation Elevated

If you are a grower looking to optimize your cultivation facility or anyone looking to cultivate more in less space, then this is the show for you. Each week, join Host Michael Williamson as he travels across the country, to explore the world of vertical farming and the future of cannabis and food production through his conversations with leading industry operators, growers and executives who are demonstrating success and resilience as growers and cultivators. Each episode provides stories and key insights that will inspire and show you first-hand, how each of these companies have overcome challenges, and found their own path to success.

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Site Selection for a New Cannabis Grow Facility

Your team is gearing up to build a cutting-edge cannabis cultivation facility, and you’re collaborating with a design team to ensure meticulous planning and execution every step of the way. Proper site selection is one of the most crucial decisions to make in the early stage of the process. Taking a thoughtful approach to choosing your site can prevent costly upgrades and compromises later on.

So, how do you identify that ideal site for your facility?

As Pipp Cannabis Operations Specialist Anders Peterson said in a recent webinar, it helps to move methodically through a checklist of sorts, covering utilities, structural support, climate considerations, and fire code compliance. Schedule meetings with all your stakeholders to confirm that your checklist aligns with local regulations and business goals.

Let’s get into it…

Initial Site Considerations

#1: Utilities

Before committing to a location, assess the available utilities. After all, you need a great deal of power to run your operation, and you’ll want to consider any long-term expansion plans for your business.

Peterson said that, in most cases, your team will need to augment your site’s power capabilities. “More often than not, you’re going to have to run additional power to these facilities, sometimes gas,” he said. “Most commercial buildings today just don’t have the infrastructure that indoor grows need. That’s why it’s good to locate a building close to a denser area that has a pretty established grid.”

Conduct a thorough load assessment to verify the availability of three-phase electrical connections for HVAC systems, grow lights, and irrigation.

If natural gas is required for heating or CO2 enrichment, consult with local utility providers to determine whether extending existing gas lines is feasible.

For water supply, perform a pressure test to ensure the system can meet the demands of irrigation.

Action Item: Obtain blueprints from the utility companies for an accurate understanding of the current infrastructure.

#2: Structural Support

Bear in mind that most commercial building roofs weren’t designed to support controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Get out in front of that problem as early as possible.

“Most of the roofs on commercial buildings aren’t designed to support the heavy HVAC equipment required for indoor cultivation,” Peterson said.

Have your team perform a roof load analysis to check the live load capacity and consider ground-level equipment installation to reduce pressure on the roof. Plan space around the building for generators, chillers, and fans without obstructing parking or delivery access. Work the space from all angles (building needs, people needs, plant needs).

Action Item: Hire a structural engineer to inspect the roof and foundation for load-bearing capacity.

#3: Climate Impact

The local climate will affect your HVAC system’s efficiency. Now, your business may be tied from the get-go to one climate over another. (Let’s say you’re bound to the state-licensed market in Ohio, for example, or Connecticut. California may be another story entirely.)

Extreme temperatures, humidity, and seasonal changes can greatly impact HVAC efficiency and performance. Consult historical weather data to adjust HVAC system sizing and ensure you can maintain ideal room conditions.

Action Item: Obtain historical climate data and cross-reference with HVAC specifications to confirm equipment performance under expected conditions.

Specific Site Selection Factors

#1: Floor Condition

Multi-level mobile racking requires a strong foundation. “You need to make sure that the foundation is good and well-suited for that application,” Pipp Product Manager Del Rockwell said.

Core drilling can confirm the slab’s depth and uniformity for supporting mobile racking. Cracks or uneven surfaces can undermine stability. If flaws are identified, consider resurfacing or replacing the slab with high-strength concrete.

Action Item: Commission a geotechnical survey and core drilling to verify the slab’s condition and calculate necessary repairs.

#2: Column Spacing

Column spacing impacts mobile racking layouts, so get a good sense of the literal square footage available on the floor.

“Column spacing … can cause a lot of issues with laying out the racking.,” Rockwell said.

Plan for a minimum 40-foot span to minimize obstructions and provide ample support for overhead systems. Conduct a structural analysis to ensure the columns can withstand extra loads from HVAC equipment and irrigation piping.

Action Item: Create or study detailed blueprints indicating column positions and calculate load capacity before designing the rack layout.

#3: Ceiling Height

The ceiling height must accommodate multi-level cultivation tiers. “Ceiling height can absolutely cut off your headspace and eliminate some cultivation tiers,” Rockwell said.

Ideally, the ceilings should be at least 16’ to accommodate multi-level racking. But they can be installed in spaces with as little as 10’ high ceilings and tighter spacing between grow levels.

Confirm the clear height for multi-tier systems and assess whether mezzanines or beams will obstruct usable space. Plan for ductwork, lighting, and irrigation systems to maximize growth potential.

Action Item: Use laser measurement tools to map out the usable height for each rack tier, adjusting for overhead equipment.

Fire Code Compliance

#1: Local Regulations

Engage with the local fire marshal early to ensure the facility adheres to local fire codes. Local community communication is paramount in those early days.

“Try to do everything you can to make that a smooth interaction,” Rockwell advised.

Network with other cultivators who have successfully navigated the local fire codes to identify common issues and best practices.

Action Item: Schedule a preliminary consultation with the fire marshal to review plans and obtain feedback on compliance strategies.

#2: National Standards

Monitor the progress of NFPA 420, the National Fire Protection Association’s new standard for cannabis cultivation. Sign up for proactive email updates, too. Stay updated on regulatory changes to ensure your facility is compliant.

Action Item: Sign up for the NFPA newsletter to receive updates and download relevant guidelines.

Conclusion

Planning a new grow facility requires collaboration between experts, clear communication with regulators, and careful analysis of utilities, structural support, and fire safety.

By considering floor conditions, column spacing, ceiling height, and HVAC loads early in the process, facility managers can minimize delays and create a highly efficient and compliant grow facility that thrives.

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Why Vertical Farming Is Important in Urban Real Estate Markets

At least two trends are converging for the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry: a slow commercial real estate crash in major American cities and broad inflation on input costs. Cannabis growers especially need to get as much bang for their buck on their indoor cultivation facility, and urban settings are perhaps a surprising source of possibility now.

Following the pandemic, major cities like Washington, D.C., New York City and Denver hoped to flip newly vacant office space into residential units. That hasn’t entirely worked, partially because of consumer inflation concerns.

That opened an opportunity to rethink warehouse and office space in the light of a rising CEA industry.

For cannabis growers, these spaces can be especially appealing.

In most cases ( depending on state law), cities provide proximity to retail distribution and broad customer bases. To facilitate cannabis cultivation and other CEA practices, these areas tend to already have robust infrastructure, which is essential for the high energy and water demands of this industry.

With the U.S. cannabis market projected to grow from $115 billion in adult-use sales in 2024 to $170 billion in adult-use sales in 2028, there’s a wave of new businesses on the threshold of licensure or expansion that may thrive in more urban environments.

Here are three benefits (and challenges) of building out an indoor cultivation space within urban city centers.

The Benefits of Vertical Farming in Cities

#1: Maximizing Space Utilization

A primary hurdle to this type of CEA development has long been cost. In mid-sized and larger American cities, commercial or industrial real estate is often expensive and limited in availability. This is changing in the post-pandemic real estate market, but those long-standing challenges have often kept cannabis businesses, strapped for cash early on, from setting up shop in city environments.

Vertical farming addresses this constraint by expanding overall canopy upward, doubling or even tripling the actual grow space. For businesses acquiring land or real estate that may not be as expansive as an industrial footprint in a more rural community, vertical farming lets growers exponentially increase their production capacity in a given room.

This spatial efficiency is crucial in densely populated areas, making vertical farming particularly appealing to city planners and developers looking to attract new business to their jurisdiction.

Buckeye Relief, based in Eastlake, Ohio, just east of downtown Cleveland, built out a new facility and eventually saw the need to expand upward. Early on, the Buckeye Relief team ran into environmental trouble with an original site, so they pivoted to a 10-acre plot of land offered by the city of Eastlake. It fit the company’s needs for the medical cannabis market, but expansion would be inevitable.

Mobile racking on the company’s initial single-tier setup helped them achieve their expansion to a second tier within the existing footprint of their facility. Future footprint expansions are one thing, but growing up and adding vertical tiers to a given production facility can provide significant returns.

Now, the company runs two tiers of production space, and they are preparing for the rapidly expanding customer base that will come from the greater Cleveland area once adult-use sales begin (following legalization in November 2023).

#2: Reducing Environmental Impact and Water Use

Vertical farming in a closed environment allows grow teams to cut back on water and nutrient use, generally. Water use efficiency is especially important in more urban neighborhoods, where resources are under constant pressure from the dense populations they support.

Research is ongoing on this topic, but vertical farming has proven in some studies to reduce water usage significantly. In one 2023 study, vertical farms reduced water use by 28% to as much as 95% compared to greenhouse environments in the same region.

#3: Shielding Your Crops from Tricky Environmental Conditions

In environments like California and its hyper-competitive cannabis market, growers across the state are competing with small outdoor farms. Those smaller farms can reap serious benefits from a photoperiod perspective; nestled in Humboldt County groves, many farms achieve optimal microclimates and draw ideal sunlight for their plants. They’re also exposed, of course, to the elements and a rapidly changing climate.

Vertical indoor farming can surmount a lot of those challenges.

James Cunningham, CEO of Fog City Farms, told us in a recent podcast episode, that moving into the vertical farming segment provided his company with a competitive advantage–and a space to accelerate research and development ideas.

“You can achieve a consistency that you can’t achieve in other growing platforms,” he said. “The distance between your light bars and the [light] throw, and intersecting lighting patterns is so consistent throughout the space that you get very consistent [plant] development.”

Those conditions are ideal for businesses developing end products for a brand, which is a paramount concern right now in cannabis. Consistent products and engaging delivery on retail shelves are must-haves in most cannabis markets.

Fog City Farms is based in Watsonville, Calif., just outside Santa Cruz, and it is a fine example of this mid-sized city real estate market opportunity.

The Challenges

Of course, the story is not all rosy. The cannabis business is nothing if not complicated.

Setting aside the bevy of production challenges in cannabis cultivation just on face value, the prospects of acquiring real estate and setting up a vertical grow offer their own unique roadblocks that must be overcome:

#1: Zoning

Zoning regulations will vary from one jurisdiction to the next, but, nonetheless, indoor cannabis cultivation has always faced an uphill battle.

While the density of cities will place your cultivation business near its retail base, there’s a trade-off. Most zoning regulations come with buffer language and even limits on the number of cannabis businesses that may be allowed to operate.

That buffer language often includes certain distances that businesses must place between their facility and schools, daycares, or churches. In a city environment, this is difficult.

As far as the limits on cannabis businesses, some cities do not necessarily distinguish between dispensaries and cultivation operations; a city that allows a lot of dispensaries to open up shop may leave few, if any, cultivation licensing opportunities on the table.

As more cities recognize the economic benefits of supporting urban agriculture and cannabis industries, there may be a shift toward more accommodating policies. This is a great example of where active cannabis businesses can get involved with local legislatures and regulatory bodies to bring about some change for the industry.

#2: Community Engagement

Speaking of working with local government, it’s important for businesses planning on acquiring real estate in a city to remain mindful of the existing community.

As with all business development issues in cannabis, the surrounding community of people must be considered. This is partly due to the slowly dying stigma that accompanies the industry and also partly because cannabis is broadly seen as an industry capable of delivering tremendous returns to the local community.

To fulfill that promise, business owners who run vertical farms in cities must listen to their neighbors’ questions and comments.

#3: Conversion Costs

New builds are possible and perhaps even ideal when considering a footprint in a major city, but retrofitting an older warehouse is a common enough development plan for cultivation businesses. This is where the real estate opportunity lies, as mentioned earlier.

However, as the commercial real estate market cools in some cities, brokers and business owners must be very knowledgeable about what they’re looking for in a building. Retrofitted spaces will deliver all sorts of unique challenges and costly work. A cultivation facility, especially one that’s set up vertically, has very specific requirements tailored to its operational needs, making the adaptation of existing structures complex and often costly.

When operators consider moving into a pre-existing building, they frequently encounter the need for substantial upgrades to accommodate the specialized infrastructure of cultivation operations. Notably, these facilities require elaborate setups for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and irrigation systems.

These systems typically involve heavy equipment and extensive piping, which are often mounted on or suspended from the roof. Upgrading the HVAC system is one of the most important processes in a retrofit project, as highly sterile vertical grow environments demand great efficiency (as opposed to whatever types of businesses the building may have housed previously).

Also, consider a closed-loop recycled water system, which can generate the resource conservation benefits mentioned earlier. This is a significant upfront cost.

One pivotal problem arises because most conventional roof structures are not engineered to bear such heavy loads. This mismatch means that the roof must often be structurally reinforced to prevent integrity issues.

Conclusion

In summary, the intersection of declining commercial real estate demand in cities and rising agricultural costs opens a valuable opportunity for vertical farming in urban areas. Although high property prices and complex regulations pose challenges, repurposing vacant office and warehouse spaces offers a promising solution for CEA. Vertical farming systems can capitalize on existing city infrastructure to maximize productivity and minimize environmental impact.

Urban vertical farming makes efficient use of limited space and allows growers to be closer to dense consumer markets, reducing transportation costs and spoilage while boosting food security. By adopting vertical farming practices, producers can create sustainable, technologically advanced cultivation facilities that meet changing regulatory standards. This approach aligns with global trends toward urban resilience and sustainability, providing economic growth while meeting consumer demand for fresh, eco-friendly, and locally sourced products.

Repurposing commercial real estate for vertical farming can transform city landscapes, offering a sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective solution that helps address food security and climate change challenges.

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Season 2 | Episode 26: Elevating Standards: Good Manufacturing Practices, Quality Assurance, and Quality Control in Cannabis with Atiyyah Ferouz

Summary:

Introduction and Background

The episode of Cultivation Elevated discusses vertical farming and the future of cannabis and food production.

Guest Atiyyah Ferouz is introduced as a consultant, educator, plant scientist, and CEO/co-founder of AGCann Consultancy and the International Cannabis Quality Standards Association (ICQSA) - she joins Anders and Michael this week.

Atiyyah Ferouzs’ Career and Work

Atiyyah started in the cannabis industry in 2018 with a background in genetic engineering and plant biotechnology.

She managed a large cannabis greenhouse and launched her consultancy in 2020, specializing in emerging markets.

Atiyyah helps clients worldwide with operations, commercialization, and quality assurance, focusing on compliance with standards like GACP and GMP.

GACP and GMP Standards

GACP (Good Agricultural and Collection Practices) covers the cultivation side, while GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) covers post-harvest processes.

Different countries have varying interpretations of these standards.

GMP emphasizes documentation, flexibility, and continuous improvement, making it adaptable to various industries, including cannabis.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

QA (Quality Assurance) involves process documentation, staff training, and adherence checks.

QC (Quality Control) focuses on testing and ensuring the quality of the final product.

Both QA and QC are essential for compliance and producing high-quality products.

Challenges and Insights in Cannabis Regulation

Atia emphasizes the need for tailored regulations for cannabis, as it doesn't fit neatly into traditional agricultural, pharmaceutical, or natural health product categories.

She advocates for a quota-based system similar to dairy production to manage supply and demand.

There are misconceptions about best practices and the flexibility allowed by GMP.

Global Collaboration and Industry Standards

Atiyyah discusses the importance of global standards for legitimizing the cannabis industry.

The ICQSA aims to develop consistent international standards to facilitate trade and ensure quality.

Global collaboration can help stabilize markets, improve price points, and promote genetic diversity.

Remediation and Quality in Cannabis Production

Remediation techniques, though sometimes viewed negatively, are necessary for meeting stringent microbial standards.

Techniques like irradiation, e-beaming, and cold plasma are used to ensure product safety without compromising quality.

Atiyyah believes that dried flower should not be considered a pharmaceutical product due to its variability and the challenges in maintaining consistency.

Conclusion

The podcast concludes with a discussion on the future of the cannabis industry and the importance of ongoing learning and adaptation.

Atiyyah highlights the value of international standards and the need for the industry to self-regulate to ensure quality and legitimacy.

This episode of Cultivation Elevated provides valuable insights into the complexities of cannabis regulation, the importance of quality assurance, and the benefits of global collaboration in the industry.