Each plant has evolved to grow in a particular climate, whether that is a rare epiphyte or a commercial cannabis strain. Moving the growing process indoors has many benefits in speeding up and enhancing growth, as personnel can fine-tune the environment to exact temperature, humidity, nutrient feeding, CO₂ concentrations, and lighting conditions optimized for each crop, each varietal, and each stage of growth; but the benefits of more precise environmental control often come at an unnecessarily high energy cost.  

Each variable for optimized growing conditions can be reached efficiently or inefficiently. For example, horticulture lights are designed to deliver a massive PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density, a measurement of how many light particles hit the plant at a specific point per second). The equipment selected and how well it is tailored to the growing needs of the plant will determine how much of that energy is utilized by the plant and how much is wasted as heat in the space.  

Removing waste heat can also be done efficiently or inefficiently, and the off-the-shelf HVAC systems often selected, which were designed for conditioning air for humans, can be very inefficient when optimizing conditions for plant life. The energy needed for lighting, cooling, heating, and dehumidification can turn into exorbitant utility bills. Poor design leads to inflated utility costs, increased overhead, and consistent maintenance problems. All of these problems are avoided by investing early in a tailored and energy efficient solution which directly translates to reduced first costs, reduced energy costs, reduced maintenance, improved plant productivity, and improved profit margins.  

Energy Resources Group staff have been designing efficient systems to optimize plant health and growth since the mid-90s with ERG’s energy master plan for the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Contact us today to take the first step towards cultivating with excellence.