California's 4,600 greenhouses and indoor farms use diverse energy sources to produce a consistent supply of high-quality horticultural products including flowers, food and cannabis. Process systems like lighting and HVAC account for up to 60% of greenhouse or indoor farm operating costs and potential power outages put the 24/7 operation of these systems at risk.
This intermediate course for growers and design professionals will explore strategies for efficiency, electrification, and on-site energy generation. Participants will learn how to integrate these approaches to develop resilience plans for both the short and long term. Attendees will compare the investment cost, energy and utility bill savings, and payback periods for example retrofit and new construction projects and prioritize projects to consider adding to their operational resilience plan.
The learning objectives focus on various aspects of enhancing efficiency in greenhouse and indoor farm process systems. They include describing recent advancements in these systems, comparing traditional and high-performance systems for applications in food, flower, and cannabis production, and judging the potential of combined heat and power systems in agricultural settings.
Additionally, the objectives cover summarizing relevant regulations concerning the efficiency of systems such as horticultural lighting, greenhouse envelope, and dehumidification. They also involve interpreting the electrification potential for key systems in greenhouses and indoor farms, creating a resilience plan to optimize operational expenses while complying with regulatory requirements, and formulating design considerations for new facilities that utilize efficient equipment, electrified systems, and on-site energy generation with combined heat and power systems.
The webinar will take place on 12 June.
If you wish to register for the webinar, you can do so at the link here.
Source: Pacific Gas & Electric