4 Things To Look For When Selecting a Building for Indoor Cultivation & Extraction
Indoor cultivation and extraction cannabis facility design is critical when determining the building you want to occupy. Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing (MEP) & Structural Engineering plays a huge role in the success of your facility.
1. Zoning
Before doing ANYTHING, make sure you find a building that is properly zoned for cannabis cultivation. If you are building from the ground-up, make sure your Architect understands the minimum property setbacks from schools, residential buildings etc. The last thing you want to do is invest in a new venture to find out you can’t operate because you didn’t do your homework ahead of time.
2. Electrical
If you are only able to get a building with 240V single phase, make sure you plan your grow room ahead of time. We recently had a client with a 240V single phase, 200A service and we had to cycle rooms at different times. We had another client that had 240V single phase, 400A service but had to purchase expensive phase converters to turn single phase into 3 phase to power some heavy duty extraction machines. Winston Engineering LLC always finds workarounds, but that could be costly for you as the client.
If you’re building from the scratch, be sure to engage the local utility to find out if there is available power you can tap into that will meet your needs.
3. HVAC
When leasing a building, make sure your landlord understands the potential facility modifications for indoor cultivation. As you probably know, indoor cultivation requires a lot of HVAC so make sure your landlord knows about the impacts to their roof. If you plan to put the units on the ground, make sure you have enough space to place them.
4. Sewage
Make sure you understand the drainage requirements of your proposed facility. If you’re leasing a space, be certain it can handle all of your drainage needs.
