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Since 2017, PowerScore has served cultivators with facility performance benchmarks providing key performance indicators (KPIs)  for energy, water, and waste efficiency and productivity for outdoor, greenhouse, and indoor cannabis operations using one year of self-reported resource consumption and production data entered into the PowerScore Grow survey.  In 2020, RII deployed PowerScore Comply for Massachusetts cultivators…

On December 15, 2020, the United Nations General Assembly designated 2021 the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables (IYFV), an awareness campaign that seeks to highlight the important role of fruits and vegetables in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals*. Fruit and vegetables are considered edible parts of plants (e.g., seedbearing structures, flowers, buds, leaves,…

Black voices share their narratives about discrimination, and their advocacy to advance an equitable agricultural future The Acres of Ancestry Initiative Black Agrarian Fund, a nonprofit regenerating custodial landownership, ecological stewardship, and food and fiber economies in the Southern US, recently hosted a webinar on the United States Senate Bill S.4929, the Justice for Black…

Authors discussed policy recommendations and contrast recent findings with oft-cited statistics On December 1, RII, New Frontier Data, and the Berkeley Cannabis Research Center offered a sneak peek of the Cannabis Water Report at the MJBizCon’s 2020 Associations Day. The presentation provided essential information for anyone focused on cannabis cultivation water use, including cultivators, industry…

Cannabis regulators from across the United States have formed a non-partisan organization, the Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA), to better share institutional knowledge and regulatory best practices. Cannabis regulators from 19 states have joined CANNRA, which is being created in order to assist federal, state, and local jurisdictions that have approved or are weighing legalization of…

In the November issue of Cannabis Business Times, RII’s Technical Director Gretchen Schimelpfenig shared the benefits of commissioning for cannabis production facilities in A Shipbuilding Concept that Can Save You Money. She shared the results of a 2018 study showing that existing industrial buildings can achieve energy savings between 3% and 12% when systems are…

Attend to Offer Feedback on Proposed 2022 Energy Code Industrial Process Measures Addressing Controlled Environmental Horticulture On Tuesday, October 27 at 9 am PT, the California Energy Commission will present and discuss proposed changes to the 2022 California Energy Code. The goal of these workshops is to solicit feedback from concerned or affected members of…

RII Partners with LDL, DLC, ASABE & Three Manufacturer Members to Host Liquid-Cooled LED Lighting Workshop Evaluating Emerging Technologies for Efficiency Program Incentives Register now for our upcoming workshop on 10/29 at 1 pm ET on liquid-cooled LED lighting technology to learn how utilities and the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry are evolving alongside this…

Commonwealth Operators Have Easier Path Toward Energy Efficiency and Economic Vitality Resource Innovation Institute, in partnership with American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, are nearing completion of a comprehensive project to support Massachusetts cannabis cultivators with peer-reviewed resources to help them address the subjects featured in the first energy regulations placed on the energy-intensive industry.…

On September 29th, RII’s Executive Director Derek Smith led our first Member Meeting, gathering 59 attendees together to check in on 2020 progress, provide a venue for discussion, and offer members a roadmap for 2021. We have been expanding our Technical Advisory Council Working Groups, providing new benchmarking services with PowerScore, and publishing our first…

RII served on a panel of experts on August 6th, 2020 to support the University of Vermont Extension Northwest Crops & Soils Program and the Center for Sustainable Agriculture for their 2020 Hemp Growing Season Webinar Series for CBD Post-Harvest Handling (Drying focus), to provide information and useful recommendations for energy efficiency when cultivating and…

Throughout 2020, Cannabis Business Times has graciously featured a series of editorials written by RII’s Technical Director Gretchen Schimelpfenig and co-authored by RII members. The editorials repackage and deliver subject matter from RII’s Best Practices Guides to disseminate efficient HVAC and lighting concepts throughout the market and promote project teams using the guides. To date,…