Earlier this month, thirty experts from a broad set of backgrounds came together in Portland, Oregon, in the spirit of creating a better cannabis industry. They took time away from their day jobs, checked their company hat at the door and dug in for a near full day of discussion on the process of initiating energy and water standards to drive conservation into the operating paradigm of one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world.
Some flew across the country, others video conferenced in from across the globe. All contributed.
They will join together for the balance of 2017 to guide the development of:
- Common measures related to significant natural resources in cannabis cultivation, including: Energy consumption and efficiency, Water efficiency and discharge, Carbon impact
- Market-based tools like the Competitive Facility Checklist and Resource Efficiency Scorecard, which can help market actors make resource-efficient decisions in the absence of adopted standards
- Energy and water standards that can guide qualified technology development and utility incentive deployment
- The diverse set of stakeholders includes cultivators, manufacturers, utilities, design and construction professionals, public agency representatives, university researchers, NGOs and environmental engineers.
Here are some photos from the gathering. We’ll soon be sharing further content and will open a public process to gain broader input on proposed standards.
The Resource Innovation Institute would like to thank our Technical Advisory Committee members for their service. Together, we are working toward a carbon-free and water-wise future for the cannabis industry.