RII’s Cannabis PowerScore Empowers Massachusetts Cannabis Cultivators to Become More Energy Efficient
The U.S. leader in energy efficiency specifies RII’s Cannabis PowerScore as the preferred reporting instrument on energy, water and waste
Springfield, Mass. (April 14, 2020)—Resource Innovation Institute (RII) is promoting energy efficiency best practices in Massachusetts by providing cannabis cultivators an option to more easily report, benchmark, and improve performance in accordance with regulations required by the state Cannabis Control Commission (Commission). With grant support from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER), RII also will provide new guidance for growers in two peer-reviewed guides: LED Lighting for Cannabis Cultivation and HVAC for Cannabis Cultivation, plus an Efficient Yields web-based conference series featuring regional and national experts who will speak on a range of subjects, including facility design, lighting, and HVAC automation.
“Massachusetts leads the nation when it comes to energy efficiency standards, and we want to make sure our regulated cannabis industry is no different,” Cannabis Control Commissioner Kay Doyle said. “We look forward to working with RII to make sure cultivators in the Commonwealth have the tools they need to thrive as businesses and as sustainable operations.”
“Reporting, benchmarking, and sharing best practices are critical to advance the Commonwealth’s energy efficiency goals for this rapidly evolving industry,” said Maggie McCarey, Director of Energy Efficiency at Massachusetts Dept. of Energy Resources. “We look forward to supporting this effort through our Innovate Energy Efficiency grant program to foster best practices and innovation to reduce energy, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions.”
“Massachusetts is leading the way on policy and is already having an impact on other states, such as Illinois and California, which are working on their own state-specific cultivation energy policies,” said Derek Smith, Executive Director, RII. “Now they are leading on connecting cultivators with resources to help them be more efficient.”
“This important partnership between RII and Massachusetts is the beginning of the creation of standards and best practices that will be followed across the country and around the world,” said Jennifer Amann, Buildings Director for American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. “Universal standards reduce costs for everybody by making it easier for cultivators to choose and deploy equipment, and for manufacturers to design lighting and HVAC systems.” Amann serves on RII’s board and ACEEE is also a partner in the project.
Massachusetts, which recently ranked No. 1 on ACEEE’s 2019 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard for the ninth consecutive year, is home to the first cannabis market in the world to feature cultivation guidelines and regulations to improve resource efficiency. Based on Massachusetts’ model, Illinois also took a proactive approach to regulating resource use when it recently legalized adult-use cannabis by adopting its own energy efficiency framework in 2019.
RII’s Cannabis PowerScore will provide benchmarking that enables Massachusetts cultivators to measure efficiency compared to similar facilities as well as a service that will help them comply with the state’s strong reporting requirements. Cultivators can receive an instant performance benchmark at CannabisPowerscore.org. At an Efficient Yields cultivation workshop to be scheduled later this year, Massachusetts cultivators will also have access to RII’s Technical Advisory Council members, including national and regional experts on resource efficient cultivation.
RII will work with DOER and the Commission to enhance the PowerScore survey, which benchmarks and aggregates anonymized power-consumption data across a range of cultivation environments, climate zones, and geographies to determine the most resource-efficient approaches to cannabis cultivation.
For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Shawna McGregor at shawna@themaverickpr.com or 917-971-7852.
Resource Innovation Institute: Advancing Resource Efficiency to Create a Better Cannabis Future
Resource Innovation Institute (RII) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance resource efficiency to create a better agricultural future. Founded in 2016 in Portland, OR, USA, RII’s Board of Directors includes the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), a former Energy Policy Advisor to two Oregon governors, a former board member of the US Green Building Council and leading cannabis industry players. The organization has unique expertise on intelligence, policy and education related to energy use in controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Its Cannabis PowerScore benchmarking tool is backed by the world’s largest dataset on CEA energy use. RII’s Technical Advisory Council is the leading multi-disciplinary body assessing the environmental impacts and best practices associated with cultivation resource issues. In 2018, RII advised the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on the establishment of the world’s first cannabis energy regulations, and it is now advising Illinois, California and other governments on CEA-related energy policies. RII’s Efficient Yields cultivation workshops are the only grower-led, non-commercial venues for the exchange of resource efficient cultivation best practices. RII is funded by utilities, foundations, governments and leading members of the supply chain serving CEA, from LED manufacturers to HVAC engineers. Visit our website at ResourceInnovation.org. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
