2022 CONFERENCE PROGRAM

THE RIGHT CONVERSATION, AT THE RIGHT TIME, IN THE RIGHT PLACE!

*Subject to minor changes

 DAY 1 (November 1):

 The State of Efficiency in Greenhouse & Indoor Farming

Tuesday, November 1, 2022
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Regency Foyer
 
 
9:00 AM - 9:05 AM
Beacon Ballroom
 
Derek Smith
9:05 AM - 9:40 AM
Beacon Ballroom

Ground into an actual data-driven conversation. Hear the latest, up-to-the-minute information about indoor and greenhouse uses of energy and water across several crops and climate zones. This session will present infographics from actual farm utility bills, controls systems and delivered fuels, including those gathered within the USDA project titled, Data-Driven Market Transformation for Efficient Controlled Environment Agriculture. Find out how technologies and grower practices are driving energy and water efficiency. Understand how resource usage in indoor and greenhouse farming compares to other farming and industrial sectors.

Moderated by Rob Eddy – Technical Director, Resource Innovation Institute

Rob Eddy

 

Carmen Azzaretti Mike Zartarian
9:45 AM - 10:30 AM
Beacon Ballroom
Chieri Kubota
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
 
 
 
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
Beacon Ballroom

How will prominent actors in the value chain support the vision of CEA as a key contributor to agricultural resilience? How will modern farms continue to evolve to achieve higher levels of market access? What will public investments in energy, climate, water and food security mean for CEA? Join global category leaders as they share what’s in their minds related to innovation on the horizon that will lead to lasting market transformation.

Moderated by Derek Smith, Resource Innovation Institute, and Ian Kanski, Executive Director, Center for Advanced Agriculture and Sustainability, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology

  

 

Brian Herrington Bram Lansink Michele Hix Melanie Yelton
11:50 AM - 12:35 PM
Beacon Ballroom

Supply chain challenges have beleaguered a range of construction sectors. In CEA, the longer lead times have, in some cases, translated to value trade-offs. Whereas CEA projects are usually under intense pressure to get into production, recent construction delays have opened up time for conversations among construction partners about how to improve the functionality of the structure as it is built. Parallel silos have converged into collaborative design teams focused on the customer’s operational efficiency.

Moderated by Shanita Penny, Founder & CEO, Budding Solutions

 

Brian Anderson Patrick Hidder Chris Uhlig
12:35 PM - 1:25 PM
 
 
 
1:35 PM - 1:45 PM
Beacon Ballroom
Debbie Stabenow
1:45 PM - 1:55 PM
Beacon Ballroom
Glenn “GT” Thompson Thompson
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
Beacon Ballroom

Energy management and power optimization within CEA structures has taken on a larger role as these commercial operations continued to expand in the marketplace. Managing the energy needs for the lighting, irrigation and HVAC and linking these three systems to understand the energy flow, mass flow and data collection required to manage these systems. As a highlighted challenge is developing HVAC that can provide humidity control while reducing the power required is a future challenge that needs to be addressed by all CEA production systems.

Moderated by Dr. Mark Lefsrud, McGill University, Associate Professor

Keith Coursin Murat Kacira Nadia Sabeh
2:50 PM - 3:35 PM
Beacon Ballroom

Established over a decade ago, strategic energy management (SEM) is an energy-efficiency program model that yields persistent, whole-facility energy savings. This panel brings together representatives from the federal government, the utility sector, and manufacturing to share their perspectives on SEM and how it can be applied to the growing CEA industry.

Moderated by Rory Schmick, U.S. Dept. of Energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Derek Okada Richard Hart
3:35 PM - 3:50 PM
 
 
 
3:50 PM - 4:35 PM
Beacon Ballroom

Hear from public and private sector leaders how they are shaping unique regional approaches to advancing efficiency among their regional producer and value chain networks as a means to strengthen their local economies.

Moderated by Djavid Amidi-Abraham, Agritecture 

  • AppLit: Mike Doss, GE Current and Chris Higgins, Hort Americas
  • Agriculture Energy Efficiency Rebate Program: Michael Roth, Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture
  • Glens Falls Urban Agriculture Pilot: Tinia Pina, ReNuble
Mike Doss Chris Higgins Mike Roth Tinia Pina
4:45 PM - 5:30 PM
Beacon Ballroom
 
Alan Lowenthal
5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Poolside at the Hyatt
 
 

 DAY 2 (November 2):

 Public & Private Solutions Toward Resilience

Wednesday, November 2, 2022
7:30 AM - 8:30 AM
 
 
 
8:30 AM - 9:15 AM
Beacon Ballroom
Andrew McAllister
9:20 AM - 10:05 AM
Beacon Ballroom

To achieve its promising place in the ecosystem of the global agricultural network, indoor farming will need to show improvements in energy strategies, economics, and scale. In addition, indoor agriculture has the opportunity to contribute to community resilience in unprecedented ways. How will indoor farms evolve, how will these production facilities be valued, and what can be learned from other sectors like data centers and big tech?

Moderated by Elyse Greenberg – Director of Marketing & Membership, Resource Innovation Institute

 

Robb Chase Erik Lundgren Morgan Welch, PE
10:05 AM - 10:30 AM
 
 
 
10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Beacon Ballroom

Ancient Romans devised the first greenhouse prototype using sheets of mica with dung heating systems to grow a year-round supply of cucumbers. As European powers expanded their trading routes, glasshouses - often called orangeries because they were designed to grow citrus fruits from tropical climates - began to pop up across Western Europe. How will greenhouses evolve to grow a range of crops in extreme climate conditions, adapt to energy generation and efficiency challenges, conserve water, and reduce food waste?

Moderated by Chris Higgins – President and General Manager, Urban Ag News

Andrew Horowitz Philip Johnson Gary Hilberg
11:20 AM - 12:05 PM
Beacon Ballroom
Shanita Penny
12:05 PM - 1:00 PM
 
 
 
1:00 PM - 1:45 PM
Beacon Ballroom

Controlled Environment Agriculture is relatively energy intensive. As our society rapidly transforms to carbon neutrality, CEA must immediately become more energy efficient, maximizing resource recapture through ‘closed-loop’ systems design, with what added power is needed soon being provided from climate-neutral sources. Presently, much CEA uses fossil natural gas for primary energy; however, when properly integrated through combined heat and power, can do so in an environmentally superior manner. Examples include using biogenic energy sources where practical, and capturing carbon from onsite or adjacent generation and using this as a resource to accelerate plant growth. Such integration substantially reduces GHG impacts from energy use and provides both development and operating flexibility, as compared to central plant power. Planning forward, carbon neutral fuels such as biogas, biomass and optimized solar power will replace fossil fuels and these distributed resources are a natural part of integrated CEA energy systems. This panel will explore the current state of the art in CEA energy systems that minimize environmental impact and discuss direct pathways to net-zero carbon for the industry.

Moderated by David Van Holde - P.E., CEM, Director, US Dept. of Energy CHP Technical Advisory Partnerships, Washington State University, Extension Energy Program

 

Traeger Cotten Kurt Parbst Dick Kramp
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Beacon Ballroom

The California Energy Commission and Energy Solutions, lead authors for the Codes and Standards Enhancement (CASE) Team Report on proposed 2022 Title 24, Part 6, Controlled Environment Horticulture,  will present the current 2025 California code change proposal for controlled environment horticulture and solicit feedback on measures that are in consideration for the 2025 code cycle. The presentation will cover the scope and timeline of the code cycle and provide resources to help understand and follow the various milestones of the code cycle. Don’t miss this opportunity to weigh in on a template that will inform CEA energy regulations globally.

Led by:

Thao Chau Kyle Booth
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
 
 
 

TechTalk Community Breakouts: Transferring Best Practices Knowledge in Real-Time
Join members of RII’s Technical Advisory Council working groups and other subject matter experts in state-of-the-market dialogues with provocative mini presentations and plenty of time for Q&A. Bring your real-time questions from the cultivation floor, the construction site, or the office!

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Regency Ballroom D

Water is the new gold? We have all read this headline and wonder how it may apply to the CEA space. Water is an essential component of any farm and with the changing conditions, it has become even more important to consider the reuse and recycling of water. Join our panelists as they discuss best practices and new techniques in the world of water circularity. Learn about the latest findings from the newly formed RII working group as they work to publish a best practices guide in 2023.

Led by Kyle Lisabeth - VP of Horticulture, Silver Bullet Water Treatment

 

Rob Sheldon Maarten Hartong Al Zylstra Carlos Salazar Rob Eddy
3:30 PM - 4:15 PM
Regency Ballroom D

HPS, LED, hybrid? The type of lighting to choose is one of the major decisions a CEA grower faces in their cultivation journey. This decision sets off a chain reaction impacting choices related to facility design, HVAC and energy requirements. Join the panelists as they discuss key considerations when incorporating lighting into a CEA facility.

Led by Elyse Greenberg – Director of Marketing & Membership, Resource Innovation Institute

 

James Cunningham Kasey Holland Corinne Wilder Adrian Giovenco
Regency Ballroom F

Are you in the planning phase or consider a retrofit? No matter the design stage your facility is undergoing, considerations for efficient facility design is a key component of your planning. Join panelists as they discuss shortfalls and successes they have observed in the CEA space.

Led by: Bethany Reinholtz, Project Manager, GDS Associates, Inc.

 

Ihor Lys Troy Wicks Brandy Keen
4:20 PM - 5:05 PM
Regency Ballroom F

Do you know what is happening on your farm, right now? The growing field of controls and automation has allowed farmers to access information at a moment's notice. But what can they do with this data? Join the panelists as they explore this growing field and how growers can leverage information to drive efficiencies in their farms.

Led by Eric Eisele, CEO, GrowFlux, Inc.

Eric Eisele

 

Joe Caro Mikhail Sagal Robert Fisher
Regency Ballroom D

Policymakers and regulators face resource constraints amidst a rapidly-evolving farm economy. What should they contemplate related to energy and water related disclosure requirements, codes, efficiency standards, and workforce opportunities? How can they advance resilience? Stakeholders weigh in on a range of issues sure to inform the Farm Bill, Inflation Reduction Act, state laws, and local ordinances.

Led by Mike Waite, Senior Manager, Buildings Program, ACEEE

 

Bob Gunn Colin O’Neil Mike Roth
5:10 PM - 5:55 PM
Regency Ballroom D

Are you aware of your local utilities’ efficiency programs? Do they exist in your jurisdiction? Do they consider equitable outcomes? The utility sector is realizing the benefits of efficient best practices in CEA, and the programs continue to develop across North America. Join our panelists as they discuss effective programs and tips for facilitators to implement in their jurisdictions.

Led by Lauren Morlino – Technical Manager, Evergreen Consulting Group

 

Evan Gutierrez
Regency Ballroom F

Is your HVAC system maintaining the proper environment? HVAC and HVACD is a key component of every CEA facility, yet, it is widely misunderstood. From temperature and humidity to air quality and VPD, your system engages with all technologies in your facility. Hear from panelists as they discuss effective tips for measuring a proper system.

Led by Dr. Mark Lefsrud, Associate Professor, McGill University

 

Chad Salute Rebecca Knight Brian Kammers

 DAY 3 (November 3):

 Optional Tours of Leading Indoor and Greenhouse Operations

 

TOUR: [SOLD OUT]

(Limited to 18 participants)

---------

Local Bounti (greenhouse producing leafy greens in a rural setting)

Glass House (greenhouse producing cannabis in a rural setting)

Itinerary

 

8:00am

Bus departs Hyatt Regency

10:30am

Bus arrives and attendees gather for tour

10:45am 

Farm Tour of Glass House Camarillo Facility

12:30pm

Lunch

1:45pm

Depart for Local Bounti

2:00pm

Local Bounti Tour

3:00pm 

Bus departs for Hyatt Regency

5:30pm

Bus arrives Hyatt Regency