Cultivation Warehouses: Power (kVA), HVAC, Water & Drainage Specs

Building or acquiring a cultivation warehouse comes down to engineering first, real estate second. This guide details the Cultivation Warehouses: Power (kVA), HVAC, Water & Drainage Specs that actually drive yield, product consistency, and lender confidence—plus the due-diligence checklist to evaluate listings quickly. Ready to transact today? Compare warehouse & industrial properties for lease or review warehouse & industrial properties for sale on 420 Property.

What makes a cultivation warehouse different?

Unlike general industrial space, a cultivation facility is a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) plant with outsized electrical density, HVACD (heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and dehumidification) loads, precise irrigation/fertigation, and specialized drainage. It is also an approvals-heavy asset—zoning, CUP (Conditional Use Permit), building/fire, environmental, and security conditions all influence layout and timelines. On the finance side, lenders will ask how your engineering choices impact DSCR and operating risk; on the real estate side, landlords will evaluate TI scope, power upgrades, and long-term maintainability before accepting your LOI.

This article focuses on the baseline engineering program—your Cultivation Warehouses: Power (kVA), HVAC, Water & Drainage Specs—so you can underwrite properties and negotiate with confidence.

Power (kVA) planning for cultivation warehouses

Why electrical planning comes first

Lighting and HVACD drive the majority of energy use in indoor cultivation. System sizing begins with lighting density (watts per square foot), then adds HVACD capacity to remove the sensible heat from lights and the latent load from plant transpiration. The result informs utility service size, main switchgear, distribution (often 480V three-phase), panelboard counts, and feeders.

Typical lighting densities (illustrative)

Industry engineering references indicate a wide operating band depending on fixture type and crop stage:

HPS flower rooms: often in the 40–80 W/ft² range.
Modern LED programs: typically lower than HPS for the same PPFD due to higher efficacy, yet many commercial programs still plan ~30–50 W/ft² at peak to maintain headroom.

Design note: Treat these as envelope planning values. Your PPFD targets, fixture efficacy, and dimming strategy determine the actual nameplate load.

From kW to kVA (service sizing)

Electrical services are sized in kVA, not just kW. Drivers and motors have power factors (PF) below 1.0, so:

kVA ≈ kW ÷ PF (example: 400 kW at PF 0.90 ≈ 444 kVA).
Include diversity where supported by your controls strategy (e.g., staged lighting, night-setback, dehu sequencing), but do not over-credit diversity at the service level without stamped calculations.

Distribution, redundancy, and safety

Voltage and phase: 480/277V 3-phase is common to reduce current and conductor sizes; step-down to 208/120V where needed.
Panels & feeders: Group by room to isolate maintenance without shutting down the entire facility; leave spare capacity (20–30% is common engineering practice).
Emergency power: Cultivation doesn’t typically require NEC Article 700 emergency systems, but consider standby for critical loads (controls, minimal lighting, irrigation, and circulation).
Code context: Follow NEC (NFPA 70) for wiring methods, OCPD, grounding/bonding, and any adjacent C1D1 classified areas (extraction, if co-located but separated from cultivation).

HVACD: sensible + latent loads (and why dehumidification rules the design)

The load components

Sensible heat: from lights, people, motors, and envelope gains.
Latent load: from plant transpiration and irrigation—often equal to or greater than sensible during lights-off or late flower.
Sensible heat ratio (SHR): HVAC selection must match your room’s SHR so the system can control both temperature and humidity. Many comfort-cooling systems have too high an SHR for grow rooms and will miss humidity targets without reheat.

Dehumidification strategies

Integrated DX with hot-gas reheat or chilled water with reheat maintains temperature while removing moisture.
Dedicated dehumidifiers (DX) sized to peak transpiration; include condensate management and filtration.
Airflow & mixing: Canopy movement (HAF fans or ducted mixes) reduces microclimates and boundary-layer RH spikes that drive powdery mildew pressure.

Practical sizing workflow (illustrative example)

Lighting drives sensible: Assume a flower room engineered for ~40–60 W/ft² at peak dimming—convert to kW based on canopy area.
Estimate latent: Peak transpiration can approach ~0.1–0.2 gal/ft²/day in late flower depending on genetics, canopy density, and VPD. Convert water load to latent heat (1 gal water ≈ 8.34 lb; latent heat ≈ 970–1,061 Btu/lb at room conditions).
Select HVAC with matching SHR and dehu capacity to hit target setpoints (e.g., 75–80°F and 50–60% RH for many flower programs; your SOPs may differ).
Controls/BMS: Use staging logic, deadbands, and alarms. Log trends; commissioning is not optional.

Air distribution and filtration

Supply strategy: Avoid dumping cold air on canopy; use top-down or side-throw with mixing.
Return placement: Pull humid air from under canopy and high points; avoid short-circuiting.
Filtration: MERV 11–13 is common upstream of coils and dehus to protect equipment; carbon for odor control where required by CUP conditions.
Pressurization: Slightly negative to adjacent corridors can help with odor containment if required by local ordinance.

Water supply, fertigation, and drainage specs

Water demand and quality

Peak day water is largely driven by transpiration plus substrate leachate. Late-flower peaks can be substantial; design margin is a friend.
Treatment: Filtration (sediment), sterilization (UV/ozone), and nutrient dosing via a dedicated fertigation room.
Backflow prevention: Required where potable lines connect to nutrient systems; specify the correct assembly type per your AHJ.

Fertigation rooms and containment

Secondary containment: Provide sumps or berms for concentrates and oils used on-site. Keep nutrient storage segregated from incompatible materials and provide MSDS/SDS access.
Spill response & drainage: Floor finishes must tolerate chemicals; provide curbs and sloped floors to designated collection points.

Drainage and condensate

Floor drains: Trench or point drains sized for washdown and emergency events; include cleanouts and trap primers.
Condensate management: Dehumidifiers and AHUs generate significant condensate—route separately, consider reuse after appropriate treatment where permitted.
Wastewater compliance: Some jurisdictions require pre-treatment or sampling. Align your design with permit conditions in the CUP or discharge permit.

Envelope, rooms, and TI scope that reduce OPEX

Envelope and room build

Cleanable, moisture-resistant finishes (e.g., FRP, epoxy, PVC cladding) for washdown; seal penetrations.
Curtains & partitions to create veg/flower isolation and independent climate control.
Light-tightness to maintain photoperiod integrity.
Insulation & air-sealing to protect HVACD performance, reduce infiltration, and stabilize VPD.

Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing TI (high-impact)

MEP coordination: Start with a single-line electrical, hydronic schematics, and air balance plan; verify utility service letters before committing to equipment lead times.
Controls (BMS): Centralize setpoints, scheduling, and alarms; trend temp/RH/DP/CO₂ to drive SOPs.
Spare capacity: Design for modular expansion—extra taps on headers, spare breakers, and floor drains where future bays will land.

Compliance and safety overview

Zoning & CUP: Get written confirmation of allowed use, buffers, odor, and security requirements before you sign control documents.
Building & fire: Live/snow/wind loads, egress, sprinklers (if triggered), equipment clearances.
Electrical (NEC/NFPA 70): Proper OCPD, conductor sizing, grounding/bonding, labeling, and attention to any C1D1 spaces that might exist in co-located processing (extraction).
Odor & nuisance: Many municipalities enforce odor containment and filtration; expect this in CUP conditions.
Environmental: Stormwater, SPCC/secondary containment where applicable, and wastewater discharge permits.
Security: Access control, CCTV retention, and secure storage consistent with your license conditions.

Key point: Cultivation itself is not a hazardous (classified) location like solvent extraction, but many facilities share sites with processing or storage that are regulated differently. Keep scopes separated and engineered to their respective codes.

Quick math: translating engineering choices into finance (DSCR and payback)

Lenders and investors care less about your peak yield claim and more about stable operations and predictable cash flow:

Energy intensity: Lighting efficacy (LED vs. HPS) and dehu efficiency can swing energy cost per pound dramatically.
Reliability: Redundant circulation pumps and spare dehus reduce downtime risk.
Commissioning: Verified setpoints and trend logs improve QoE for buyers and reduce surprises during sale-leaseback or refinancing diligence.
Modeling: Run sensitivity on energy rates, labor, and wholesale price; present downside cases that still meet DSCR thresholds.
Standardization: Repeatable rooms simplify training and maintenance, lifting uptime and NOI.

Due-diligence checklist for evaluating a cultivation warehouse listing

Power (kVA)

Utility service size, voltage, and kVA available (letters from the utility).
Panel schedules and spare capacity; transformer sizes and age.
Documented PF for major loads (lighting, dehus, AHUs, pumps).

HVACD

Equipment schedule (make/model/tonnage/CFM) and dehu capacity (pints/hr or lb/hr).
SHR suitability for your setpoints; presence of reheat.
Commissioning reports and BMS trends for temp/RH/DP.
Airflow plan (supply/return), HAF strategy, filtration/odor control.

Water & Drainage

Source capacity/pressure, treatment trains, and backflow device types.
Fertigation room containment, chemical storage separation, and eyewash/shower where required.
Drainage maps: trench/point drains, slopes, trap primers, condensate routing.
Discharge permits or sampling requirements, if any.

Permits & Compliance

Zoning and CUP documentation with conditions (odor, security, hours, transport).
Building/fire final sign-offs; any open correction items.
SPCC or hazardous material management plans where applicable.
Security plan alignment with license requirements.

Operations

SOPs for climate, fertigation, sanitation, and IPM.
Maintenance logs for dehus, AHUs, pumps, and filters.
Spare parts list and lead times for critical components.

Where to find and compare cultivation warehouses

420 Property curates active cannabis-ready industrial listings across the U.S., from power-dense shells ready for TI to fully commissioned facilities with proven production histories.

If you need power-dense space with reliable HVACD and purpose-built water/drainage, start with a targeted search on 420 Property. Compare warehouse & industrial properties for lease or browse warehouse & industrial properties for sale and connect directly with owners and brokers who understand cannabis operations.

Disclaimer

This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal, engineering, financial, or tax advice. Always consult qualified professionals and your local Authority Having Jurisdiction before making decisions.

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