I used to love smoking pot. I don't do it anymore, because an eighth would turn to dust by the time I got around to finishing it, but it would be great to be able to stroll down to a dispensary for a joint once or twice a year.

So, it bums me out that weed is destined to become another profit-driven, damn the consequences industry. The environmental ramifications have been pretty well known for a while now, but I didn't know that there's a social injustice issue as well, until I read this article in Politico, describing how poor neighborhoods in Denver taking the brunt of the negatives associated with the industry.

Why would an architect be involve anyway? Aren't the issues pretty specific, and technical? Oh, well, I guess somebody built for big tobacco, too.

gruen you might find this upcoming event by AIA Colorado of interest...? This is a subject I have wondered about a lot since I moved to Denver. Been thinking it would be interesting to interview/talk to an architect (or two) about all that goes into designing one of those.

i find the lack of banking and it's Assoc. security issues really interesting.

same josh

I think there should be plenty of resources for hydroponic systems and other types of indoor horticulture. Hell half the food we see these days are hot house starts. If you wanted to get really creative and expensive you could look into electrical and HVAC systems used in mission critical type projects or aquaponics so you can have some fishsticks too. Just because youre growing cannabis doesn't mean you need to reinvent the wheel or start from scratch. I'm guessing your challenges to doing it legally are more related to local land use regulations which can vary drastically in states where it is legal. Probably calls of an incognito trip the your local building department.

Anonitect;  I disagree with the tone of that article.

Areas that aren't disparaged, aren't exactly 'encouraging' dispensaries.  They don't need the tax base or the association.  Sort of like the distribution of small liquor stores, thrift shops, tattoo parlors, halfway/sober homes, and cheap used car lots aren't really encouraged either; they also tend to end up in poorer areas where thriving business's, any business, is wanted.  It's still not exactly socially acceptable like a coffee house....  

Basically, the pattern is just like it's always been with these fringe businesses.  Oh, and it coincides with another pattern;  HOA's, covenants, business development plans, etc. with very restrictive type rules.  The older areas don't have these or they've expired years ago.  Planning and zoning isn't as restrictive either.

Mighty, There are lots of reasons why businesses locate to poor neighborhoods - some good, some bad, but poor neighborhoods see a disproportionate number of industrial facilities that put people's well-being at risk because they lack the political power to stop them from moving in. I've only been around friends' closet grow rooms, and 8-10 plants smell strong enough that they had to mask the odor to keep it from being noticeable from the street at harvest time. Living near thousands of highly potent plants must be really unpleasant.

I absolutely think that marijuana should be legal. I just want people to grow some plants in the garden next to the tomatoes, or to buy it from a farmer who's growing it outdoors in places that aren't environmentally sensitive (see: destruction of salmon spawning streams in Humboldt) than see the creation of another energy intensive industry that will rely on people who have dependency problems for its profits (one daily stoner will consume far more pot than dozens of occasional smokers, just like the liquor industry sees most of its profits from alcoholics, not social drinkers, even though them make up a small percentage of users.)

I've worked on university greenhouses and on plant propagation/production greenhouses for ag.  For legal and banking reasons, I won't help you design a greenhouse for pot. 

pro tip:  weed isn't special.  all the guys you see on documentaries talking about nurturing and loving their plants, who LOOK like dudes that smoke a fuckton of pot.  Those guys are not who you hire.  They are morons.   They don't know shit about designing or running a greenhouse.  There are plenty of industry consultants who do work for large national and regional nurseries.  Talk to those guys.  The guys with an MS in Horticulture and Plant Pathology.  Tell them you are setting up a shop that does contract in-vitro propagation work for nurseries and seed labs.    Its the same equipment, you'll just use different settings on your hardware.  

if you're doing this in cali be prepared to pay off local gangs/mafia even if you're doing it by the books.  

this is just like doing any industrial building - architect does the shell, specialized consultants do the process design. 

I did see a really cool grow-op once that had one portion of the growing bed on a track system that extended to the exterior - they could wheel the entire grow platform out in the summer time, then back in at night or in the winter. You could also do something similar with a retractable roof. 
I think elements like this that save energy will be the next step in differentiating how cannabis is grown. First it was hydroponic, then organic, next will be some type of energy/ water conservation certification.

Damn, I should start a company that certifies grow-ops for compliance with some type of made-up standards. Instead of LEED, I could call it WEED. Brb, gotta go start a company.

aquaponics is king

I may or may not have experience in this subject, I may or may not be the type of Asian group that is associate with this subject over the last 10 years.

@archi, i don't track that last post...

Anybody have any literature they haven't been able to plow through like "everything one needs to know solar panels"?

some interesting conversations at work today.  apparently my firm has no problem doing 6,000 sq ft. convenience stores with no apparent customers, but wont touch grow facilities

Gruen--

I've never been involved with design of a grow facility, but living in colorado I've learned quite a bit, in particular about lighting and deep water culture hydroponics. I've helped assemble systems and could probably help design a larger facility. Let me know if we can assist. Our small town has collect nearly a a quarter million in sales revenue from rec mj just in the last 5 months. They're trying to figure out what to do with the extra cash.

hqppy 4/20 y'alll1!

I’m in Michigan right now. It’s legal here.

grow ops are not architectural problems, they are horticultural.  basically any warehouse space works, the key is correctly calibrating your biological inputs, managing heat and humidity, and pest mgmt. 

you guys are describing liability problems.  if OP wants to have a grow op, he needs a lawyer and a horticulturalist, not an architect.  growing weed is like growing tomatoes, in fact arguably, it is easier, as there are fewer disease / pest issues.  there are not architectural issues to be solved here.  its a greenhouse

i grew up on a farm, we had tons of hothouses, there is nothing special about growing pot vis. any other agricultural product.  just because a bunch of stoners at an oregon dispensary blew themselves up making extracts doesn't mean op needs to hire an architect.