Association of Energy Service Professionals (AESP) Annual Conference Review

Attended by John Wilson

The Lighting Design Lab (LDL) recently joined colleagues from City Light’s Customer Energy Solutions division to attend AESP’s 30^th Annual Conference event in Anaheim, California. LDL was represented by your correspondent who had the privilege of opening for a fabulous panel focusing on the energy use and delivery issues that are driving conversations between utilities and the burgeoning indoor agriculture market.

AESP’s annual conference is a veritable who’s who of energy efficiency leaders from all echelons. The event reaches a critical mass which promises to fill days with valuable sessions and evenings with enjoyable networking.

Beyond the professional development and schmoozing, LDL was proud to present and participate in a panel session dedicated to Indoor Ag. The panel was comprised of a diverse group of market actors including utility implementors, market evaluators, and of course… engineers. A common theme weaving the presentations together was the constant reminder that indoor ag is not limited to just cannabis, but also includes the rapidly growing flower and produce markets as well.

The session, in summary, painted a comprehensive business plan meriting utility action. Utility implementors cited newly available program resources like the Design Lights Consortium’s Horticultural Qualified Products List and the lighting and HVAC best practice guides available from Resource Innovation Institute. Electrification was also a popular focus point with examples including mobile farm-aide robotics which return to their charging bays at night to re-juice.