BIOMIMICRY FRONTIERS & CANNABIS TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION
Background
Biomimicry Frontiers was hired by Thrive Cannabis to incorporate biomimicry into its new
state-of-the-art facility. Thrive Cannabis is dedicated to cultivating premium quality, small-batch craft
cannabis and they reached out to Biomimicry Frontiers to incorporate forward-thinking technologies
into its practices to ensure they were supporting a sustainable future. As a result, Biomimicry Frontiers
was able to assist in the development of a sustainable land-use strategy and the incorporation of
multiple sustainable technologies into its processes and systems.
The Goal
The overall goal of this project was to save on facility costs as a result of reduced water usage and
reduce the environmental impact on groundwater recharge.
Biomimicry Systems & Technology Integration
Once Biomimicry Frontiers had studied the land and understood what it needed, we reached out to our
industry partners to find the best fit of biomimicry technology for the Thrive Cannabis facility.
Understanding that an efficient way of mixing the irrigation tanks was needed, we partnered with Pax
Scientific , a fluid dynamics research and design firm, to include custom-made impellers that are inspired
by seashells and lilies.
PAX Impeller | “PAX Mixer designs rotary and static (in-line) mixers for markets including the
agriculture, petroleum, pharmaceutical, and beverage industries. These industries use mixing for
product blending, fermentation, suspension, catalysis, crystallization and 2- and 3-phase mixing. PAX
Mixer’s technology can provide several benefits, including lower energy use, lower capital cost,
extremely low shear, superior blend times, and increased yields. “
Once it was clear that the impellers would be functional in the Thrive Cannabis facility, we began to
design a Living System wastewater treatment system with John Todd Ecological , a design firm focused
on natural systems for the treatment of wastewaters and remediation of degraded water bodies. The
living system wastewater treatment system that Biomimicry Frontiers designed in partnership with John
Todd Ecological functions as a complex wetland by primarily using distilled water from the evaporated
transpiration of the cannabis plants.
John Todd Ecological | “Ecological design repositions wastewater treatment at the heart of public space
and allows people to experience the life-creating properties of treated water.”
Biomimicry’s Frontiers was further responsible for a comprehensive water design and strategy. This
included being the lead on pond reclamation for water use, designing and building a rain harvesting
strategy, developing a comprehensive ROI analysis and wastewater treatment and reclamation. We
were also involved in the wastewater garden maintenance and provided irrigation technology support.
As part of our maintenance, we checked in on the systems we had built and during the coldest months
of Canadian winter (-25 °C), we ensured that the wastewater garden avoided freezing.
We were also the lead on land-use planning through an exploration of various composting technologies
and land reclamation strategies.
As a result of this project, cost savings resulted from reduced water usage and the environmental impact
on groundwater recharge was reduced.
Resources
Pax Scientific | https://paxscientific.com/
John Todd Ecological | https://www.toddecological.com/
