Marijuana Business Magazine March 2020

March 2020 | mjbizdaily.com 105 Michigan-based cannabis company with vertically integrated operations in Oregon and Michigan. Safety All three of the main extraction methods— hydrocarbon, CO 2 and ethanol— involve working with toxic and dangerous gases. That said, extraction facilities must be designed with the safety of workers in mind, especially in light of the poisonous fumes and other dangers inherent in cannabis extraction. Installing proper ventilation to ensure dangerous gases are sucked out of the facility and equipping the building with adequate wiring are two key safety items, said Dustin Shroyer, chief operating officer at Revolution Global, a Chicago-based vertically integrated cannabis company with businesses in multiple states. Before starting construction, C3 hired a third-party industrial hygienist to certify its building would satisfy the local bureau of fire and safety. “If you have the decisions vetted along the way, by the time we build something and put it into the field, there’s been a lot of work done already,” Rungta said. Workflow Facilities can be designed to maximize throughput efficiency and maintain cleanliness. At Denver-based cannabis extraction lab MedPharm, Director of Chemistry Tyrell Towle likes his facilities to be designed in a linear fashion, where raw materials come in one side of the building and the finished product comes out the other end. This makes sense spatially, but also in terms of personnel movement. “You wouldn’t want the same work- ers in the raw material area working in the processing or post-processing room,” Towle said. Those workers could carry in raw material on their clothes, for example, and inadvert- ently contaminate the oil or other end products. Spacing Extraction machines need near-constant maintenance and cleaning. “The biggest mistake people make is measuring and leaving enough space for the machine but not leaving Dustin Shroyer Courtesy Photo Workers prepare cannabis for extraction at Revolution Global. Courtesy Photo