CEA Alliance Releases Sustainability Framework for CEA

Key Takeaways:

1. The CEA Alliance has released a comprehensive Sustainability Framework tailored for Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA).
2. The framework includes standardized Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics to guide sustainability in indoor farming.
3. Focus areas include environmental, social, and economic impacts, with specific metrics for land use, air quality, energy use, water use, and more.
4. This framework aims to promote continuous improvement, robust benchmarking, and transparent reporting across the CEA industry.
5. The initiative encourages further research and collaboration to refine and expand the sustainability metrics.

Introduction to Controlled Environment Agriculture and the CEA Alliance

The Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Alliance, a trade association representing indoor vertical farms and high-tech greenhouse producers, has released its first Sustainability Framework. This framework is designed to enhance CEA operations’ sustainability, efficiency, and quality through standardized metrics and performance indicators.

Project Purpose and Importance

The primary goal of this project is to establish a unified set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics that can be used to measure and improve sustainability within the CEA sector. By doing so, the CEA Alliance aims to support continuous improvement, facilitate high-quality benchmarking, and ensure transparent external reporting.

Approach to KPI Metrics

The framework defines KPIs as crucial sustainability issues relevant to CEA and metrics as the means of measuring these indicators. The metrics cover various environmental, social, and economic aspects tailored specifically for indoor farming systems.

Summary of Key Performance Indicators and Metrics

The framework provides a detailed table of KPIs and metrics, divided into environmental and social categories:

Environmental KPIs and Metrics:

• • Land Use: Productivity and yield per acre/year, ecosystem impacts.
  • Air Quality: Greenhouse gas emissions, non-GHG air emissions.
  • Energy Use: Combined energy use per unit of product, percentage of energy from clean sources.
  • Water Use: Total water withdrawal per year, water usage per unit of product.
  • Water Quality: Monitoring and treatment of wastewater, nutrient discharge.
  • Nutrient Management: Nutrient input per unit of product.
  • Pesticides: Volume and intensity of pesticide use, strategies for residue management.
  • Waste: Food loss percentage, solid waste management and diversion from landfills, packaging impacts.

Social KPIs and Metrics:

• • • Food Safety: Third-party audit scores, recall incidents, compliance with food safety guidelines.
    • Economic Impact and Job Creation: Total jobs, local employment, and economic value distribution.
    • Community and Economic Inclusion: Support for community development, inclusion of underserved areas.
    • Food Security: Access to fresh and healthy foods, reduction in transit days for produce, availability in underserved markets.
    • Employment Practices: Worker compensation, ethical recruitment, diversity policies, skill development.
    • Worker Safety: Incident rates, safety policies and training programs.

Recommendations for Further Research

The CEA Alliance emphasizes the need for further research to refine the sustainability metrics and develop standardized calculation methodologies. Recommendations include:

• Standardization of boundary conditions and calculation methods.
• Comprehensive understanding of the environmental footprints of both indoor and outdoor production.
• Development of footprint estimation factors for various aspects of crop production.
• Multi-stakeholder collaboration to gather data on food loss, waste, and nutritional value.
• Assessment of siting criteria for CEA systems considering environmental and social factors.

Download the entire report here.

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