Awards Frequently Asked Questions
Best in Class Awards
Manufacturer Awards
What products are eligible?
- Indoor Farm Production Systems
- LED Lighting Solutions
The Center welcomes entries from companies and organizations from anywhere in the world.
How do I start?
Nominate your favorite production system maker or lighting company products. Self-nominations are allowed. There is no fee to nominate and the form takes less than a minute to fill in. All entries are confidential will not be shared without permission.
What is the process for equipment companies after being nominated?
Manufacturers need to fill out our detailed technical survey to be considered for an award. The survey is available from the manufacturing awards page.
Here is the complete process flow
Is there a fee to enter for Manufacturers?
There is no fee to be nominated and no fee to enter. Manufacturers can access our technical survey at no charge.
How do I return to a manufacturer's survey that I am working on?
You can access the survey by returning to the manufacturing company awards page. Simply enter your name and email and you will be taken back to the survey.
Grower Awards
Who is eligible for a Grower award?
- Greenhouses
- Indoor vertical farms
- Plant Factories
The Center welcomes entries from companies and organizations from anywhere in the world.
How do I start?
Nominate your favorite indoor farmer. Self-nominations are allowed. There is no fee to nominate and the form takes less than a minute to fill in. All entries are confidential will not be shared without permission.
What is the process for farmers after being nominated?
Growers need to enroll in our Indoor Farm Benchmarking service to be considered for an award.
Here is the complete process for Growers
Is there a fee to enter for Growers?
There is no fee to be nominated and no fee to enter. Growers do pay a fee to use our survey designed to help benchmark operations. After the completion of the survey, growers are automatically considered for an award.
What value is provided by the Center's bench-marking survey process?
The survey will help farmers identify operational efficiencies such as use of water, energy, labor, etc. to achieve desired plant yields. The farm will be bench-marked against others to promote continuous improvement. Please see our description of the bench-marking service for further information.
What are the deadlines?
Nominations can be made anytime during the year. Technical surveys and other documentation have to be completed before the end of the calendar year. Submissions made late in the year will be added to the next year’s cycle at the Center’s discretion.
What criteria are used to judge applicants?
We use different criteria for different product solutions and farms. A complete list of criteria is available on the Awards Criteria page. We use our proprietary multi-criteria ranking system, market research and human judgment to evaluate each candidate.
What are the benefits of winning an award?
Winners will be featured on our web site, on our social media channels, and we will put out a press release highlighting awardees. We will also schedule a special live or online event announcing the results and the winners will be invited to discuss the importance of metrics or a related topic.
Are my responses confidential?
Yes! We do not share any of the information collected with anyone without permission. The results of the awards are not made public without permission.
Terms of Use
All entrants are expected to supply information that is truthful and accurate. If data that is submitted is found to be inaccurate or incorrect, the candidate will be disqualified and receive no further consideration. Once a company agrees to publicize its status as an award winner, the Center of Excellence reserves the right to use company names and logos for promotional purposes.