Our Services

Greenhouse Engineering specializes in engineering services for commercial, institutional, and research greenhouse facilities. We offer services ranging from planning, feasibility studies, greenhouse and growth facility specialist consulting, building assessment, energy studies, and engineering design services.

Our professional design services include structure and cladding, mechanical, electrical and control systems, lighting, shading, ventilation, air conditioning, fogging, irrigation, and mechanization. We provide integrated designs for the greenhouse structure and cladding and the interior, environmental control, mechanical, electrical and greenhouse crop systems. Greenhouse Engineering is also called upon to perform inspections, project management, and engineering evaluations.

We design a wide variety of greenhouse facilities, ranging from plant production ranges, garden centers, shade houses and lath houses, compartmentalized research greenhouses, conservatories and custom structures. Growth chamber facility design, including facility layout, service requirements, automated irrigation systems and containment considerations is also offered.

Greenhouse Engineering brings unique expertise to the design process for new facilities. As part of the design team we lead the greenhouse programming effort with our unique and extensive expertise.  We provide generic detailed drawings and specifications for tender with construction cost estimates based on multiple comparable past projects across North America. 

We have experience with implementing LEED initiatives in our projects. We have identified different strategies and designs that conform to LEED requirements while meeting the customers' needs. 

We can provide several types of studies, such as:

• Feasibility Studies

• Building Condition Review

• Needs Analysis

• Construction Cost Estimates

• Operation Cost Estimates

• Energy Saving Analysis

• Energy and Water Use Models

• Greenhouse Assessments

• Greenhouse Forensics and Reports

The programming phase is certainly the most important phase of a greenhouse project. During this phase, the specific users’ needs are established in respect to the available budget. The design team meets several times with the users groups to identify in detail their needs and expectations. A preliminary construction cost estimate is also provided. Finally, a program document is written by our design team and upon client’s approval, this document becomes the baseline for the entire greenhouse construction project. The success in the programming lies in the consultants’ understanding of the users' needs and requirements.

Our design team (engineers and technicians) can provide the complete design of the mechanical and electrical systems and components, required for the greenhouse complex. Those systems are greenhouse structure and glazing, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, shade systems, fogging, supplemental lighting, irrigation, fertilization, plumbing, electrical and greenhouse computerized control system.

Our team can provide comprehensive and coordinated drawings and specification documents. As prime consultant or sub-consultant to architects and/or other engineering firms, we can provide construction documents, which allow for competitive bidding.

Shop drawing review is an important phase of a greenhouse construction project. This is the final opportunity to verify that construction is done according to the bid documents.

During the construction phase, member(s) of our team will be on the construction site for several site visits at specific and strategic periods, to verify that the construction is done according the construction documents, the shop drawings and the site conditions. Our team’s experience can not only solve but anticipate problems that generally occur on greenhouse construction sites.

Once the construction phase is completed, we spend several days on site, along with the contractors, for the start-up, commissioning and intensive performance verification of the greenhouses. Each and every component and system is tested to make sure each client gets exactly what they expect and deserve.

Greenhouse Engineering has developed, and continues to develop, strategies to reduce the energy inputs and environmental impacts of new research greenhouse facilities while maintaining the quality and quantity of growth necessary. While they may not all be appropriate in a given situation some of these strategies include:

• Drain water recycling, involving monitoring water quality, organic loading and plant infection potential, 

• Recovery and recycling of nutrients, including Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphates, along with micronutrients,

• Minimizing or eliminating irrigation water run-off, 

• Collecting, monitoring, storing and using rain water from the greenhouse and adjacent building roof surfaces, 

• Minimizing or eliminating use of potable water for plant watering and wash-down, 

• Using solar energy to temper irrigation water streams,

• Siting and orienting the greenhouses to maximize winter sun while reducing summer heat load, 

• Using local materials where possible, including glass, aluminum, steel, benching materials, potting media, soil substrates and interior landscaping materials,

• Specifying materials and components that are recyclable, 

• Minimizing impact on green field sites by optimizing space utilization and by accepting existing built sites (rooftop greenhouses are often preferred for this reason, as well as the fact that natural light is often better on top of the building), 

• Reducing night time heat losses by using thermal blankets, 

• Designing the greenhouses and shade structures to make maximum use of natural ventilation. 

• Reducing cooling energy loads by employing evaporative cooling strategies, 

• Reducing heat losses by selecting high performance glazing systems, 

• Employing micro-climate environmental control strategies, such as root-zone heating, radiant floor heating and overhead radiant heating systems, 

• Designing greenhouses and shade structures to enhance biological control and IPM plant disease control strategies,

• Promote and encourage community use of biological control and IPM plant disease control strategies,

• Maximizing plant conservation and production by designing benching and crop support systems that minimize circulation space while maintaining adequate access to the plants, 

• Employing energy efficient plant lighting systems, including high efficiency HID fixtures, electronic dimmable ballasts and optimized lighting control strategies, 

• Reviewing and considering solar heat, solar photovoltaics, cogeneration, ground source, wind power and other non fossil fuel energy sources,

• Specifying control systems that are energy efficient, maximize life cycle cost efficiencies, minimize maintenance costs and provide optimal plant growth conditions, 

• Encourage and promote recycling of organic materials, specifically, but not limited to composting.