Technology

Heat, humidity, and air

The goal is not a cool greenhouse, it is a crop that transpires steadily all day. That means managing heat, humidity, and carbon dioxide together.

Photo: heat, humidity, and air
Heat, humidity, and air

Cooling

Solar load is the dominant challenge. The cheapest cooling is the heat you never let in, so screening and ventilation come before machinery.

  • Shade and diffuse screens to cut peak radiation load
  • Evaporative cooling where incoming air is dry enough to benefit
  • Mechanical cooling reserved for the hours that genuinely need it

Humidity control

High humidity stalls transpiration, and a crop that cannot transpire cannot take up calcium or shed heat. This is the defining tropical greenhouse problem.

  • Vapour pressure deficit as the actual control target
  • Air movement to break the boundary layer around leaves
  • Dehumidification and controlled air exchange where ventilation is not enough

Horticoolers and air treatment

Air handling units condition and distribute air where passive strategies run out, particularly in semi-closed houses and plant factories.

  • Conditioned air delivered evenly to the canopy rather than the roof space
  • Combined cooling and dehumidification in a single treatment step
  • Enclosed operation that keeps insects and pathogens out while managing climate

CO2 enrichment

In a well-sealed house, carbon dioxide becomes the limiting factor for photosynthesis long before light does. Enrichment only makes sense once the house holds it.

  • Measurement first, to establish whether depletion is actually occurring
  • Dosing balanced against the ventilation the climate demands
  • Most viable in semi-closed structures and plant factories

Ready to talk it through?

Bring us the crop, the site, and the goal. We will tell you what a controlled environment can realistically deliver.

Discuss a project