Gaining your edge
Energy Edge is an initiative of Greenhouse Canada magazine aimed at turning what is a liability for most growers – fluctuating energy costs – into a competitive advantage. With energy accounting for as much as 40 per cent of the operating costs of many greenhouse operations, small and steady improvements on this front can move the needle in a big way on the bottom line. Energy Edge will look at new technologies, innovative projects, case studies of growers finding their own Energy Edge.
You can read about it in each issue of Greenhouse Canada, but we’ve also created this dedicated microsite. Here you can find regular news items on the subject, new technology and products, video, and in-depth archives on the subject.
We’ll also produce a bi-weekly enewsletter to keep you up to speed on what we’re covering. It is free to all Greenhouse Canada digital subscribers. You can sign up for it here.
If you want to add to the conversation, please drop us a line and let us know about your project, technology, services, or concerns at energyedge@annexweb.com.
You can read about it in each issue of Greenhouse Canada, but we’ve also created this dedicated microsite. Here you can find regular news items on the subject, new technology and products, video, and in-depth archives on the subject.
We’ll also produce a bi-weekly enewsletter to keep you up to speed on what we’re covering. It is free to all Greenhouse Canada digital subscribers. You can sign up for it here.
If you want to add to the conversation, please drop us a line and let us know about your project, technology, services, or concerns at energyedge@annexweb.com.
Innovative greenhouse project in Yukon
Monday, 30 April 2012-
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An innovative greenhouse has been built as a joint project involving the Yukon Research Centre and Yukon College’s School of Access. The year-round, solar greenhouse project will provide valuable data on the heating requirements of an insulated greenhouse and the ability of a small Stirling Engine to co-generate power and heat, says instructor and project supervisor Simone Rudge. The project is also testing the use of vacuum panels in shutters.
The completed greenhouse is 14’x24’ and has 36’ of 3-foot wide beds in a U-shape, with barrels for irrigation and heat storage along the north wall. “LED lights are powered by the Stirling Engine for an additional four hours of light during short winter days,” says Rudge. “The Stirling Engine is an external combustion engine that relies on a temperature differential to drive the nitrogen-filled piston.” The floors, walls, and ceiling of the greenhouse are filled with foam, and carefully sealed to give R-values of 36 for the floor, 26 for the walls, and 52 for the ceiling.
(Another chilly greenhouse construction day in 2011 - here, instructor Simone Rudge and a volunteer carpenter do some measuring.)
The polycarbonate glazing has R-values better than double-paned glass, yet allows more light through. “The shutters built with vacuum panels are only two inches thick, yet have an R-value of 50," Rudge notes.
Watch Greenhouse Canada Magazine and Energy Edge for more to come on this project.
Visit the students’ Facebook page for photos and commentary on the building process here.
