Features Efficiency Energy
MSU resources address greenhouse energy efficiency

The folks at Michigan State University (Extension Service) have created a website and resources to help growers improve their energy efficiency and increase margins.

Resources include a booklet with ways growers can reduce energy costs, as well as a series of interviews on greenhouse energy best practices.

Greenhouse Energy Conservation Strategies

This 16-page summary, in pdf format, presents 13 production strategies and technologies that greenhouse growers can use to reduce energy consumption and improve greenhouse production efficiency. Although many of these concepts can apply to virtually any greenhouse-grown crop, the focus is on the production of floriculture crops in controlled greenhouse environments located in temperate climates. Written by Erik Runkle (Michigan State Univ.) and A.J. Both (Rutgers Univ.). The complete guide can be downloaded below.

Greenhouse Sustainability Podcasts

In 2011, Erik Runkle worked with the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Washington, D.C.; the Dutch Ministry of Economics, Agriculture and Innovation; and Ferguson Caras LLC to explore how growers, industry leaders, and academics are addressing greenhouse sustainability issues. A series of interviews was performed on camera in the U.S. and the Netherlands, where energy topics such as energy and lighting, among others, were discussed. About 40 short videos, typically 2 to 5 minutes in length, were created and are now available at The Sustainability Initiative and on the project’s YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/dutchsustain. See how people are addressing energy issues here and abroad.