In July, 2008, we began to use our research greenhouses. At last, we were in our own space.
Two years later, and how are we doing? Well, the greenhouses are full to capacity most of the year, and overflowing for a few months in the spring. Our need for overflow capacity in the spring is the reason we are currently putting up a hoop house.
We're quite happy with the greenhouses. Our Nexus structure is simply awesome, as is the Argus control system.
Would we do anything differently? Of course we would. I've never done a building project where you would answer that question any other way.
We made the greenhouse bays 36 ft wide because that was the dimension we used for the very first rough sketch. Looking back, we could have easily made them wider --- at least 42 ft --- gaining a significant amount of bench space with only a modest increase in cost.
We would have installed insulated concrete block kneewalls on the perimeter, rather than taking the polycarbonate to the ground. This would have added a few days to the construction time, and a modest amount to the overall cost but would have a significant impact on energy use. We grow 90+% of our crops on benches --- light coming in the sidewalls below bench height is irrelevant.
Actually, considering how good the drainage is on-site, we probably could have sunk the entire greenhouse structure into the ground to bench height.
We would have brought in a greenhouse-experienced concrete floor specialist. We used a very competent local firm, but this was their first greenhouse floor. The floors do not always slope completely to the floor drains, and this can be annoying. Yes, we poured the floors during the winter --- no real choice there --- and yes, much of the structure is on compacted fill. But still. We would prefer to have the floors drain more effectively.
We could have built in more laboratory space from the start. We could have built in a germination room, as well as a light room next to the TC lab. We could have added a few more offices. We could have included a walk-in refrigerator for seed storage. But all of these things can --- and will --- readily be retrofitted into the existing facility.
All in all, we are very happy with our research greenhouses. We could go on and on about the things we did correctly, but ... let it suffice to say that we're very happy.
