Greenhouse Design

Food production in the world today has been refined to feed the masses, at least here in the United States it has. You go to any major supermarket to find there is every kind of foodstuff imaginable. Foods from around the country and around the world are displayed. But it all comes at a price. It has been estimated that on average the food that we eat travels 1,300 miles before it reaches our tables. Consequently we consume 10 to 20 times the energy required to get these products to our tables compared to the harvest from our own garden or the produce from the local farmers market. One of these days that cost will be too high. Fortunately growing some of your own food in a greenhouse is possible.    

Most of the greenhouses on the market today are touted as being appropriate for all locations and all climates but in reality they are for only a few. The cheaper models are made of plastic sheeting or some form of reinforced plastic, which deteriorate in just a few years. The more expensive models are constructed of wood with reinforced fiberglass panels. They do last longer.  The most expensive ones are mostly constructed of glass and aluminum. They look so beautiful. But all of these greenhouses are energy inefficient. In fact most all commercially available greenhouses, solariums, conservatories, sun spaces, whatever the name one uses, are energy inefficient because they are not well insulated  to keep out the cold in the northern climates nor the heat in the southern climates. Silver State Renewables, Inc. prefers to take a different approach.

Interest in energy conservation and home food production have come together in the last 25 years in the construction of many greenhouses. Though designs differ widely, basic principles remain the same. We believe any greenhouse should be useful year-round. Therefore, it should be heavily insulated, oriented for optimum collection of solar heat and light gain, and incorporate thermal storage so that excess heat normally available during the day can be held for use at night. These concepts mesh nicely with a solar type of greenhouse (only heated by the sun).

Standard Solar Greenhouse/Solar Hot Frame Designs

A solar greenhouse is a wonderful thing if done properly. As the name implies, our solar greenhouse is designed to provide a warm inviting environment conducive to growing plants and flowers to sooth the soul and food to nourish the body, all with only the sun providing the necessary heat and light to accomplish the task. As such, it is optimized, for your location and climate, to:

• collect the necessary amount of heat and light, from the sun, year-round. The cloudy weather of the Seattle, Washington area would have a different south facing wall than that of say Miami, Florida.
•  be well insulated during the winter months. Only some insulation products on the market today work well in greenhouse applications. 
•  be well shaded during the summer months. In hot sunny climates solar screens and a vent-skin installation approach are a must. 
•  be well sealed from infiltration. The design of a solar greenhouse must be well thought out to insure that cold air in the wintertime and hot air in the summertime does not infiltrate the greenhouse.
•  be automatically ventilated to prevent overheating. With the use of an insulated air stack, a thermostatically controlled heat ventilator and perhaps a solar chimney, the greenhouse temperature can be automatically controlled.
•  be will endowed with heat storage capacity. Although there are a number of approaches and materials that can be used to store heat, only one makes sense in a greenhouse application.
•  be well constructed to last for many, many years. Using the best ideas and choosing the right materials, installed in the right way, can make all the difference.

The construction details of our standard 12x20 foot solar greenhouse or 4x8 foot solar hot frame address each of these concerns and provides a well built structure that will stand the test of time. None of the other greenhouse designs that we know about, do all the things that this one does. And without any active mechanical and/or electrical means. 

Custom Designs

Whether we're talking about a more standard design or a custom solar greenhouse, we believe each location is different and consequently the climate is too. Any solar greenhouse design should take into account:

1. the prevailing weather conditions, which include:
   • the coldest night time temperature experienced.
   • the hottest day time temperature experienced.
   • the amount of solar radiation reaching the greenhouse on any given day.
   • the ground temperature adjacent to the greenhouse on any given day.
   • the prevailing wind conditions at the site.
2. the budget of the client.
3. the space available to construct the greenhouse.
4. the available construction materials.
5. the kind of environment desired (year around growing, extending the season, etc.) 

We can help you wade through the process of answering these and other questions and to optimize for the best design for you. We can do this because we can model the greenhouse and change any number of design specifics for your location and weather conditions. A few of the more important design variations, for a custom design, are:

• exterior cladding (any material, in any combination of layers).
• insulation (any type, in any thickness, buried or exposed).
• glazing material (any type, in any size, in any number of multiple layers, at any angle to the suns position in the sky, at any time of the year).
• thermal storage technique (any type, in any quantity).
• infiltration rate (any rate of outside air exchange).
• humidity ratio (any moisture level).
• occupancy (any number of human or animal residents).

So if you want to build or remodel your greenhouse and want to determine what to expect, before you spend a great deal of money, please contact us. Call or email us, with your questions, or for a quote.

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