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Buildings
23 June 2022
This is part one of a two part update, in which we revisit the conventional sources of CO2 supply and discuss the influence of factors, such as heat requirement and electricity price on the cost attributed to CO2 supply. Conventional sources includes: flue gas from the ‘back of the gas boiler’, LPG or kerosene direct-fired heaters, CHP units or pure CO2 delivered to site.
2 December 2020
Screens have become an essential tool for energy saving, shading and climate control in modern protected horticulture. New screen materials which save more heat energy and transmit more light have been developed, enabling screens to be deployed more in the daytime, or in double layers. There has never been a wider range of screen materials to give the optimum balance between energy saving, light transmission and shading. Read more in this technical update.
23 June 2022
For 20 years or more, glasshouses originally built to produce other crops have been converted for soft fruit production. Read this Technical Update to find out more about how you can adapt existing glasshouses to suit soft fruit production.
23 June 2022
This is the second part of a two-part update on CO2. The first part covered the costs and characteristics of conventional CO2 supply. Here, we look at the supply of CO2 from biomass and anaerobic digestion and discuss how it has developed since the uptake of renewable-based heating systems.
21 December 2020
Biomass heating has become more popular over recent years, but one disadvantage has been that biomass boiler flue gasses can't be used for CO2 enrichment without cleaning them. Read this technical update to read about developments in biomass flue gas cleaning systems.
20 July 2021
Key aspects to consider in the design and maintenance of an efficient modern heat storage system.
27 November 2020
If someone offered you a product that could increase light transmission in your glasshouse by 10%, would you be interested? Research has shown a strong correlation between crop yield and the amount of Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR: 400-700nm wavelengths) light reaching the crop. Read more about how you can improve your light transmission.
27 November 2020
Electricity bills vary in complexity from simple to seemingly almost unintelligible. They all contain a breakdown of elements of electricity cost including fuel use, electricity transport, billing metering and energy taxation in some way. Read this Technical Update to help you understand your electricity bill.
27 November 2020
Sensors are the eyes and ears of your control system and fundamental to its operation. Inaccurate measurements, due to faulty or poorly maintained sensors, can result in wasted energy, substandard crop performance and even increased disease so they are very important. In this technical update, we discuss what to watch out for when choosing and looking after sensors in glasshouses.
2 December 2020
Circulation fans have been widely used in greenhouses for many years. A well designed fan installation will benefit the greenhouse climate by helping to maintain consistent temperature and humidity throughout the growing area.
2 December 2020
Energy makes the world go round and it can manifest itself in many forms including radiation, light and chemical. However, we are mostly concerned with it as heat, electricity or as fuel (i.e. oil, gas, wood etc.) which, for the most part we pay for. It’s important that we are able to measure it, so we can evaluate and compare its costs and assess how efficiently it’s being used. Read more about how best to measure your energy use in this technical updates.
21 December 2020
The advantages of diffuse light in horticultural production have been long debated, and there’s now increasing evidence that using light diffusing technologies in a greenhouse can give production advantages that include yield increases in edible crops and reduced time to market and quality improvements in ornamentals. Read this technical update on diffuse light to find out more.