Advances in greenhouse design

Publication date: 09/09/2019
Extent: 36 pages

Contributions by: Juan I. Montero, formerly Institut de Recerca i Tecnología Agroalimentaries, Spain; and Yi Zhang, Qichang Yang and Xinglin Ke, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, China

Chapter synopsis: Greenhouses are effective structures for producing high-value crops since they use natural resources as well as production inputs very efficiently. Consequently, greenhouses occupy large areas of the world. This chapter examines recent developments in greenhouse designs on three relevant production systems, namely low-tech greenhouses, high-tech greenhouses and the Chinese solar greenhouse (CSG). The chapter reviews advances in natural ventilation, light transmission and passive improvement of night-time conditions. The chapter discusses new greenhouse roofing for glasshouses as well as the concept of the semi-closed greenhouse, a type of high-tech greenhouse. The chapter describes types of CSGs and relevant technical features of CSGs in northeast, northwest and northern China.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2019.0052.02