How to Design an Energy-Efficient, Year-Round Solar Greenhouse

Cost: $175

Purchase Tickets here.

Instructors – Marc Plinke & Lindsey Schiller

This full-day greenhouse immersion course will delve into smart greenhouse design. Topics include how to design a super-efficient greenhouse using passive solar strategies, tailoring your greenhouse for an aquaponics system, growing year-round in hard-to-grow climates, powering your greenhouse off-grid, growing advice and greenhouse building plans.

Agenda

8:30 AM to 11:00: Greenhouse Design
*Classroom instruction at The Aquaponic Source location
• Introductions & plan for the day
• Essential elements of solar greenhouse design
• Siting and orienting your greenhouse
• Choosing the right materials
• Insulating your greenhouse for year-round growth
• Naturally heating, cooling and ventilating your greenhouse
• Making a greenhouse ‘self-heating’ by using thermal mass and storing heat underground
• Tailoring your greenhouse for an aquaponics system

11:00 – 12:30: Tour of an off-grid commercial greenhouse
We will car pool to a nearby farm.

12:30 – 1:30: Lunch (included)

1:30 – 4:30 PM: How to Build Your Greenhouse; Growing in the Greenhouse
• Powering your greenhouse: standard and off-grid options
• Growing tips and recommendations for your greenhouse
• Q&A / Tailoring your greenhouse for your site, location, growing methods (aquaponics or other) and what you’d like to grow. This final session will provide personalized advice and consultations to help participants tailor the above concepts to their growing goals.

Instructors

Marc Plinke and Lindsey Schiller co-founded Ceres Greenhouse Solutions, a small company which has become an industry leader in energy-efficient greenhouse research. Currently, Ceres designs and builds solar greenhouses nationwide, ranging from sustainable backyard models to several thousand sq. ft. commercial greenhouses. Over the past several years, Ceres has enabled people to grow bananas year-round in the Colorado Rockies, and specialized in aquaponic greenhouses.

Purchase tickets here.