Cannabis greenhouse design

A project of a cannabis greenhouse design? You can simulate online closed greenhouse, cooling, dehumidification, supplemental lighting, screens…

Cannabis is a very sensitive crop. A cannabis greenhouse design is very technical. Many equipment are therefore needed to control the inner climate: lighting, dehumidification, cooling, heating, blackout screens… The investments and the energy consumption are very high.

1. Design your cannabis greenhouse with Hortinergy

Hortinergy assists you in designing an energy efficient greenhouse with an optimal climate. You will be able to define the best equipment configuration in order to reduce your energy cost.

cannabis greenhouse design

It’s easy to make your cannabis greenhouse design project online worldwide.

  • Enter the input parameters: greenhouse dimensions, screens, equipment and climate settings,
  • Hortinergy models the inner climate,
  • Hortinergy will simulate the energy consumption.

You can estimate the impact of many parameters and compare the scenarios:

2. Climate settings and modelling in a cannabis greenhouse

In a cannabis greenhouse, you want to control temperature, humidity, solar radiation and air velocity. Hortinergy implements these climate settings parameters:

For instance, you can fill in the temperature and humidity setpoints

cannabis greenhouse design temperature

Secondly, Hortinergy will simulate the inner climate on an hourly basis during a typical year.

Hortinergy models the transpiration of cannabis taking into account the development of the crop and the inner climate: temperature, humidity, solar radiation, assimilation lighting, air speed…

We show as an example a glass greenhouse

  • located in Ontario, Canada,
  • roof: transparent glass cover, blackout screen and thermal screen,
  • side walls: opaque,
  • assimilation lighting,
  • cooling and dehumidification system.

We show the inner climate during an average day in May. The temperatures are in Celsius degrees .

cannabis greenhouse design humidity airflow

3. Supplemental light design in a cannabis greenhouse

You can design the supplemental lighting system of your greenhouse.

cannabis greenhouse design night

Hortinergy models:

  • HPS and LED supplemental lighting,
  • Solar radiation transmitted through the transparent cover and reaching canopy,
  • Assimilation lighting required based on regulatory set points:
    • Day Light Integral (DLI),
    • or a fixed monthly schedule,
  • Electricity consumption,
  • Impact on the inner climate and energy consumption:
    • sensible heat generated by light,
    • latent heat (evapotranspiration) generated by the crop due to light.

The calculations are performed on an hourly basis during a typical year.

You will estimate your electricity consumption by taking into account the different parameters of your assimilation lighting system.

cannabis greenhouse design type light
cannabis greenhouse design DLI

Then Hortinergy simulates the solar radiation reaching the canopy and the additional assimilation lighting required.

cannabis greenhouse design canopy

Hortinergy also shows electricity consumption and expenses.

cannabis greenhouse design electricity

4. Heating system and energy consumption in a cannabis greenhouse design

Hortinergy simulates the energy consumption of the greenhouse. The results are the hourly heating demand and a monthly overview of the energy consumption.

cannabis greenhouse design hourly heat
cannabis greenhouse design monthly

5. Closed or sealed greenhouse

Hortinergy simulates the latent (dehumidification) and sensitive cooling demand in a https://www.hortinergy.com/features/closed-sealed-greenhouse-design/.

cannabis greenhouse design picture.png

The results are a table with the monthly summary and an Excel file with the hourly data.

cannabis greenhouse design cooling needs

6. Semi-closed greenhouse

Hortinergy also simulates semi-closed greenhouse. The model includes air tubes, fan specifications, air re-circulation rates, pad and fan… The schema below shows the modeling principle.

cannabis greenhouse design inputs outputs

The results are:

  • The inner climate, including external air-flow and water consumption as shown above
  • The required heating as presented before
  • Electricity and water consumption: a table with the monthly overview and an Excel file with hourly data.
cannabis greenhouse design electricity water consumption

In summary, Hortinergy is an online software that enables you to design an energy efficient and climate-optimized cannabis greenhouse worldwide. For instance, you can simulate and then compare:

With Hortinergy, you can simulate screens, semi-closed greenhouse, energy consumption, sustainability, cannabis greenhouse, supplemental lighting, and calculate carbon tax rebate. We also provide trainings on energy consumption to become a greenhouse designer.

Hortinergy is an online software. You can choose your offer, create an account and start your project.

Our consulting company Agrithermic can also support you in the design and calculation.