Netherlands: Revolutionary concept for fully conditioned greenhouse

With the introduction of the SuprimAir greenhouse, Certhon has taken an important step in the full conditioning of the greenhouse climate. A complex combination of technologies enables growers to create an ideal climate all year round, to save energy and to reduce the general risk of disease occurrence. Certhon thinks there are major commercial possibilities for the innovative greenhouse concept, which was developed mainly for continental, (sub)tropical and desert-like climates.

The development of the SuprimAir greenhouse has taken years. "We used knowledge from a wide range of fields, all of them in-house. Under the concept, the greenhouse, ventilation windows, ventilation, heating, cooling, lighting and control are fully integrated. We are the only company to have all those aspects under one roof", John van der Sande, head of R&D at Certhon explains. "The SuprimAir concept comprises three important components: first the hoses fitted underneath the growing gutters, through which air is blown. Then an end wall corridor with a pad wall, heating blocks and ventilators that draw in outside air or greenhouse air (depending on the situation) and blow it into the hoses. And last but not least, accurate operation on the basis of in-house-developed hardware, software and SCADA applications."

Cooling down, heating up, irrigation and dehumidification
The cooling option is based on the path & fan concept. Dry outside air is humidified, thus extracting heat from the air, and cool air is blown into the greenhouse via the hoses. The air can be heated up too.

Traditionally, the greenhouse is dehumidified through ventilation. This dehumidification process accounts for a very large portion of the energy consumption. And apart from moisture and heat, CO2 also escapes from the ventilation windows. By drawing in dry outside air and blowing it into the hoses, the greenhouse air is dehumidified; the "New Ways of Growing" principle. This leads to considerable energy savings and higher CO2 efficiency. When the outside air is drawn in via the pad wall, the air is humidified. Thanks to an innovative system, it is possible to realise the perfect mixture of outside air and greenhouse air in the corridor, as a result of which humidity can be controlled highly accurately.

Based on hardware and software developed by Certhon, the ventilators can be controlled in sections and modules, thus controlling the climate down to a square metre.

The huge potential of SuprimAir; ideal climate, energy savings and reduced general risk of disease occurrence
The greenhouse has been developed for areas where growing is hampered by high outside temperatures during the summer. John van der Sande: "As such, the potential of the greenhouse is enormous, as a lot of upcoming markets are facing summer droughts: (South) America, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Southern Europe, but Western Europe too. Another important advantage is that the greenhouse is under overpressure, making it difficult for insects to enter the greenhouse. This, combined with an ideal climate, results in a considerably reduced general risk of disease occurrence. The contract for the first SuprimAir greenhouse has already been signed, by a French grower who is building a three-hectare greenhouse south of Paris.

For more information:
Certhon
Tel: +31 174 225 080
www.certhon.com