An insulated backyard greenhouse kit for harsh climates
The backyard greenhouse kits build on Ceres’ current line of HighYield Greenhouses, which integrate durable steel framing with an energy-efficient design. The new models will make this technology available to residential growers, enabling home gardeners to grow anywhere, year-round, without the high energy costs of standard greenhouses.
The kits use modular steel framing, which is pre-cut and assembled by the homeowner/crew on-site. Following the company’s signature design, the kits use passive solar building principles – a series of design strategies which serve to maximize free solar energy and reduce or eliminate fossil-fuel heating and cooling. The greenhouse kits incorporate high-quality insulated materials, allowing them to trap passive solar energy during the day, and avoid cost-intensive heating. Specifically, the greenhouse kits include an insulated wall – usually placed on the North side of the structure -- with insulation values of R-14 to R-28. This reduces the structure’s heat loss by 75-95%, compared to a typical polycarbonate greenhouse, making the kits extremely useful for climates with harsh winters or hot summers.
With passive solar design, insulated walls and triple-wall polycarbonate roofing, the backyard kits provide vastly superior performance compared to standard greenhouse kits on the market. The company predicts the residential structures will perform similarly to their HighYield Greenhouse line for commercial growers, maintaining temperatures 70F (20C) degrees warmer than outdoor air with minimal back-up heating. Such an environment enables growers – including those in harsh climates, previously unable to grow year-round – to create a sustainable and abundant indoor garden, growing tropical crops like banana, citrus and avocado, in addition to typical fruits and vegetables.
Each backyard greenhouse kit is structurally engineered for high wind loads and snow loads. Triple-wall polycarbonate glazing on the roof adds insulation, while maintaining high light transmission, and can be rated for any wind or snow load.
Like all of Ceres Greenhouses, the backyard greenhouse kits are designed to integrate with Ceres’ ‘self-heating’ technology – the Ground to Air Heat Transfer (GAHT) system. The GAHT system stores passive solar heat from the greenhouse in the soil underground. This stored thermal energy – and the stable temperatures of the soil – provides renewable heating and cooling for the greenhouse year-round.
The prefabricated greenhouses are currently available in two sizes: 10’ x 12’ and 12’ x 24’. They can be shipped throughout the US and Canada. In addition to the efficient pre-fabricated greenhouse kits, Ceres will continue to provide custom greenhouse designs, and engineering and consulting services.
For more information:
Ceres Greenhouse Solutions
4760 Walnut St., Suite 106
Boulder, Colorado 80301
303-495-5006
info@ceresgs.com
www.ceresgs.com