ELECTRONIC SPREADSHEET TOOLS FOR LAYOUT DESIGN OF GREENHOUSES

As noted by one author, “Far to often, the grower finds himself locked into an inefficient operation if he has not spent some time to arrange structures properly,” but “explanation of suitable layouts is difficult to find in the horticulture literature.” In response to this need, tools have been developed for layout design purposes and are presented herein.
These tools evaluate the annual operational profit associated with a specific layout – yield and sales income less operational cost and return of investment in infrastructure.
Alternative layouts can be evaluated and the most profitable is selected.
The tools have been designed to be highly accessible, and to this end they are implemented with any spreadsheet software and any computer.
Further, the design of the tools facilitates WHAT-IF analyses via the changing of parameter values.
The applicability of design tools is demonstrated via numerical analyses of the layout design of a 1-hectare greenhouse for pepper growing using the Holland method.
Evidently, the layout design can have significant effect on the economical efficiency of the greenhouse – annual profit increases by, at least 12%, and up to 40%!

International Symposium on High Technology for Greenhouse System Management: Greensys2007

M. Eben-Chaime, A. Bechar, A. Baron

greenhouses, protected horticulture, layout design, structure, configuration

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2008.801.46