Smart Greenhouse Initiative

The use of a modern greenhouse is considered an efficient way of maintaining favourable growing conditions to enhance the productivity of agriculture and horticulture. However, the high production cost is associated with the greenhouse operation due to the high energy demand that results in significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and environmental impact. It is important to consider the efficiency of greenhouse operation by maintaining the optimal operating conditions for energy-efficient operation for sustainable development of the Canadian nursery industry and adhere to the Canadian Government’s emission reduction goals. The proposed collaboration between AgriForest and UBCO aims to develop pathways for the performance enhancement of greenhouses.
This research aims to develop an automated microclimate monitoring and control strategy for the greenhouse by considering the plant health and related energy use for effective and energy-efficient operation. This is a practical investigation in which a vertical growing system will be realized by AgriForest in a greenhouse environment. This case greenhouse will be instrumented with the deployment of a wireless sensor network to capture greenhouse characteristics. The collected data will be analyzed and used to develop a greenhouse performance model.

Faculty Supervisor:

Kasun Hewage;Rehan Sadiq

Student:

Partner:

AgriForest Bio-Technologies Ltd

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

The University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Program: