The GeoGuy designed climate control systems for the Renergy Biodome. The concept is to grow fresh food in an urban setting to avoid transportation and storage costs which results in local, straight from the plants, fresh food.
The Biodome incorporates so many new technologies and new thinking which will revolutionize urban food production. They include:
Vertical growing. The Renergy system has 3.5 times the growing area compared to a conventional horizontal system.
ETFE Film is a superior film over polyethylene. It has a very long lifespan, the best light transmittance and has a surface that is too smooth for dirt to adhere to, meaning it is washed clean by rain.
Aeroponics and Fertigation Recycling supplies nutrient solutions to the roots using less water than hydroponics and no fertigation runoff. The nutrient solutions are recycled by measuring nutrient values, sterilizing and adding nutrients only as required.
Geoexchange heat recovery eliminates burning fossil fuels for heating. The cooling system absorbs the excess heat from inside during the day and stores it in the watercourse surrounding the biodome. The heat is then recovered at night to keep the biodome at optimal temperatures. future biodomes will be able to sell the excess solar heat to neighbouring facilities.
A Closed and Pesticide Free Environment means Renergy Foods can keep CO2 levels exactly where the plants are growing the best. The closed environment also reduces insect and other pest intrusions by filtering incoming air which reduces the need for pest management.
Conditioning the plant zone means Renergy delivers cooled or heated, humidified air directly into the plant canopy resulting in higher yields and reduced energy consumption. The conventional way is to simply turn on a natural gas heater and have the heat rise to the top of the greenhouse and be mostly wasted.
Continual Planting means fresh plantings are started every week and therefore fresh harvesting happens every week. This approach offers fresh food instead of stored food.
Great tasting food seems to be a forgotten thing nowadays where food is grown strictly for volume production, damn the taste. Renergy will be able to grow great tasting food because the focus is continual varied production of many different crops simultaneously.
Plasma and LED lighting will be used in a supplementary way to insure food harvests year round even when other greenhouses are down for the season. The excess heat generated by the lighting systems will be stored in the watercourse and be re-used at night. In Vancouver summer nights go down to 14 deg C almost every single night and while the heat is not as important as heat, it plays a vital role in eliminating fungal problems by keeping the proper humidity temperature balance for that.
