Takeaways:
- Dr. Nadia Sabeh is an expert on indoor growing and greenhouse climate control. (1:07)
- HVAC is an indoor growing climate control system. (6:14)
- Designing the right HVAC system is important for optimal growing conditions and crop yields. (7:25)
Note: We apologize for the audio issues in this course. This course was originally recorded as a live webinar, during which we experienced a few audio issues. We have done our best to remaster the audio and appreciate your understanding! We promise the information presented by Dr. Nadia is well-worth the listen if you can put up with the audio! Thanks, and enjoy!
Today we’re going to hear from Dr. Nadia Sabeh, AKA “Dr. Greenhouse”. She is a licensed mechanical engineer in California and has a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering from the University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center.
Dr. Nadia has over 20 years of experience and is uniquely specialized in the design and specification of HVAC systems.
She got interested in agriculture and farming through an internship at a mushroom farm in Idaho, where the farm had trouble maintaining enough moisture for the mushrooms. It was here that she realized she had a passion for agriculture, and wanted to help farmers manage climate better.
Dr. Nadia currently works with cannabis, lettuce, tomatoes, and hopefully mushrooms.
Today she is sharing her knowledge and expertise on HVAC systems for indoor farmers like you!
So what is HVAC?
HVAC is an acronym for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.
Essentially, HVAC is climate control. The goal of HVAC is to create and maintain desirable climate conditions in an indoor growing operation. These are the factors we want to control for optimal crop production:
- Temperature
- Humidity
- CO2
- Air movement
- Air filtration
HVAC can manage all of these.
Why HVAC and climate control?
There are some big advantages to growing indoors and having the ability to control the conditions. Farmers growing indoors can:
- Grow crops anywhere
- Grow year round
- Provide optimal climate regardless of what it is like outside
- Maximize crop yields, quality, and profitability
But achieving these goals requires a well-designed HVAC system.
Why is designing the right HVAC system important?
Higher yields and fewer losses – By managing indoor growing conditions, we can help our crop to grow fuller, and earn more from it. Also, by managing moisture, we can mitigate how much of the crop is lost to mold.
Steer the crop for quality – We know that we can do this by adjusting lighting and nutrient levels, but we can also use temperature and humidity to get the crop responses that we want.
Predictability and consistency – If we are delivering air in a consistent and predictable way, we can get a product that is consistently colorful and heavy. We can also provide produce year round.
Containment and prevention – Environmental control allows for the containment of things like carbon dioxide in the facility, as well as prevention of things we don’t want in the facility through ventilation.
Reduce operating and maintenance costs – Designing the correct HVAC system will help to lower operating and maintenance costs. If we design a system that is energy efficient, we can reduce utility costs. A more durable, reliable, and predictable system that has guaranteed longevity and a warranty can aid in reduced maintenance costs.
There are a lot of ways that choosing the right HVAC system can help you and your bottom line!