Glass Act

Added on 27/03/2010

Serious gardening can be an expensive business. Often you feel pressured into digging deep and investing in expensive products which claim to help you grow the biggest, strongest and healthiest plants and produce.

But expensive doesn’t necessarily equal best performance, especially when you are choosing a glasshouse, as Bruce Cowan, Chairman of SOLARDOME® glasshouse Industries explains.

Serious gardeners will know that their investment in a glasshouse can be crucial to the wellbeing of their plants, as well as the yields they achieve.

When choosing a glasshouse, the most important factor is opting for a shape which will capture the highest transmission of solar radiant energy. Maximum solar gain is vital to the production of new plants and the over-wintering and protection of plants from late September until Mid-May. This is even more crucial if you like in the northern latitudes.

Many horticulturalists know that the position of the glasshouse can make a difference of up to 20% in the solar gain achieved. However, a less well known fact is that the design of the glasshouse to maximise solar gain can be up to three times more important than orientation. What’s more, when you consider orientation and shape together, your plants can benefit from up to 40% more solar energy.

Published research by John W. Mastalerz from the Department of Horticulture at The Pensylvannia State University shows that ‘for maximum transmission of radiant energy, the ideal architectural form for a greenhouse is the hemispherical dome. The angle of incidence and the orientation are perfect at all hours of the day and all hours of the day and at all seasons of the year.’

SOLARDOME® glasshouse Industries Limited (www.solardome.co.uk) pioneers the development of glass and aluminium domes for personal and public gardens, visitor attractions, educational establishments and commercial ventures throughout the world. Based on the revolutionary design principles of American inventor, architect and mathematician, Richard Buckminster ‘Bucky’ Fuller, the SOLARDOME® Glasshouse will give you professional results at a sensible price, as well as adding a striking element to any landscape.

A SOLARDOME® Glasshouse is much cheaper than many high-end glasshouses which look nice but have limited functionality. For example, a SOLARDOME® Glasshouse boasts more than 95% light transference due to its delicate glazing bars. Traditional Victorianstyle glasshouses with closely-positioned roof bars can substantially reduce light transference, therefore limiting the available energy for plants. Their ornate internal detailing and ridges also make them ideal breeding grounds for germs. Better air distribution in the multi-sided dome means there is less still or stagnant air and pests find it hard to harbour in the smooth surfaces. This also means that fumigation and sterilisation can be done much more easily than in a conventional greenhouse.

Additionally, the effect of putting plants in a glasshouse environment will tend to create the edge effect. This means that plants nearer the light source will grow stronger and quicker than others further away. They will also tend to bend towards the light. In a SOLARDOME® Glasshouse there is even light distribution throughout the dome, therefore reducing the edge effect and improving the shape of the plant.

The shape of the SOLARDOME® Glasshouse offers many other advantages over other traditional glasshouses:

1. Better airflow In a SOLARDOME® Glasshouse every care has been taken to maximise ventilation in order to aid plant growth. As the air heats up, it acts like a chimney and permits excellent air flow, even in warm, still weather conditions. More air flow over the leaves of a plant will aid the absorption of air-borne nutrients and humidity.

2. Better temperature control A constant temperature can be more easily achieved than in a conventionally shaped glasshouse because the air in the SOLARDOME® Glasshouse swirls evenly throughout the dome shape.

3. Cheaper to heat Gardeners can achieve on average a 40% saving in heating costs by using a SOLARDOME® Glasshouse. This is because the air volume in a dome above the growing area is much smaller than a conventional greenhouse and it takes substantially less heat to keep it warm in the winter.

4. Very strong and wind-proof Richard Buckminster ‘Bucky’ Fuller (1895-1983) demonstrated that a sphere was the most efficient space as it encloses the most volume using the least surface area. Any dome therefore has the least surface area through which to lose heat and has the unique ability to stand up to potentially damaging winds. No other glazed structure is as strong or as stable.

5. Maintenance free SOLARDOME® Glasshouses made from non-corrosive and rot-proof materials, meaning that only minimal maintenance is required. As well as finding SOLARDOME® Glasshouses nestled in personal gardens and schools throughout the UK, several key environmental and research centres have chosen them for their unique shape and micro-climate. There is a dome at the 30,000 Attadale Estate on the North West of Scotland which is used to house their tender fern collection. There is also one at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, used as a thought-provoking structure to demonstrate the most efficient use of structural materials. Most recently, the £25m Butterfly World project in Hertfordshire selected a 7.75m dome to act as an outdoor classroom for its educational activities. Contact 0845 450 2155 for more details.