For 2 years now , Dutch nursery Ter Laak is growing part of their phalaenopsis plants in their new and innovative ' Daylight Greenhouse ' . This 5 ha greenhouse enable them to save 40 - 50 % energy and generate a more stable climate for their plants . Currently , they develop 8 million plants per year on a total surface country of 17.5 hour angle . Ter Laak has always been a precursor in sustainability and on top of winning the AIPH International Grower of the Year award in 2018 , they also win the AIPH Sustainability Award . In a late one - hour webinar , host by360 Energy , Ewald de Koning , Manager of Netherlands Operations , told more about their sustainability journeying .
Owners Richard and Eduard ter Laak
product and distribution60 class ago , the father of current owners Richard and Eduard ter Laak jump up the company growing veg and ulterior passel works . In 1990 , the decided to continue with only orchid . Now , in 2020 , they arise 200 change of genus Phalaenopsis - partially own bred - on 17.5 hour angle at 2 positioning in Wateringen , the Netherlands . They grow the plants from tissue culture and after 1.5 years , the finished plants are sell to florist and garden inwardness all over Europe and even overseas , to state Russia and Turkey . " 90 % of the works we raise go abroad , with Italy being our biggest market . "
SustainabilitySince its origin , Ter Laak Orchids has been invest in sustainable solution that serve reduce energy intake , CO2 emissions and stop wasting water . This is reflected in their 5 core note value ; " together - cooperation with fellow worker , supplier , client and so on , regard - for the masses and surroundings , challenging - never satisfied , innovation - we always require to be the first with newfangled introduction , and the final is keep it wide-eyed - this might not be easy with all values observe above , but it means that we attempt to keep everything as simple as possible , even though it is not the cheapest solution . "
De Koning also explains that being sustainable is not a commercial chance . Not being sustainable is a commercial-grade scourge . " We do what we can to create the safe environment , standardised to the natural surround of the orchid , and at the same fourth dimension be as sustainable as possible . We do not want that orchids get a bad name , like ' it ’s an energy consuming crop or it habituate a muckle of pesticide ' . "
WaterOne of their large projects they ’ve execute is their underground water supply storage which they build in 2017 . It countenance them to salt away unlimited excess rainwater in the basis . " We collect rainwater , which is weewee with small natrium chloride , and store it in a 7,000m3 army tank . The content of the tank is not that large , but when full , we can penetrate the extra rain in the ground . We have aquifers to do so , which are 40 meter underneath the land . Then at a tardy prison term , in summertime for exercise when it is dry , we can pump up the weewee and use it to water the flora . " On top of that , with this system , Ter Laak also help the authorities with preventing local floodings by pumping the water aside . "
To water the flora , they disinfect the water with ultraviolet illumination and hydrogen peroxide and before using it in their haze over system , a osmosis system cleans the urine throughout . " For fogging , we need very neat weewee as pee from the grid can curb too much Ca and therefore may clog the honker .
LED ’s at ter laak
EnergyBefore the installation of the Daylight Greenhouse , Ter Laak already invested in solutions to reduce vim consumption . Three geezerhood ago , they decided to use a compounding of LED and Son - T luminousness . Why this combination ? De Koning : " Sometimes , we need the warmth that is given off by the Son - T igniter and sometimes not . This combining enables us to get both . "
Also , when the humidity is too high , they blow air from outside in the greenhouse rather of reach the windows . " This keep us around 5 % of Energy Department on throttle . "
to create a more unchanging climate inside the greenhouse , they do not have glass on the sides of the greenhouse any longer . " Usually , the temperature at the sides of the glasshouse fluctuate and now , with sandwich panel , it is more adequate . "
On top of that , they have 660 solar panels , inner screening and hot / cold-blooded seasonal storage .
Daylight GreenhouseOne of their turgid energy - efficient projects is the Daylight greenhouse . " In short , it is a greenhouse that keeps out the daylight . " It is developed by Technokas and Wageningen University and spare energy and create a more static climate . " For us , this latter feature , a more static climate , so less variation in humidness and temperature , mostly waken our interest . "
The task pop out in 2005 with 1 m2 to prove the construct . Then , in 2010 11,000m2 was set up with all sort of plants . Also the plant life of Ter Laak Orchids were used and the issue carry them to build their own test glasshouse . In 2013 , they built their own 3,800 m2 Daylight nursery and the resultant made them enthusiastic so that they settle to built their own 50,000 ( 5 ha ) Daylight Greenhouse .
De Koning explains the principle : " It harvests the energy . The Sunlight is often too vivid in summer , but also part in Spring and Autumn , and by using exceptional lenses ( Fresnel lenses ) - pose in the south part of the greenhouse between the three-fold layers of the glass , 70 per centum of the sunlight is maneuver to 2 focus collectors . The collectors are pitch-dark pipes containing run pee . The black pipes warm up by the focus of the lenses ( 70 times sunpower ) in turn warming up the water . "
The ambitious part was catching the brightness all day and all year round . " The earth is moving , so the focus point is too . Therefore , the organ pipe need to move every 30 seconds to stay in the focus line . If not , too much lighter will descend in the nursery and will cauterise the orchids . "
The focus take to be 2 meter above the screen , and therefore , the the Daylight Greenhouse is 2 meters high than a formal glasshouse ( the ridgepole of this greenhouse with 2 levels is 13.5 meters high )
In summer time , they harvest the energy and utilise it in wintertime , when they need it . Also then , they need more sunlight and therefore the pipage are move in a way so that more igniter becomes available for their plants .
zip system in the Daylight GreenhouseThe Daylight greenhouse creates het up water supply when the sun is shining , they can reach a peak output of 13 MW . They also have coolers in the greenhouse which are needed for 45 % of the greenhouse , which is the last form of the orchids . " As in the first form , we do not desire to get it hotter than 30 Degrees Celsius , in this phase , we do not desire to get it hotter than 20 Degrees Celsius . "
They still need gas for heating , but we also produce energy as we have 3 cogenerators of 5.5 MW . They have 4 passion pump ( 6MW heat and 5.5MW cool ) and 16 aquifers for cold / heat energy storage . " On a yearly basis , it need to be equal . " For the day-after-day storage of hotness , they have 5 pilot tanks totalling 15,500m3 of repositing . eventually , they also have a steam boiler , which is only for emergency berth and they buy CO2 from the petrochemical industry coming from the the harbor of Rotterdam .
SavingsAll in all , the addition of the Daylight Greenhouse enabled Ter Laak Orchids to become an overall more sustainable fellowship . " When comparing 2000 to 2018 with 2019 , we see the accelerator nest egg in the Daylight greenhouse are 29.5 m3 / m2 , which is 42 percentage . "
advantage for the plantsBesides the savings , what are the vantage on the works ? De Koning : " We ’ve take in that , due to the more static climate , the industrial plant have less tension conditions resulting in respectable industrial plant that even originate a little faster . "
More sustainable initiativesAlong with the above - mentioned projects , Ter Laak is sustainable in the broadest sense of the Word of God . " We make optimal purpose of our control surface area by having a second cultivation layer , we utilize Plant Growth Containers that let more plant per m2 and we use recyclable packaging . "
Ter Laak Americas
Ter Laak AmericasDuring the webinar , De Koning also mentions Ter Laak Americas where they built a 1.2 ha greenhouse in 2015 . " As Europe was quite full , we started to look for other market , also a part of risk direction . We grow phalaenopsis for the local market and half finished products for the Mexican and US market . " In Guatemala , they introduced Dutch growing methods , but also ask responsibleness for their employee .
Next webinar hosted by 360Ter Laak was the first webinar hosted by 360 free energy . The topic of the 2d webinar is : keep on Energy Retrofit Program and Agricultural Incentives , which will be obligate on August 26 at 1:00PM EST . Heather Tripp , Save on Energy Representative , will walk through the Retrofit program , and other useable husbandry incentives that can lend to improved zip efficiency and operation of your facilities on Wednesday August 26th
This is a timely sitting for Ontario ’s Greenhouse Growers as the deadline to receive pre - approval on project applications is December 31 , 2020.Register here .
For more information:360 Energywww.360energy.net
