Greenhouse Project Procurement: From Crop Plan to Comparable RFQ

Two identical-looking greenhouses in different latitudes are different projects. A tomato crop at 45° north needs supplementary lighting and heating strategy; the same crop in a hot arid climate needs cooling, shading and a water strategy that dominates the design. Specify the crop, the target yield and the climate data first, and the technology follows logically.

• Crop, variety, cycle plan, target yield per m² and the quality grade required by the buyer's market.
• Local climate data: design temperature extremes, humidity, wind and snow loads, light integral by month.
• Structure: Venlo, wide-span, tunnel or screenhouse; cladding glass, polycarbonate or film.
• Climate control: heating source, ventilation, pad-and-fan or high-pressure fogging, screens, CO₂ dosing.
• Lighting: LED or HPS, installed µmol/m²/s, and the connected electrical load it implies.
• Water and fertigation: source quality, storage, treatment, recirculation, drain treatment, discharge rules.
• Post-harvest: grading, packing, pre-cooling and cold storage — usually a separate package.

• Site preparation, levelling, drainage and access roads — inside or outside the package.
• Design loads: a structure priced to a lower wind or snow load is cheaper and wrong.
• Water source development: borehole, reservoir, desalination or municipal supply, and its treatment.
• Energy supply: boiler, CHP, heat pump or grid, plus standby power for climate-critical loads.
• Crop start package: substrate, first planting, agronomy support and grower training.
• Control software, licences, remote support and data ownership.
• Local permits, phytosanitary requirements and export certification for the target market.

Illustrative planning scenarios from standard published parameters. Not client cases, not quotations, no outcome implied.

1. 01
   Illustrative A — High-tech vegetable greenhouse, temperate climate

   Defined by crop, target yield per m² and the monthly light integral rather than by hectares alone. Scope covers Venlo structure, screens, heating and buffer, CO₂ supply, supplementary lighting, fertigation with recirculation, and climate computer. The RFQ states design loads, installed lighting level, energy source and the agronomic assumptions behind the yield figure — so that no supplier quietly quotes a lower specification.

2. 02
   Illustrative B — Arid-climate protected cultivation

   Where cooling and water, not heating, dominate. Scope covers screenhouse or cooled greenhouse, pad-and-fan or fogging, shading strategy, water source development and treatment, drainage recovery and salinity management. The decisive RFQ parameters are design summer ambient, achievable internal temperature at that ambient, and litres of water per kilogram of produce.

3. 03
   Illustrative C — Irrigation scheme with pack-house

   Field irrigation — pumping, filtration, mainline, drip or pivot, fertigation and control — combined with a grading and pack-house. The two packages share one water and power brief so pumping duty, filtration and electrical supply are sized once, not twice with different assumptions.

1. 01
   Define

   Crop plan, yield target, site, climate data, water source and timeline in writing.

2. 02
   Calculate

   Independent CapEx range plus energy and water cost per unit of production.

3. 03
   Structure the RFQ

   Design loads, climate specification, battery limits, exclusions, acceptance criteria.

4. 04
   Research capability

   Builders and technology suppliers assessed on comparable climate and crop references.

5. 05
   Compare

   Normalise the specification, surface exclusions, review TCO and agronomic assumptions.

6. 06
   Financing readiness

   Documentation completeness checked before approaching lenders or agencies.

Human review at every stage; no automatic matching and no introduction without approval by David or an authorised team member.

• It is not a greenhouse builder, manufacturer or grower.
• It publishes no supplier directory and sells no rankings.
• It does not lend, broker finance or approve credit.
• It guarantees no supplier, price, delivery date, yield or agronomic outcome.
• Formal review and supplier research generally apply from roughly US$250,000 of installed value.