Greenhouse

Greenhouse Reflective Effects

/ Organikos / Leave a comment

Greenhouse roofs reflect sunlight in Kunming, China. FABIO NODARI / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Fred Pearce, in Yale e360, offers reason to further consider the greenhouse:

Could the Global Boom in Greenhouses Help Cool the Planet?

As agricultural greenhouses proliferate, researchers are finding that their reflective roofs are having a cooling effect. Some experts see this as an unintended experiment with lessons for cooling cities, but others point to the environmental damage that greenhouses can cause.

The world is awash with greenhouses growing fresh vegetables year-round for health-conscious urbanites. There are so many of them that in places their plastic and glass roofs are reflecting sufficient solar radiation to cool local temperatures — even as surrounding areas warm due to climate change. Continue reading →

And the “Fourth R Award” Goes to….

/ Amie Inman / 1 Comment

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Two months ago I wrote about British restaurateur Arthur Potts Dawson and his closed loop restaurant concepts and social enterprise food cooperatives here.   When I came across the Greenhouse I found the perfect follow up.  One would not be amiss to call the Australia based designer/builder/environmentalist Joost Bakker “green-blooded”.  His Dutch flower growing heritage helped forge a lifelong passion with growing things and plant inspired structures, such as greenhouses and conservatories.  His greenery walls invoke the power of nature creeping back into urban environments, making them simultaneously comforting and edgy. Continue reading →