Start your greenhouse project with a proper design brief.
Greenhouse Project Intake & Design Brief
Dedicated intake and design brief for commercial greenhouse projects. Nine structured steps — site, structure, climate, fertigation, crop, energy, financing and delivery — that produce a supplier-ready specification.
Frequently asked questions
Five inputs decide almost everything else: crop and growing system, cultivated area and phasing, site climate extremes (temperature, humidity, wind and snow loads), water source and water analysis, and available electrical capacity. Structure type, covering, ventilation, screening, cooling, heating, irrigation, fertigation and automation follow from those inputs. Any of them left blank is filled in by each manufacturer with a different assumption, which is the usual reason two proposals for the 'same' greenhouse cannot be compared.
Structure and covering, foundations and civil works, ventilation, cooling and heating, screens, irrigation, fertigation equipment, water treatment, growing system or substrate, climate control and automation, electrical, energy and backup, packhouse and pre-cooling, then installation, commissioning, training and spare parts. Splitting the project this way exposes the packages a supplier has quietly excluded — civil works, electrical connection and water treatment are the three most often left out of a headline price.
Water quality versus fertilizer solubility, irrigation flow versus dosing capacity, fertigation controller versus climate computer, drain recirculation versus disinfection, greenhouse climate design versus crop assumptions, and imported equipment versus local civil and electrical works. Each sits between two contracts, so it is nobody's scope unless the RFQ names an owner for it.
Indicative planning ranges: net house USD 8–20/m², single-span polytunnel 25–50, multi-span mid-tech 50–120, Venlo glass 150–350, and semi-closed controlled-environment 300–600. Climate severity typically adds 5–35%, site works 15–30% and financing costs 8–15%. These are feasibility figures for budgeting only — binding pricing comes from suppliers once site data and specification are fixed.
When land control, water source and analysis, electrical capacity, crop plan, area, technology tier, budget band and target timeline are all documented, and one written specification exists that every supplier will quote against. Until then a requirement is scoped as 'early concept' or 'needs clarification' and is reviewed manually before anyone is contacted.
One private brief is submitted; a sourcing specialist reviews it manually, identifies the missing information and normalises it into a single written specification; qualified manufacturers, integrators and EPC contractors are approached only after that internal approval; returned offers are normalised to the same scope, lead time and delivery terms so they can be compared line by line. No supplier is contacted automatically and no buyer contact details are released automatically.
One structured intake covers structure, climate, fertigation, crop programme, energy and financing. A dedicated sourcing specialist takes it from there — running a private supplier process across our verified global network so you never contact producers directly.
A greenhouse is an engineered system — not a checklist.
Each step below captures the inputs your specialist needs. Answer what you know; the specialist fills the rest during the private supplier process.
- 1
Project basics & location
Where the project sits, who is behind it, and the scale you are planning for.
- Country, region and nearest city
- Owner / operator: farm, cooperative, developer, investor or government
- Total planned area under cover (m² or hectares) and phasing
- Target start date and required commissioning date
- Indicative CAPEX budget range and financing status
- 2
Site, climate & utilities
Site conditions decide structure, glazing, heating and cooling — capture them once, correctly.
- Elevation, coldest and hottest month averages, humidity and wind exposure
- Site orientation, topography and available footprint
- Water source, flow rate, EC / pH and available water analysis
- Grid power availability, capacity, reliability and diesel / solar backup
- Access roads, cold chain and distance to packhouse or market
- 3
Structure, glazing & footprint
Structure is the single largest CAPEX line — the spec must match the crop, the climate and the buyer.
- Type: single-span poly, multi-span poly, Venlo glass or high-tech
- Gutter height (4 m, 5 m, 6 m, 7 m+) and bay width
- Glazing: single / double poly, diffuse glass, anti-drip, anti-condensation
- Foundation, wind-load and snow-load design values
- Loading dock, corridors, packhouse and utility rooms
- 4
Climate control & energy
Climate is what actually grows the crop — heating, cooling, ventilation, screens, CO₂ and controls.
- Heating: hot water boilers, HVAC, biomass, heat pumps, buffer tanks
- Cooling: pad & fan, high-pressure fog, natural ventilation, mechanical
- Thermal and shade screens (single or double screen system)
- CO₂ enrichment source and distribution
- Environmental controller, sensors, data logging and remote monitoring
- 5
Fertigation, irrigation & substrate
The fertigation set determines EC / pH stability and yield — treat it as an engineered system.
- Fertigation unit: A/B/acid tanks, dosing accuracy, EC / pH control
- Irrigation: drip lines, drippers per plant, recirculation or drain-to-waste
- Water treatment: filtration, UV, RO, disinfection, disinfestation of drain water
- Substrate: rockwool, coco, perlite, soil, hydroponic (NFT / DWC)
- High-wire, gutters, hooks, clips and crop-support hardware
- 6
Crop programme & genetics
The crop plan sets the specification for structure, climate and fertigation — not the other way around.
- Crop and variety class (indeterminate tomato, mini cucumber, sweet pepper, strawberry, leafy greens, cannabis, ornamental)
- Cycle length, planting density and cycles per year
- Target yield (kg / m² / cycle) and quality grade
- Preferred F1 hybrid traits: virus and disease resistance, shelf life, brix, colour
- Sourcing volume per cycle and packaging preference
- 7
Financing, offtake & risk
A project only moves when financing, offtake and risk are aligned with the technical spec.
- Equity, senior debt, trade finance, leasing or blended finance requirement
- Existing offtake, LOIs or forward contracts
- Insurance requirements (construction all-risk, hail, business interruption)
- Environmental permits, water rights, land tenure and export licences
- Political risk cover for cross-border programmes
- 8
Delivery model & partners
Decide up-front how the project is delivered — that decides the shape of the supplier shortlist.
- Turnkey EPC, multi-lot procurement or owner-managed delivery
- Split of responsibilities: structure, climate, fertigation, controls, install
- Required warranties, spare parts and commissioning support
- Local integrator, civil works contractor and agronomy partner
- Training, handover documentation and remote support terms
- 9
Handover to sourcing specialist
You submit one structured brief — a dedicated sourcing specialist runs the private supplier process from there.
- Confirmed technical specification per system
- Confirmed budget, timeline and financing status
- Named single point of contact on the buyer side
- NDA and confidentiality requirements
- Preferred communication language and channel
One brief in. A private supplier process out.
Supplier-ready specification
Every line captured once — structure, climate, fertigation, controls, crop and financing — in a format producers can price.
Dedicated sourcing specialist
One named specialist runs the private supplier process end-to-end — you never contact suppliers directly.
Private, qualified network
Shortlist drawn from qualified independent greenhouse structure, climate and fertigation suppliers across Africa, MENA, Europe, Asia and the Americas. Qualification is based on available information and is not a certification or performance guarantee.
Structured commercial comparison
Where relevant suppliers respond, their proposals are organised against the same brief. Supplier participation and timing are not guaranteed.
Submit your greenhouse brief — get a shortlisted commercial proposal.
Your brief is reviewed by a human sourcing specialist before relevant suppliers may be approached. Response and proposal timing depend on scope, country, supplier availability and brief completeness.