Our Process
Our Greenhouse Project Process
A commercial greenhouse is a construction project, an equipment installation and a horticultural system at the same time. We run it in six defined stages, each with its own deliverables and a decision point you control before capital moves to the next stage.
- Stages
- Six defined stages
- Typical duration
- 9–18 months to harvest
- Decision gates
- You approve each stage
- Ends with
- Commissioning & handover
Stages
Six stages, each with deliverables you can act on
Every stage closes with a decision point you control, so capital is committed against evidence rather than optimism.
- 01
Project Brief & Feasibility
1–3 weeks
We establish what the project has to achieve commercially and whether the site can support it. Location climate data, water source and quality, available power, target crop, target market and budget range are collected and tested against each other.
Deliverables
- Project brief documenting crop, area, market and budget range
- Site and climate assessment against local design data
- Water source and power availability review
- Preliminary feasibility opinion with the main risks named
Your decision: Proceed to concept design, revise the brief, or stop before capital is committed.
- 02
Concept Design & Budget Model
2–4 weeks
A concept layout and greenhouse configuration are developed with an indicative CAPEX model. This is where greenhouse type, growing system and automation level are chosen against payback rather than preference.
Deliverables
- Concept site layout with greenhouse blocks and service buildings
- Greenhouse type and covering material recommendation
- Growing system and climate control specification level
- Indicative CAPEX model split by structure, climate, growing system and installation
- OPEX outline covering energy, labour and consumables
Your decision: Approve a specification level and budget envelope to detail.
- 03
Technical Specification
3–6 weeks
The approved concept becomes a written technical specification precise enough to tender. This document is what makes later quotations comparable and what protects the budget from variation orders.
Deliverables
- Structural specification with applicable wind, snow and seismic loads
- Climate control specification: heating, ventilation, cooling, screening, CO₂, lighting
- Irrigation and fertigation design with water treatment strategy
- Equipment schedules and interface definitions between packages
- Basis of design recording every assumption behind the specification
Your decision: Release the specification for tender to pre-qualified suppliers.
- 04
Supplier Selection & Procurement
4–8 weeks
Pre-qualified manufacturers price the same scope. We compare on a like-for-like basis, run a scope gap analysis on each quotation, and define contract scope so that exclusions surface now rather than on site.
Deliverables
- Pre-qualified supplier shortlist per package
- Like-for-like quotation comparison against the specification
- Scope gap analysis identifying exclusions and likely variation orders
- Recommendation with the commercial and technical reasoning documented
- Contract scope of work and payment milestone structure
Your decision: Award packages and release production against confirmed drawings.
- 05
Production, Logistics & Site Readiness
8–16 weeks
While equipment is manufactured, the site is prepared in parallel. Slipping site readiness is one of the most common causes of installation delay, so it is tracked as its own workstream rather than left to the installer.
Deliverables
- Production follow-up and inspection reports before shipment
- Export and shipping documentation, container and load planning
- Delivery sequence matched to the installation programme
- Site readiness review: foundations, levels, utilities, access and storage
- Local contractor and labour coordination plan
Your decision: Confirm site readiness and mobilise the installation team.
- 06
Installation Supervision & Commissioning
6–14 weeks
Installation is supervised against the specification, then systems are commissioned and the grower is handed a facility that runs. Climate computer set points, irrigation recipes and operating routines are set up with your team, not left as manuals.
Deliverables
- Installation supervision against specification and drawings
- Systems commissioning: climate control, irrigation, fertigation, screens
- Climate and irrigation set points configured for the first crop
- Snag list closed out with suppliers before final payment
- As-built documentation, spare-part list and grower handover training
Your decision: Take over a commissioned facility and start the first crop cycle.
01
Why the sequence matters more than the schedule
Nearly every greenhouse project that overruns did the right work in the wrong order.
The most expensive decision in a greenhouse project is made early and quietly: the specification level. Choose it before the crop, climate and market have been tested against each other and every later cost is anchored to an assumption nobody wrote down. Change it after suppliers have been awarded and the change arrives as a variation order at the supplier’s price.
Running specification before tender is what keeps quotations comparable. Running site readiness in parallel with production is what keeps installation on programme. Running commissioning as a defined stage — rather than the tail end of installation — is what makes the difference between a completed building and a facility that can hold a set point on its first cold night.
Each stage ends with a deliverable you can act on and a decision that is yours to make. That structure exists so capital is committed in increments against evidence, and so the project can be stopped or re-scoped at the point where doing so is still cheap.
02
What happens if a stage is skipped
The failure modes below are the ones we see most often on projects that come to us mid-build.
| Stage skipped | What typically goes wrong | Where the cost lands |
|---|---|---|
| Feasibility | Water quality or grid capacity is discovered after the layout is fixed | Redesign, treatment plant or generator added to CAPEX |
| Budget model | Specification level chosen on headline price per m² | Under-specified climate control caps yield for the facility’s life |
| Technical specification | Quotations describe different scopes and cannot be compared | Variation orders during construction at the supplier’s rates |
| Supplier comparison | Exclusions in the awarded scope surface on site | Unbudgeted packages: screens, dosing, electrical, commissioning |
| Site readiness | Installation crew arrives before foundations or utilities are ready | Standby charges, remobilisation and a missed planting window |
| Commissioning | Systems installed but never tuned to the crop | Poor first-cycle yield blamed on equipment that was never set up |
03
What you should have before construction starts
Use this as a readiness test for your own project, whether or not we are involved.
- A written basis of design recording climate data, loads and assumptions
- A technical specification detailed enough for two suppliers to price identically
- A CAPEX model separated by package, not a single lump sum
- A water analysis and a treatment strategy based on it
- Comparable quotations with exclusions explicitly listed
- A contract scope naming who supervises installation and commissioning
- A site readiness programme aligned to the delivery sequence
- A first-crop plan with set points, labour and yield assumptions stated
FAQ
Process questions
Timing, entry points and contractual structure for a commercial greenhouse project.
How long does a commercial greenhouse project take from start to harvest?
For most commercial projects, expect roughly 9 to 18 months from project brief to first harvest. Specification and procurement typically take 2 to 4 months, manufacturing and shipping 2 to 4 months, and installation and commissioning 2 to 4 months, with the remainder covering the first crop cycle to harvest. Continental winters, port congestion and permitting can extend this.
Can we enter the process at a later stage?
Yes. Projects join at every stage, most often at specification review or quotation comparison after quotations have already been received. If construction has started, we focus on scope gap analysis, installation supervision and commissioning, which is where the remaining risk usually sits.
Do we have to commit to the whole scope at the beginning?
No. Each stage ends with a deliverable and a decision point, and the stages are designed to be commissioned individually. Many investors begin with feasibility and concept design only, then decide whether to continue once they have a budget model they trust.
Who holds the contracts with the manufacturers?
Normally the investor contracts the suppliers directly, which keeps ownership of the assets and the warranties with you. Aegis prepares the scope of work, runs the comparison and manages delivery against the contract. Where a single contractual counterparty is required, a turnkey arrangement can be structured instead.
What do you need from us to start?
Project location, target crop, planned growing area, target market, water source and quality, available power, budget range and expected start date. That is enough to produce a preliminary greenhouse configuration and an indicative budget range.
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Related pages
The solutions, guides and project records behind this process.
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