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Kazakhstan · Tomato
High-wire tomato production planned for a continental climate with heavy snow load, long heating season and a year-round supply contract to meet.
Overview
The commercial and technical starting point for this greenhouse project.
The investor held a year-round supply agreement with two regional retail chains and needed a facility that could hold production through a winter where outside temperatures fall below −30 °C. The commercial objective was consistent weekly volume rather than peak summer yield, so the specification had to prioritise winter climate stability and light transmission over capital savings.
Challenge
The site conditions and the commercial contract created four constraints that ruled out the low-cost structures the investor had originally been quoted.
01
Aegis worked as the investor’s technical representative, rebuilding the specification before returning to the supplier market.
We set the structural brief from the national load standard rather than the supplier default, fixing the required snow and wind capacity, gutter height and column grid so every quotation was priced against the same structure.
A double energy screen, insulated perimeter walls and a two-network heating layout (grow pipe plus rail pipe) were specified together, then modelled against local degree-day data so the investor could see the energy saving that justified the additional capital.
Diffuse glass with anti-reflective coating was selected to protect winter light transmission while reducing summer crop stress, and the structural design minimised shading from trusses and screen bundles.
We issued one technical scope of work to five suppliers, normalised the returned quotations into a single comparison sheet, and identified which exclusions would otherwise have surfaced as variation orders during installation.
Shipment was grouped so foundation and steel arrived before the glazing packages, allowing the structure to be closed before the winter erection window ended.
02
The final technology package balanced winter performance against the investor’s capital ceiling.
| System | Selection | Reason for selection |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Venlo glass, 4 m span, 4.8 m gutter | Verified snow and wind capacity, and the gutter height required for high-wire tomato |
| Roof cladding | 4 mm diffuse AR glass | Protects winter light transmission while diffusing summer radiation |
| Heating | Hot water, grow pipe and rail pipe networks | Separate crop and floor heating control through the long heating season |
| Screening | Double energy screen and shade screen | Reduces night-time heat loss, the dominant operating cost on this site |
| CO₂ | Enrichment from boiler flue gas recovery | Uses heat production that already runs in winter, improving assimilation efficiency |
| Growing system | Rockwool on hanging gutters, recirculated fertigation | Standard high-wire practice with drain water recovery |
| Control | Climate computer with multi-zone sensors | Coordinates screens, heating, venting and CO₂ as one strategy |
Outcome
The revised specification cost more per square metre than the original quotation but changed the economics of the project.
Eleven scope exclusions were identified in the original supplier quotations before contract, including the internal screen drive system and the fertigation drain recovery — items that would otherwise have become variation orders after mobilisation.
The double screen and insulated perimeter raised structural capital cost but reduced modelled winter heating demand by roughly a quarter, shortening the payback on the additional investment to under three heating seasons.
Because one unified scope of work was issued, the investor was able to compare supplier pricing on equivalent terms for the first time in the project.
Gallery
Reference images of the greenhouse type, growing system and installation stage used on this project.
High-wire tomato rows on hanging rockwool gutters
Venlo structure with 4 m spans and verified snow load capacity
Structure closed before the end of the winter erection window
FAQ
Technical and commercial questions raised on this commercial greenhouse project.
The retail supply contract required winter production. A film structure could not meet the site snow load without heavy reinforcement, and its lower light transmission and higher heat loss would have made the winter contract volume unreachable. In a shorter heating season with a summer-only market, a film structure would have been the better commercial choice.
A fully equipped Venlo glass greenhouse with double screening, heating and CO₂ enrichment typically falls between 150 and 250 USD per square metre depending on specification level, local labour rates and freight. We prepare a project-specific cost model before any supplier is contacted.
No. Aegis is an independent greenhouse solution provider. We prepared the technical specification, ran the supplier selection, normalised quotations and coordinated engineering and logistics on the investor’s behalf. The structure and equipment were supplied by selected specialist manufacturers.
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