Tag Archives: guelph organic workshops

Greenhouses 101 & 202

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Norm spoke at the Guelph Organic Conference January 31, 2015 on Greenhouses 101: Knowing the basics before you buy-Choices and Consquences
You can find the articles and information posted, as well as a video of his presentation and the Q&A below.

Greenhouses 101: What are you trying to accomplish? What are you dealing with?Greenhouses 101: Climate and Air Effects on your Structure
Greenhosues: 101: Covering Options
Greenhouses 101: Greenhouse Shapes & Configurations
Greenhouses 101: Orientation and Location
Greenhouses 101: Knowing the basics before you buy
Greenhouses 101: Greenhouse Choices

Norm did a presentation at the Guelph Organic Conference on Greenhouses 202: Making sure your structure survives the elements. The presentation is broken into three parts for easy viewing, the last section of which is the Q&A. These tips apply for greenhouses, storage buildings, livestock shelters, really anything we sell. Key Points Covered in the presentation:

1. Some basic principles of engineering so that the forces exerted on the buildings could be better understood.
2. The many components of anchoring. Anchoring prevents a structure from settling under snow load, prevents lifting under aerodynamic forces and prevents shifting with wind forces.
3. The similarities of an airplane wing to the shape of a structure. What happens when surfaces become bigger, wider. lower and higher.
4. How uneven loads can happen and how to prevent them.
5. The proper procedure to removing excessive snow load

Read more here: Greenhouses 202: How to get your structure to survive the elements

Watch more here:

https://youtu.be/TS1y_UmMJ38

https://youtu.be/zTAeGxObtGs

https://youtu.be/y8NGn4jqA4c

Guelph Organic Conference Jan 30 & 31 We hope to see you!

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This weekend is the Guelph Organic Conference, January 30-31, 2016 at the
Guelph University Center, Guelph, ON and we hope you can make it out.

Norm is speaking on Greenhouses 202: How to get your structure to survive the elements. Last year he spoke on Greenhouses 101: Knowing the basics before you buy which you can view the archive of our previous posts and a video of his speech.

As a review of the Organic offerings and information we have posted, please see
Organic Greenhouses/Shelters-uses and benefits
Feature: Organic Greenhouses
Happy Organic Week

Greenhouses 202: How to get your structure to survive the elements

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Norm will be speaking on Saturday morning at the Guelph Organic Conference at Guelph University. We are eagerly anticipating getting to see many of you either at the workshop or the trade show. Below is an overview of what Norm will be speaking about. Please contact us if you have any further questions.

The purpose of this workshop is to share some of my 40+ years of experience to save you some grief and expense. This workshop is an expansion of part of last year’s workshop “Greenhouses 101” which is on our website.

We will be covering the three forces which are exerted on a building: Up, Down and Lateral. These forces will be looked at in the context of aerodynamics and weather. Examples of each problem will be given and preventive measures to be used.

Some basic principles of engineering – how going wider and/or higher becomes exaggerated
Security of your building starts with proper anchoring. How much anchoring is enough or too much?
How is stability affected when the anchor point is not at the ground?
How does structure shedding rain affect the holding power of anchors?
How does recent excavation have on holding power?

Down force is commonly referred to as snow load. The most commonly asked question is “how is the structure rated for snow load?”

A worst case scenario is a combination of freezing rain, snow, rain and wind.
The issues with an uneven snow load – all on one side or all on one end
Issues of snow sliding from a higher building to a lower building
Shape and slope are important to good snow shedding.

How does a structure get evaluated for strength?
Going from wind load to snow load, shape and size do matter.
Proper ways to remove snow and or ice from a building.

Uplift and Lateral forces are not the same but very interrelated
Comparing the profile of a structure to an aircraft wing
What effects are there when the cover area is expanded by going higher or wider?
How does aerodynamics change for multiple units side by side?

What is the minimum space requirement between structures?
How does orientation affect the structure?
Forces on a structure with no cover
What constitutes a good wind break?

We hope you can come out and ask any questions you have face to face with Norm. It should be a great day!