The controlled environment agriculture (CEA) and greenhouse industries are navigating rapid change, driven by rising energy costs, evolving consumer demand, and increasing expectations for sustainability. Precision climate control, once considered a luxury for high-end operations, is now emerging as an essential tool for profitability, crop quality, and market competitiveness.

This week, Horti‑Gen Insights sits down with Taylor Readyhough, a technical solutions expert from BioTherm Solutions, to discuss how heating strategies, integrated environmental control, and design considerations are shaping the future of greenhouse production. Drawing from hands-on industry experience, Readyhough shares how operators can better leverage technology to boost efficiency and plant health, whether they manage 500 square feet or 50 acres of production.

1. From Rootzone Up: Targeted Heating Strategies for Plant Health & Efficiency

Traditional greenhouse heating often aims to warm the entire air mass within a facility. While effective in maintaining ambient temperatures, this approach can be inefficient and energy-intensive, especially in colder climates or with crops that thrive on more localized environmental cues.

Readyhough explains that hydronic heating systems, particularly those tailored for rootzone heating, offer a more energy-conscious alternative. Instead of conditioning the full greenhouse volume, hot water is circulated through pipes or tubingbeneath or adjacent to crops, providing warmth directly where the plant needs it most.

“By keeping water temperatures and volumes lower, growers can significantly reduce fuel usage while still stimulating robust growth,” says Readyhough. Lower-intensity, crop-focused heat creates a stable microclimate for roots, which is critical for uniform growth, rooting speed, and nutrient uptake.

Additional benefits include:

• Compatibility with condensing boiler technology for improved thermal efficiency.

• Plug-and-play solutions that allow growers—large or small—to install and maintain systems in-house without specialized contractors.

• Adaptability for both new builds and retrofits, giving existing facilities a path toward incremental upgrades.

This approach isn’t just about heat—it’s about precision resource management for both operational savings and crop performance.

2. Measurable Impacts: Stories from the Field

Controlled environment agriculture thrives on data, but sometimes the most compelling evidence comes from firsthand grower experience. Several North American growers have seen remarkable results after integrating more targeted climate control solutions.

At Lucas Greenhouses in Monroeville, New Jersey, decades of production data show the benefit of sustained rootzone heating. Owner George Lucas credits this approach for enabling quicker rooting cycles and higher propagation success rates, translating into greater space efficiency and profitability. “I’m not in the propagation business without rootzone heating,” Lucas shares.

In Cheshire, Connecticut, Michael’s Greenhouses adopted on-floor “Roll N Grow” heating mats, reducing fuel bills by over 30% while accelerating crop times by weeks. Cost savings didn’t stop with energy—construction and labor costs dropped as well, since fewer concrete slabs were needed and installation was more streamlined.

Meanwhile, Robust Cannabis in Missouri faced the challenge of producing high-quality, disease-sensitive varieties in the state’s variable climate. After retrofitting their greenhouse with a system capable of heating, cooling, dehumidifying, and CO₂ enrichment in a single integrated platform, the grower transitioned from “just scraping by” to producing award-winning crops year-round. The key lay in precise, stable control over humidity and temperature—even during extreme seasonal shifts.

These examples underscore a central theme in CEA today: flexibility, adaptability, and integration are as important as raw heating capacity.

3. Partnership from Design to Long-Term Support

Implementing advanced climate management isn’t simply about buying equipment—it’s about designing a system strategy that fits the unique variables of each growing operation.

According to Readyhough, effective partnerships between growers and solution providers involve:

• Site- and crop-specific design tailored to environmental conditions, crop requirements, and expansion goals.

• Modular, scalable systems that allow incremental investment and expansion without needing to replace core components.

• Coordination across disciplines—integrating structures, controls, irrigation, water quality, and energy systems.

From initial concept through installation, expert teams can guide growers through the process, providing detailed engineering drawings, connection checklists, and commissioning support. After installation, ongoing technical assistance and maintenance are essential for maintaining system performance through seasonal and crop changes.

This kind of relationship builds operational resilience. As Readyhough notes, “We think in terms of migration paths—designing not just for what the grower needs now, but for where their operation is headed in the next five or ten years.”

4. Trends & Innovating Toward a Sustainable Future

Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, the greenhouse industry is seeing a shift toward fully integrated thermal and atmospheric control solutions. Increasingly, operations are deploying hot and chilled water loops in combination with advanced controls to not only heat and cool, but also dehumidify and manage carbon dioxide enrichment from a single system architecture.

Growers are also exploring decarbonization strategies by preparing for alternative heat sources, such as heat pumps and biomass boilers. One Pacific Northwest leafy greens producer recently implemented a low-temperature (sub‑140°F) heating design using StarFin™ aluminum heat pipes, achieving efficiency now while building in compatibility for future low-carbon energy transitions.

Additional emerging priorities include:

• On-demand CO₂ generation sourced from clean boiler exhaust.

• Irrigation water tempering to reduce crop stress and improve nutrient solubility.

• Dissolved oxygen enrichment to optimize plant health in recirculating irrigation systems.

These innovations are not standalone—they’re part of a systems-thinking approach to create climate control platforms that are efficient, adaptable, and capable of evolving alongside both market demands and environmental regulations.

Below a glimpse of the BioTherm Grower Stories available on their YouTube channel:

5. Maximizing ROI for Small and Expanding Growers

While large-scale greenhouse facilities often lead the conversation on high-tech climate systems, smaller operations stand to gain just as much—if not more—from investing wisely in heating and environmental management.

Readyhough emphasizes that some of today’s most advanced growers started small, gradually expanding with modular, upgrade-ready systems. The economics of rootzone heating offer particular appeal for boutique or emerging operations:

• Shorter production cycles translate to more crop turns annually.

• Fuel savings help reduce one of the top two cost drivers in production (with labor being the other).

• Stronger, more uniform crops improve consistency and marketability.

The advice for smaller growers is clear:

• Plan for expansion with gutter-connected structures that minimize heat loss and maximize build-out flexibility.

• Prioritize efficiency over capacity—a well‑designed system sized for actual need will outperform an oversized system that wastes energy.

• Invest early in climate control features that will protect product quality and customer relationships.

In markets where demand variability is high, the ability to reliably deliver consistent product is often the deciding factor for long-term survival and growth.

Conclusion: Building the Future, One Climate Decision at a Time

The greenhouse and CEA industries are operating in an era where precision climate management is inseparable from profitability and sustainability. From targeted heating that nurtures root health to integrated systems designed for future energy transitions, today’s climate control strategies are as much about the grower’s business model as they are about horticulture.

As Readyhough’s experience shows, the path forward isn’t necessarily about adopting every new innovation at once—it’s about choosing scalable, efficient solutions that align with operational goals and market realities. Whether you’re managing a small specialty crop facility or a multi-acre production complex, the right climate strategy can turn challenges into opportunities and put your business on a more resilient, competitive trajectory for the years ahead.

Thank you Taylor for your time and your expert inputs answering our questions!

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