Comparing the performance of naturally ventilated and fan-ventilated greenhouses
Authors: Willits Daniel H. , Teitel Meir , Tanny Josef , Peet Mary M. , Cohen Shabtai , Matan Eli 
Published: December 2021

The objectives of this project were to predict the performance of naturally and fan-ventilated greenhouses as a function of climate, type of crop, evaporative cooling and greenhouse size, and to estimate the effects of the two cooling systems on yield, quality and disease development in the different crops under study. Background In the competitive field of greenhouse cultivation, growers and designers in both the US and Israel are repeatedly forced to choose between naturally ventilated (NV) and fan ventilated (FV) cooling systems as they expand their ranges in an effort to remain profitable. The known advantages and disadvantages of each system do not presently allow a clear decision. Whether essentially zero operating costs can offset the less dependable cooling of natural ventilation systems is question this report hopes to answer. Major Conclusions US It was concluded very early on that FV greenhouses without evaporative pad cooling are not competitive with NV greenhouses during hot weather. During the first year, the US team found that average air temperatures were always higher in the FV houses, compared to the NV houses, when evaporative pad cooling was not used, regardless of ventilation rate in the FV houses or the vent configuration in the NV houses. Canopy temperatures were also higher in the FV ventilated houses when three vents were used in the NV houses. A second major conclusion was that the US team found that low pressure fogging (4 atm) in NV houses does not completely offset the advantage of evaporative pad cooling in FV houses. High pressure fog (65 atm) is more effective, but considerably more expensive. Israel Experiments were done with roses in the years 2003-2005 and with tomatoes in 2005. Three modes of natural ventilation (roof, side and side + roof openings) were compared with a fan-ventilated (with evaporative cooling) house. It was shown that under common practice of fan ventilation, during summer, the ventilation rate is usually lower with NV than with FV. The microclimate under both NV and FV was not homogeneous. In both treatments there were strong gradients in temperature and humidity in the vertical direction. In addition, there were gradients that developed in horizontal planes in a direction parallel to the direction of the prevailing air velocity within the greenhouse. The gradients in the horizontal direction appear to be larger with FV than with NV. The ratio between sensible and latent heat fluxes (Bowen ratio) was found to be dependent considerably on whether NV or FV is applied. This ratio was generally negative in the naturally ventilated house (about -0.14) and positive in the fan ventilated one (about 0.19). Theoretical models based on Penman-Monteith equation were used to predict the interior air and crop temperatures and the transpiration rate with NV. Good agreement between the model and experimental results was obtained with regard to the air temperature and transpiration with side and side + roof ventilation. However, the agreement was poor with only roof ventilation. The yield (number of rose stems longer than 40 cm) was higher with FV