My fiancee and I are planning on starting a commercial scale aquaponics business. We have been doing research for about a year now. Learning many ins and outs and have a basic design idea on how we want our setup to work, incorporating rocket mass heaters, passive solar collection and radiant heat reclamation to name a few. The one thing I can't discern is the building type. The big issue is that we live in Maine. We have long cold winters with short days, and even in the spring and summer we have a lot of overcast days and the temps rarely break into the triple digits. Humidity is also a constant battle because it is dry in the winter and wet in the summer.
So, my question is, is it more energy efficient to heat a greenhouse year round and provide supplemental lighting for the benefit of the small amount of natural sun, or would it be better to re-purpose an existing well insulated building, add a passive and active solar system? I am leaning towards the existing structure because we would be able to use most of the space for growing as led light panels would allow for stacking grow beds allowing for greater yield. But I am really hoping that someone with experience could give some advice in this matter.
