Chris Jose

Hi again Darin, I am not sure if Adam is taking into consideration that the green house is a part of a total area 3 times bigger, so more air space to take heat away, so based on my initial thermal gain calcs, you shouldn't have issues with overheating or ventilation that is assuming you are leaving the greenhouse component fully open to the rest of the building. If you don't mind only having 2 out for the 3 beds properly growing in the summer months, I would keep with the first 6 in 12 pitch as it gives a little more protection, for a few reasons. 1. less solar heat gain in the summer (although I think due to the lower opening windows and the huge combined area of the garage etc which has huge garage doors for additional cross flow and that you have the entire 35 foot long upper vertical window exhausting, I really can't see any issues, worst case you can add a little shade cloth in the peak of summer); 2. less thermal lose in winter due to smaller glass area, and better pitch for snow clearing; 3. you will be between the 30-50% of the roof glazed which is closer to the ideal in extreme climates. You have lower temperatures at that altitude, so insulation is important. I am based in Kiev, Ukraine, summers average 30-35 C, winters average -10-12 C but can get as low as - 25 C so I have to have a rocket mass heater with pipes heating the beds. As long as the roots stay warm enough and the air in the greenhouse doesn't freeze, I am confident I can grow more than just kale, brussel-sprouts and broccoli during the winter .

This is just my opinion based on my extensive research, and as I said from the beginning, it is important to find a reasonable balance in extreme climates. Life and design is so much easier in mild climates.
Perhaps I will move south in the future.

If you have lots of outdoor growing space and only want to use the indoor for seedlings to get an early start and not really require it to be fully productive during summer due to the out door crops, I would definitely make less than more with the overhead glazing perhaps enough to light up one 2 foot wide raised bed alone the very south edge of the green house. That is sort of a compromise, so it really depends on budget verse how much you really need the green house working for you. So hope that answers your glazing question.

adding to my last post, the ultimate would be an insulated retractable roof/awning cover that you can move depending on the season. Now that would rock totally!! Trick would be to make one cheap enough to warrant it.

Hi Darin. I am an eco architect and working on building my own eco home with integrated greenhouse as we speak. Have you looked at the earthship design? They have a green house component, and I would say that is about the minimum over head glazing you can get away with before it is not enough. Simply put, at least 30-50% of your grow space needs to get summer sun and obviously that would mean it gets good mid season and winter sun also. You could get away with less, but remember, without direct sun, most plants will not thrive.

Have you looked at growing micro-greens? I have 2 an indoor shelf units that I grow micro greens and sprouts, mainly sunflower, pea, soy, buckwheat and wheat grass, mung beans and depending on if you can get a cheap bulk supply of other seeds such as radish, broccoli, then them also. The great thing about these is they don't need much sun, actually for 40-50% of the growth, no sun to indirect light. I supplement the sun with LED grow lights for a few hours a day towards the end of the growth which is, depending on the crop, 10-14 day growth cycle. Micro-greens and sprouts are pretty much the most nutrient dense foods per gram on the planet and great to keep you going over the winter months and supplement your regular diet. Also look at other plants like the New Zealand spinach that like half sun. If you have never grown sprouts or micro-greens, you need to do a little reading, as it is important to harvest them before they start using much of their potent energy to change to an adult plant. Try http://www.hippocratesinst.org/ for some light reading for a start. Also mushrooms are great for your situation at the back of your green house around the water tanks.

Hope that helps a little, keep on growing!!

Chris