PVG Cuts Ribbon On New Greenhouse Facility
Pleasant View Gardens officially opened a new 56,000 sq.ft. greenhouse facility in Loudon, N.H., on January 4, 2006.
Pleasant View Gardens (PVG) officially opened a new 56,000 sq.ft. greenhouse facility in Loudon, N.H., on January 4, 2006. The facility replaced 18 poly hoop houses with some of the latest technology in the horticulture industry.
“We have worked on this facility for nearly two years – from concept through construction – and we are excited to bring the new greenhouse online,” said Henry Huntington, president of Pleasant View Gardens. “Continuous improvement in our growing facilities translates into continuously improving products that we are able to offer our customers. In the end, our strive for excellence results in success for our customers.”
The facility was designed to maximize high light conditions, producing a high-quality crop with a short, compact habit. “With specialized products like PVG’s young plants,” Huntington said, “the latest control systems are needed to grow product of the highest quality.” The all-glass Nexus greenhouse consists of five 42-foot wide bays, each 264 feet long. The bays have an open-roof design that allows PVG to simulate outside environmental conditions within the greenhouse. This helps acclimate the crops, providing customers with high-quality, fast-turning plants. In addition, PVG has installed a state-of-the-art Argus environmental control system, five GTI (Greenhouse Technology, Inc.) booms on a Go-1 system, two energy curtains and an ebb-and-flood floor.
“We also designed the facility with labor and fuel efficiency in mind,” said Russ Elkins, PVG’s facilities manager. “With fuel prices forecasted to stay high for some time, saving energy wherever we can is a top priority for Pleasant View.” Fuel efficiency will be gained with a dual energy curtain. Elkins expects they will see significant labor savings as soon as plants are moved in. “This facility is a lot less work versus the hoop houses it replaces,” he said. “It’s a huge upgrade in labor efficiency. We should be able to cut labor in half.”
In addition to labor and energy efficiencies, Pleasant View Gardens has incorporated several features into the new facility that address future environmental concerns. PVG has constructed two containment ponds – one to hold clean roof runoff and the other for internal runoff. They are also recycling irrigation water used in the ebb-and-flood floor system. “We weren’t required to construct these ponds, but we felt it was important to be proactive concerning potential environmental issues,” Huntington said. “We’re setting an example for our local industry, if not for the larger horticultural industry.
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