Algonquin College researchers develop new greenhouse design to tackle food insecurity in Canada

A student research team led by professor Carolyn Lorimer from the Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence (ACCE) has developed an innovative greenhouse design that could become the long-term solution for Canada’s food insecurity crisis.

Canada’s fleeting summers and long winters mean that the only way to produce fruits and vegetables year-round is by using greenhouses. So what’s stopping Canadians from doing that?

Greenhouses in Canada rely heavily on natural gas for heating and lighting during winter. This results in high energy bills and significant greenhouse gas emissions, according to Greenhouse Canada.

To produce locally at a fair price for consumers, greenhouses need to be completely redesigned to make it a cost-effective option, according to Lorimer.

For Lorimer and her team, even a problem as complex as this can be untangled by their penchant for innovation.

Led by her expertise, students at ACCE have designed a greenhouse that is wheelchair accessible, cost-effective, energy efficient, beyond self-sustaining and more than eco-friendly. It will absorb far more carbon than is produced in constructing and maintaining the facility, according to Lorimer.

“The first step is redesigning the insulation so that the heat stays inside the greenhouse, so we don’t need to spend all that money heating it,” says Lorimer. “Plants need about 14 hours of sunlight. If the glass of the greenhouse faces south, we can use natural sunlight during the day. We’re gonna put solar panels on top to power LED lights to come on whenever we need extra light during winter.”

Chithra Omanakuttan Sreerangathu is one of the students who has worked on the project.

“The prototype is going to be built in Morris Island, Ont,” says Omanakuttan. “It will include a hydroponic system, where plants are grown in water (without soil). This will be integrated into an aquaponic system, where fish and plants are cultivated together in a self-sustaining ecosystem: fish waste provides a natural fertilizer for the plants. The plants filter and purify the water when they use the fish waste. The water is then recirculated back into the fish tanks.”

Jose Angulo, another student who worked on the project, offered more insight into its scope.

“The aim of this project was to implement a design that is also scalable,” says Angulo. “It can be built on different sites, according to the needs of different communities. For this particular plan, it can produce 6,500 kilograms of fish annually, not just produce.”

According to Statistics Canada, over 10 million Canadians currently live with food insecurity. Right now, buying local is not a sustainable option unless it’s cheaper to do so. The nation’s challenge is to find a way to become self-sufficient when it comes to food.

According to Canada’s Food Price Report from 2024, Canada relies on imports for roughly 30 per cent of its food and beverage consumption.

When it comes to dairy and meat products, Canada is largely self-sufficient. A large portion of the imports is, in fact, fruits and vegetables.

Lorimer’s greenhouse design would help Canada rely less on imports by producing locally grown fruits and vegetables according to the needs of communities across the country.

“My long-term goal with this project is to make inexpensive, fresh, organic produce and fish available to us, forcing Loblaws to reduce their prices,” says Lorimer. “Calculation-wise, we’ve shown that this prototype produces way more energy than is required for it to operate. It is more than enough energy to charge delivery vehicles that can stop by.”

According to Lorimer, the design plans for the greenhouse are available to anyone for free.

“If I give you a dollar, and you give me a dollar, we each have one dollar,” says Lorimer. “But if I give you an idea and you give me an idea, we each have two ideas.”