No spare land? Rooftop greenhouses are the future

Whilst Gabriel Ash’s greenhouses tend to be ‘planted’ firmly on the ground, high-rise or roof top greenhouses may be the thing of the future, if one London entrepreneur has his way.

Charlie Paton already owns Seawater Greenhouse, a year-round crop production company working in hot, dry areas of the world.  Now, with his son Adam, he has started Rooftop Greenhouse, initially by branching out from their current company headquarters in London Fields to create a three-storey structure with a fully functioning greenhouse on the roof.

The greenhouse captures day-time heat to warm up the building below and a reciprocal arrangement take this upwards at night to keep the plants warm.

Now Mr Paton has asked a local Hackney school if he can develop a similar structure on their roof.  Staff are keen and he is eager to promote it as energy efficient and a great teaching aid for children to learn how food is grown.

Gabriel Ash would love to hear from anyone who has used their greenhouse to develop sustainability ideas.

For the full story, go to http://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2012/11/rooftop-greenhouse-set-to-energise-dalston-school/

Author: Robert Smith