Earth greenhouse
An underground greenhouse is a greenhouse for growing fruit and vegetables, the substructure of which extends approx. 1–1.50 m deep into the ground.
The upper part of such a facility consists, as in the classic greenhouses, of a sloping roof-like glass covering, which during the day leads to (passive solar ) heating of the interior due to solar radiation .
In the lower segment, the ground in this area as thermal storage prevents excessive overheating in the summer period and, on the other hand, prevents excessive cooling in the subsequent winter half-year, due to geothermal factors, relatively moderate temperatures then prevail despite the shallow depth in the ground. In some underground greenhouses, it was still possible to measure just under 2 ° C inside at high outside temperatures (around −15 ° C).
In addition, the air-conditioning of the underground greenhouse can be supported by filled water tanks set on the floor; as a further option, temperature control of these containers using integrated solar-based heating elements (active solar) would be conceivable.
A special variant of an underground greenhouse is the so-called Walipini (see fig.) , Which, however, is usually integrated into a slope.
Setting up an underground greenhouse in small gardens is also advantageous, as it can be positioned inconspicuously compared to a ground-level construction due to the lowering.
In the Hamburg district of Othmarschen there is an earth greenhouse built at the end of the 19th century with a more opulent architecture (two-story brick building with hipped roof ), which is included in the list of cultural monuments of Hamburg-Altona . In the Herrenhausen district of Hanover , three preserved historic earth greenhouses from the 1830s have been integrated into the surroundings of the café garden in the Great Garden .
literature
- Claudia Lorenz-Ladener: Small green arks , Ökobuch Verlag 2012, ISBN 978-3-936896-65-7