Interview Onder Glas

“A greenhouse must be suitable for the most extreme climatic conditions,” said Pieternel van Velden in her article for magazine Onder Glas. Worldwide, greenhouse horticultural entrepreneurs have high demands on the durability of a new greenhouse in order to allow themselves to look ahead for decades. All the more reason for Onder Glas to highlight the developments with regards to greenhouse roof systems in the last December edition. Colleague Erik Schäfer (manager sales) took Pieternel behind the scenes of Alcomij and spoke extensively about our worldly and much more robust Optinova™ greenhouse roof system. Below an excerpt from the article:

Water- and airtight building

In June of this year, Alcomij introduced the new greenhouse roof system Optinova™. Erik Schäfer, manager sales at this supplier: our current system dates from 2005 and has been updated ever since. The market and the requirements of customers are changing. That is why it was necessary to design a new greenhouse roof, so that we are ready for future questions. With this new greenhouse roof system, the rod forms a perfect and tight connection to the gutter in combination with the glass framed on four sides in PVC. This contributes to a smart yet simple water- and airtight construction.

Through greenhouse construction companies, the company supplies greenhouse roofs to projects all over the world. Greenhouses, which must be able to withstand extreme heat and cold. The requirements are high, because they must be suitable for regions where the wind is extremely strong or where there is a high snow load. The new roof therefore not only meets the Dutch greenhouse construction standard NEN3859, but is also more in line with international standards. Schäfer: “Customers have higher demands on the water- and airtightness of greenhouses. More semi-closed greenhouses are being built, especially abroad. Think, for example, of warm regions such as the South of France and Australia.”

Despite the higher demands on the construction, we have again managed to limit the light interception. The combination of the new gutter design and the right aluminum rod ensures this. The team that installs the roof is usually perfectly attuned to each other. But sometimes local workers have to be hired, which is why the design is easy to assemble. The whole consists of many click and screw connections with a large choice of matching profile designs. “We often say as a Mecano™ box,” he concludes.

(Source: #OnderGlas)