Rob and MIchelle are professionial engineers that run Verge Permaculture in Calgary, BC, CANADA.

They produced incredible abundance from their gardens all summer, but didn't have anything fresh to eat from their gardens during the long Calgary winters.

In 2011, they set out to design and build a passive solar greenhouse that could extend their season and be a center of year round abundance.

They settled on a design that would be a 10'x20' addition to an existing garage on their property and in Spring of 2011 got to work building it.

After 3 months and around $15,000, they finished building this 10'x20' greenhouse.

It was aesthetically beautiful and seemed to be perfect...

Soon the heat of summer set in and they realized they had made three crucial mistakes in their design. 

Mistake #1. It was hot. Way too hot. 

The reason: Not enough ventilation

Mistake #2. The  plants were drying out  quickly.

This was partly because it was hot, but primarily because the beds were not connected to the soil under the greenhouse.

Mistake #3. The plants weren't getting the light they needed.

Because of the high angle of sun in the peak of the summer, the design of the greenhouse actually kept all light from getting to the plants.

Rob immediately set to work designing solutions to retrofit their greenhouse. 

He determined that he could increase the ventilation by adding fans on the end walls. 

Then, to keep the plants from drying out he built larger raised beds that had more soil mass. 

And to get more light in the greenhouse during peak summer months, he would have to remove the awning which was not possible in this design so they have learned to make do without.

"I was able to solve the design issues of our greenhouse with a bit of money and some extra time, but knowing what I know now, I would make a few significant design improvements."

With the greenhouse improved and growing delicious produce year round, Rob's engineering clients soon began asking him to design them their own passive solar greenhouses.

More and more requests came in from clients all over the world.

Rob had to turn down many of them because he didn't have the time to visit his clients and create a custom design for them. He found a solution by designing this course specifically for his clients that want to design and build a passive solar greenhouse for themselves.

“I have created this course as the course I wish I had when I built my passive solar greenhouse.” 

Now we have synthesized Rob's design process into a step by step 10 week course that takes you through every step of the design process.

Building your greenhouse can cost some decent time and money, so it is super important to get your design dialed in before you break ground.

To illustrate this, let’s look at the 3 mistakes that Rob (and most new greenhouse designers make) made so we want to make certain you avoid when you build your greenhouse.

Mistake #1 - Not enough ventilation!

This is THE most common mistake, and one we are determined to keep you from making.

Because new designers are so focused on making your greenhouse warm in the winter, they give zero credence to making their greenhouse cool in the summer.

So, what happens? Come summertime, they and their plants get hot! Too hot. And, almost without fail, you see first time greenhouse owners modifying their beautiful new greenhouses to include more ventilation. You walk in and hear the roar of their fans running and the worst part. It’s still hot in there. Hardly the peaceful environment they imagined before they set out to build this big project.

In the course, we make certain that you don’t make this mistake. We have an entire unit dedicated to making sure you design in excellent ventilation by calculating how much air exchange/hour that you need.

Mistake #2 - No contact with the soil.

Underneath your greenhouse is one of the biggest assets that you have access to. Your soil! Many new designers pave right over their soil to the detriment of their plants.

In the course we help you design your beds so that they get full contact with the soil while also getting sufficient light and warmth.

Mistake #3 - Not enough light.

Just like with the ventilation issue, many newbies design their greenhouse to be optimized for their winter conditions when the sun has the lowest path in the sky. That works well for the winter, but not at all for the summer.

What happens, is that when summer comes, and your plants have the most potential to grow quickly, your greenhouse gets shaded out by your awning, or even the structure itself, and it’s dark in your greenhouse.

In the course, we calculate the sun path at its lowest point AND it’s highest point to make sure your greenhouse is optimally designed for all of your seasons.