Libra Design Transforms Finn & Roots Greenhouse with New Horticulture LEDs

Finn & Roots illuminated by Libra Design LEDs

A deep-winter greenhouse overcame its biggest challenge (lack of sunlight) to increase winter crop production with Libra Design

September 06, 2024 – Libra Design, LLC (Libra) today announced Finn & Roots, a Vermont-based greenhouse producer of leafy greens, herbs and cucumbers, is seeing record harvests after retrofitting their farm with a customized lighting solution from Libra Design. The lighting retrofit increased Finn & Roots’ crop yields and quality, facility capacity and energy efficiency to meet surging demand for the farm’s eco-grown produce while offsetting high operational costs. A collaboration with Energy Resources Integration (ERI), a private engineering firm specialized in decarbonization and energy efficiency, helped benchmark the farm to identify efficiency opportunities while helping secure grants and rebates from federal and state funding to cover half of the project costs.

Located 17 miles south of the Canadian border in Norther Vermont, Finn & Roots provides local markets with produce from their deep-winter greenhouse, yet was struggling to meet demand for their produce during the winter and shoulder seasons. A combination of limited natural light (Vermont receives a daily light integral (DLI) of just 7.5 mol/m2/day during the winter) and failing first-generation LEDs all but ensured crop production came to a standstill for several months of the year.

Within the first month of deploying the new LED systems from Libra in January of 2024, Finn and Roots dramatically increased cucumber yields and improved leafy green cycle time by 12.5 percent. Working with Libra Design and ERI, Finn & Roots was able to demonstrate an annual energy savings of 40,000 kWh with the new lighting equipment, while also installing a new solar array to power the farm and further increase the energy resilience and sustainability. Furthermore, the collaboration lead to Finn & Roots securing state funding from Efficiency Vermont and federal funding from the USDA Rural Energy For America Program (REAP) for the lighting and solar equipment cost and reduce the payback period of the project by more than 70%.

“The difference between the old lights and the new Libra lights is planetary,” said Holly Counter-Beaver, Owner/Operator at Finn & Roots. “For a greenhouse of our size to take it to the next level in terms of our capacity to grow, the amount of yields that we grow and the quality and visual appeal of what we grow is a game changer.”

“We were able to model DLI, show how annual hours of lighting use would result in over 40,000 kWh per year of savings,” said Gretchen Schimelpfenig, Sr. Energy Engineer at ERI. “I’m seeing that many folks are working with smart manufactures like Libra to solve the energy problems and reduce that impact on their profitability so they can improve their unit economics.”

Finn & Roots’ new lighting solution is a 770-watt customized fixture based on the Libra High-Flux LED Module emitting a broad spectrum at 2,150 µmol/s for an impressive efficacy of 2.8 µmol/J. Libra provided a tailored lighting plan to Finn & Roots which delivers a photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 185 µmol/m2/s over leafy greens and herbs and 475 µmol/m2/s over cucumbers for a year-round, consistent, optimal DLI of 17 and 30 respectively. With a passive thermal management system, wet-location IP66 rating and aluminum housing, the lighting fixture is designed for years of maintenance free operation backed by a five year manufacturer’s warranty.

Learn more at www.libradesign.org/finn-and-roots

About Libra Design

Libra Design is a boutique agtech engineering services firm specialized in horticulture lighting. The firm takes a client-centric approach to developing unique LED solutions that simultaneously help commercial farmers achieve their goals while advancing the entire CEA industry. Libra is a proud business member of 1% For The Planet were a portion of every sale goes to addressing our planet’s most pressing issues from deforestation and the climate crisis to food waste and food insecurity.

Contact:

Libra Communications

+1 (737) 471-2746

hello@libradesign.org

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