Lucas Greenhouses in south central New Jersey started out in 1981 with a few Quonset structures and a lot of dedication to making them profitable. In 1984 George Lucas purchased his first BioTherm soil heating product and the relationship with BioTherm (now TrueLeaf Technologies) was born. George was growing bit by bit and the business was doing well. Jump ahead twenty years.

George and head grower Joe Moore looked to expand their newest greenhouse range. They had watched over the years as BioTherm changed into TrueLeaf Technologies. Once again they turned to TrueLeaf to provide the core growing systems for two new 110,000 square foot open roof structure expansions.

The responsibility to design the hot water heating system, the Argus Controls, a Flood Floor system (with a twist), irrigation distribution and fertigation and the electrical panels to power all of these up were given to the team at TrueLeaf.

The heating systems for each of the new expansions were designed with optimum efficiency and reliability in mind. There is HDX tubing in the concrete Flood Floor and StarFin aluminum fin tube overhead for supplemental overhead and gutter snow melt heat. At the source there are three 250HP BoilerSmith boilers that use fresh air to burn cleaner and more efficient.

TrueConnect Panels

An Argus Control system was designed to take over all the new greenhouse structure (and much of the existing) and mechanical systems automation. Electrical panels were designed and built. The panels included all the load contactors, relays, thermal overloads and transformers required for all the equipment in the facility.

Preparations for pouring Flood Floors

The Flood Floor design in the second phase of expansion has something special. From the ideas of George and Joe, TrueLeaf designed this Flood Floor with a separate draining system in the floor for any overhead irrigation. This “auxiliary” drain system marks the first one of its kind for the TrueLeaf Flood Floor designers. Simply put, when growers use overhead booms to irrigate and they don’t want this water running back to the same tanks that are used for the Flood Floor irrigation, they let the controls know and this parallel drain system takes it back to a separate tank for storage. It’s now easy to filter and then re-use this overhead water. Today with both phases of their expansion completed and in operation, they are one of the top 10 liner producers in the country.

Call TrueLeaf now to see how we can make your life easier and add money to your company’s bottom line. George Lucas Preparations for pouring Flood Floors