LAUSR

Abstract Nowadays, one of the most important challenges in developing greenhouses is meeting their energy demand. The other challenge is the high water consumption of evaporative-cooling systems in arid and semi-arid regions. In this study, a integrated dynamic model is developed to determine the greenhouse relative humidity, carbon dioxide, and temperature, considering transpiration. The model is applied to a greenhouse utilizing a ground to air heat transfer system, located in the Alborz province of Iran and the results are validated with experimental data. Energy and water performance of the greenhouse are evaluated for the case study greenhouse. Then, the model is applied to a greenhouse (similar to the case study) in different climate zones of Iran to study the impact of climatic conditions on greenhouse performance. The results are presented for both cases of presence and absence of plant in greenhouses. Transpiration causes the heating/cooling demand of the greenhouse to increases/decreases by 17–40%/63–71% from climate 1 (cold and dry-humid climatic conditions) to climate 4 (mild and hot-humid climate regions). The water consumption of the evaporative-cooling system decreases by 17–49% from climate 1 to 4 when transpiration is taken into consideration.