Markets and site conditions
Twenty-one countries and five regions. Each page states the climate the house has to survive, what that changes in the design, and which crops fit.
Middle East
Food security budgets, the hottest design days and the largest cooling loads we engineer for.
Africa
From Kenya's flower belt to Morocco's export cluster: altitude, humidity and export windows set the design.
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Continental extremes, import substitution and long transport distances: houses built for two design days.
Southeast Asia
Humid heat, typhoon risk and urban retail demand for leafy greens and herbs.
Latin America
Winter supply into North America, a mature flower export sector and rapidly rising high-tech capacity.
Saudi Arabia
Cooling is the project here. Evaporative works inland where the air is dry; coastal sites need mechanical dehumidification or a hybrid.
United Arab Emirates
Coastal humidity is the constraint: evaporative cooling adds moisture to air that is already saturated. Mechanical cooling with dehumidification is the default on the coast.
Qatar
Short winter season: design for October to April production and accept a summer maintenance window, or invest in full closed cooling.
Oman
The Batinah coast behaves like a humid site; the interior behaves like a dry one. Do not copy a design across the two.
Kuwait
Evaporative cooling has strong potential in dry inland air, but the design day is brutal: shade first, then cooling capacity.
Jordan
Water, not heat, is the constraint: closed substrate systems with drainage recovery carry the business case.
Kenya
At altitude the house needs less cooling and more disease control: air movement and screening decide quality.
Ethiopia
Hail and cold nights shape the design more than heat: PC or double covering and structural strength under impact.
Morocco
Export windows set the crop calendar; the house has to hit a European market date, not a local one.
Egypt
Coastal and delta sites are humid; inland sites are dry. Water quality and drainage decide the irrigation design.
Nigeria
Humid heat: ventilation and dehumidification first, cooling capacity second. A dry-climate design fails here.
South Africa
Energy cost drives the design: thermal screens, heat pumps and control strategy pay back faster than extra area.
Uzbekistan
Two design days, not one: a 40 °C summer and a cold winter. Houses are usually specified for one season and phased for the other.
Kazakhstan
Snow load and heating load are the design drivers; low winter light limits what supplementary lighting can economically fix.
Azerbaijan
Caspian wind exposure shapes structural design and roof detailing as much as the climate strategy.
Georgia
Humid coastal air: design for air exchange and disease control; heating is a secondary requirement.
Vietnam
Structural wind design and drainage are the first requirements; cooling is secondary to air exchange in high humidity.
Thailand
High humidity limits evaporative cooling; mechanical cooling and strong air exchange carry the design.
Indonesia
Low light in the wet season is the constraint: covering choice and supplementary light decisions are crop-driven.
Mexico
Sites differ enormously: Baja and the north are dry and hot; central highlands are mild and hailstorm-prone.
Colombia
Altitude gives mild temperatures, so the design focuses on hail protection, air movement and pest exclusion rather than heating.
Why protected cultivation is expanding
Commercial greenhouse spend was about USD 43.0 billion in 2025 and is forecast to reach USD 89.6 billion by 2034 at roughly 8.5 % a year. Middle East and Africa is the fastest-growing region at about 11.5 % a year, driven by food-security programmes; high-tech glass remains a small share of area but a large share of value.
About 4.09 million hectares of greenhouses exist worldwide, of which only about 65,000 ha are high-tech. A modern commercial facility typically costs USD 150–250 per square metre. Those three numbers explain the market: most area is low-tech, and most new value sits in upgrades and in flagship projects.
Sources: Dataintelo, Commercial Greenhouse Market 2025-2034 · RaboResearch, world greenhouse area update 2025 (via Dataintelo) · World Bank working paper on protected-cultivation capital cost (via Dataintelo). Figures are third-party market data, quoted for context, not forecasts for your project.
Still deciding?
Send the crop, the area and the country. We will come back with a family recommendation and the questions that matter for your site.