Advice for getting started

With a view to launching a UA operation, owners and agricultural entrepreneurs are advised to follow certain steps and principles when it comes to planning and designing their locations.

• The importance of establishing a relationship of trust and full collaboration must not be underestimated: between owner and entrepreneur, but also among all other parties involved, including the builder.
• It is essential to pay close attention to the following elements:

For the entrepreneur:

• Establish a viable and realistic business plan;
• Search for the best building and an owner open to UA;
• Favor raw space with adequate surface area for growth, since profitability increases with volume.

For the owner:

• Check to see whether the environment can be adapted for UA (ventilation, water circulation, power supply). In the case of rooftop greenhouses, make sure that the building structure can support the load and that there is no equipment already present;
• If new construction is involved, work from the outset to ensure that the UA installations are in keeping with the rest of the building;
• Determine current provincial and municipal regulations. The Régie du bâtiment du Québec imposes some of the strictest rules in the world for UA. Don’t forget that municipal standards may vary, even from one borough to the next;
• Analyze the possibility of using new materials like ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), which is significantly less heavy than glass, inflammable, and can be adapted to more complex or different architectures.