Greenhouse vs Conditioned Garage for Larger Aquaponics Setup?

[lightnb]

I'm looking to get into Aquaponics in a more serious way, with the hope of being able to grow enough food to live on with some left over to sell. I hoping someone here has some experience with larger aquaponics setups and can give me some advice as I'm facing a dilemma: what type of building should I house the system in? I'm thinking it will be about a 2000sqft area to house the grow beds and fish tanks.

The choices are a traditional "garage" type building with framed walls on a slab foundation, with insulation in the wall cavities, drywall on the walls and ceiling, and climate control (heating and air) vs a greenhouse style building where the walls and ceilings are clear glass or plastic.

Now cost differences aside, is there any advantage to building one style over the other? I'm in climate zone 4 and would like to grow stuff year round. Will the greenhouse stay warm enough for the fish and plants in the winter? It can get to 20F at night in January. The downside of the garage is that you need artificial light, as the roof is closed and insulated, and not enough light will come through windows. We could still use solar panels with full spectrum LEDs though.

Any pros/cons that I'm missing?

 

[skjl47]

Hello;
First the conventional garage type building. Lots of moisture inside with your plan so I would not frame with organics like wood. Also do not use regular drywall. There are types that are mold resistant.

I knew a fellow up sold fish out of a green house. He had double layer plastic with only the air gap in between and no solid insulation. He heated with a coal fired boiler. Do not know at what cost.

Another consideration. If you build a more conventional building it might have more resale value than a greenhouse.

 

[duanes]

A friend of mine ran a large aquaponics operation in Milwaukee called Sweetwater Organics.
He used a large warehouse with skylights to offset the high cost of providing enough light to grow the plants.
He had plants on scaffolding at least two stories high, with large tanks in the thousands of gallons for Tilapia. He pumped water up and it cascaded down watering the plants, until it ended up in the tanks after the plants used the nutrient.
You may have a better chance than he did because heating was also a major cost in Wisconsin. I believe the business finally folded.
There is a small chapter about aquatints and Sweetwater Organics (with photos) in a book called Trash Backwards by David Naylor.