"The biggest mistake a lot of vertical farms make is trying to reinvent the wheel," says Wessel van Paassen, managing director of Green Simplicity. "They start with ambitious plans, but then they run into problems because they're trying to build everything themselves. We take a different approach. We work with what's already proven to work, and we make it better."
Green Simplicity, a Netherlands-based horticultural company, focuses on turnkey solutions for vertical farming. Instead of letting growers struggle with piecing together systems for lighting, irrigation, and climate control, the company delivers fully integrated setups designed to be scalable, energy-efficient, and cost-effective. Their latest project in Belgium, a 1,030-square-meter vertical farm, demonstrates how this approach is changing the industry.
Photo supplied by Green Simplicity
Why flexibility matters
"This farm is designed to be flexible," van Paassen explains. "It's built inside a glasshouse structure with a sandwich roof. This type of construction is affordable, easy to build, and scalable. It allows us to integrate our technology into a space that can be expanded later."
The vertical farm consists of four growing layers and is set up for both tissue culture propagation and microgreens production. What makes this facility stand out is how it handles multiple plant types in the same space.
"Usually, you need separate rooms for different crops because they require different humidity levels," van Paassen says. "But our system allows us to control evaporation at the bench level, which means different crops can be grown together in the same environment without any losses in efficiency."
Why many vertical farms struggle to scale
"Most vertical farms that have failed over the years did so because they tried to build their own systems from scratch," van Paassen says. "They bought lighting from one company, climate control from another, irrigation from somewhere else, and expected it all to work together seamlessly. That's not how you build a farm."
One of the biggest issues, he explains, is that vertical farms often try to develop proprietary technology when proven solutions already exist. "You don't see tomato growers designing their own irrigation systems. They buy one that works. But in vertical farming, companies often insist on creating something new, which just adds unnecessary costs and delays."
Green Simplicity takes the opposite approach, offering a complete, ready-to-use system that integrates everything from day one. "It removes all the guesswork and allows growers to focus on production rather than troubleshooting technology," van Paassen says.
Photo supplied by Green Simplicity
How the technology makes a difference
"Our focus is always on designing technology that improves plant growth, rather than just adding features for the sake of it," van Paassen says. "That's why we've developed a lighting system that allows us to fine-tune intensity and spectrum based on what the plants actually need."
Green Simplicity's two-channel dimmable LED lighting system allows growers to adjust blue, red, and white light separately. "With this setup, we can fine-tune the light spectrum and intensity for each crop, which improves growth while reducing energy use."
Climate control is another major focus. "We've built an air handling unit with integrated heat pumps, which makes the system extremely energy-efficient," van Paassen says. "By integrating a crossflow heat exchanger and using outside air to cool the facility, we can drastically reduce climate related energy consumption compared to conventional climate systems."
CO₂ is also carefully managed. "The CO₂ is injected inside the air handling unit, being mixed by the fans, and then being blown into the room uniformly above the crop," he explains. "This ensures that every plant gets the right amount without any waste."
Photo supplied by Green Simplicity
Why collaboration is key
Van Paassen believes that no single company can build the perfect vertical farm alone. "That's why we're part of GreenV," he says. "Within GreenV we can collaborate closely with companies like HT Verboom (internal transport) and Stolze (irrigation and electrical installation). By co-designing and integrating the different aspects of the systems, we can make sure that everything works together as one while staying within our own fields of expertise.
"Our customers don't have to waste time figuring out how to connect different systems, we've already done that for them," van Paassen says. "They get a solution that is ready to operate from day one."
Photo supplied by Green Simplicity
Scaling smartly to save costs
One of the biggest barriers to entry in vertical farming is cost. "Scaling smartly is more important than starting big," van Paassen says. "Many people assume they need a massive investment upfront, but it's often better to begin with a well-designed smaller system and expand later."
The Belgium project is a great example of this. "The grower can add additional rooms as needed," van Paassen explains. "Everything is designed to be replicable, so they can easily scale up."
Photo supplied by Green Simplicity
What the future holds
"The companies that will survive in vertical farming are the ones that focus on efficiency and scalability, not just technology," van Paassen says. "We've seen too many farms fail because they invested too much in experimental systems that don't deliver results. Our goal is to help growers start with a system that works and then scale up from there."
"Our 4,000-square-meter facility in the U.S. is a great example of how this model can work internationally," van Paassen says. "We're also developing new propagation facilities in the Netherlands and looking at how vertical farming can be used for tulip production."
For more information:
Green Simplicity B.V.
wessel@greensimplicity.com
www.greensimplicity.com