2024 GLASE Summit Recap: Driving Innovation in Greenhouse Lighting
The 2024 GLASE Summit brought together thought leaders from North America and beyond to discuss the evolving dynamic greenhouse lighting landscape. With 15 speakers representing multiple U.S. states and Canadian provinces, the event showcased how advanced lighting systems and automation technology offer powerful tools to boost crop production and grow more with less energy. The 2024 Summit is the third Summit GLASE has hosted since 2022. Previous Summits were held in Ithaca, New York, and Leamington, Ontario. The 2025 Summit will be held in November 2025, location to be announced.
Held at the historic St. Paul Hotel in Montréal, Quebec, this year’s Summit gathered 90 growers, researchers, manufacturers, educators, policymakers, industry experts, and students to explore the future of dynamic lighting in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) through educational panels spotlighting growers and researchers and their credible research on emerging technology in commercial greenhouses.
After an introduction to GLASE from our Executive Director Gretchen Schimelpfenig, this year’s Summit kicked off with a “Bienvenue” from Louis Brun, CEO & Co-Founder of Sollum Technologies, a GLASE Industry Advisory board member and 2024 GLASE Summit anchor partner. Attendees learned ways to define dynamic lighting and how it can look across several greenhouse industry case studies.
Keynote Address: Light: Nature vs. Nurture in Plants
With over 40 years of horticultural experience, Lighting expert Tessa Pocock Tessa shared actionable knowledge that inspired both newcomers and veterans of the industry in her keynote address. She shared insights on circadian rhythms in plants and the impact of pulse width modulation and frequency modulation of horticultural lighting systems. Attendees asked questions about areas for future research in pulsed lighting controls at high frequencies.
Panels and Presentations: Sharing Knowledge and Innovations
Our grower panels always center grower voices, and this year’s grower panel featured U.S. growers Bob Jones of The Chef’s Garden and Holly Counter Beaver of Finn & Roots in conversation with Quebec grower Robert Thérien of Les Serres Point du Jour. They discussed the role of dynamic lighting within their operations and shared real-world applications of advanced lighting technology and automation on their farms.
Two researcher panels brought years of academic and government-funded studies to attendees via updates from Neil Mattson of Cornell University, Matt Korpan from the Center for Horticultural Innovation, Valérie Gravel from McGill University, Tim Shelford from Cornell University and Rutgers University, Stijn Jochems from Delphy, and Etienne Lord from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. These panels showcased how scientists are measuring their data and what has been validated about dynamic lighting across greenhouse-grown crops. Attendees learned what hyperspectral imaging technology is used for in agricultural applications and got an introduction to new spectral sensors entering the market.
One of the sessions that generated the most questions was a technology talk on AI-driven crop registration by Don Cronin from IUNU. Attendees received a first look at a GPT for grower guidance that has promising applications across the greenhouse industry. Ryder Lane of Hoogendoorn Growth Management demonstrated climate control automation solutions with and without AI. Software can simplify dynamic lighting control sequences of operation from dozens of settings to a couple of inputs.
Networking Reception
The Summit concluded with a Vivid Canopy networking reception to connect attendees over refreshments to exchange ideas and discuss potential collaborations. It was a unique opportunity for international greenhouse industry interactions and business development.
Acknowledgments
GLASE extends our special thanks to Sollum Technologies, this year’s anchor partner sponsor, whose dedication to advancing dynamic lighting systems is helping to shape the future of greenhouse technology. We are grateful for Hoogendorn Growth Management’s sponsorship of the networking reception which supports our growing Vivid Canopy community.
We’re grateful to everyone who attended and contributed to this year’s GLASE Summit. It is your passion and innovation that propels the greenhouse industry forward. We look forward to more growth and collaboration next year!
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