Colorado State University, Philips Lighting Partner at New Horticulture Facility

Colorado State University (CSU) and Philips Lighting have signed an agreement to create an LED-lighted education, research and training horticulture facility at CSU.

“It all started with the stadium,” said Steven Newman, greenhouse crops extension specialist and professor of floriculture at CSU.

It was the relocation of the greenhouses at the W.D. Holley Plant Environmental Research to the new CSU Horticulture Center spurred by CSU’s impending on-campus stadium that Newman said got him thinking about finding resources to create a new horticulture facility for the campus community.

The partnership will allow the two entities to perform collaborative research and focused cultivation studies to validate and innovate around the application of advanced LED lighting for horticultural activity. This research is anticipated to optimize desired plant characteristics, including the nutritional value of city farm produced foods, irrigation strategies, climate impact, soil conditions, thermal effects, year-round production, greenhouse food, hops, floriculture and turf, while dramatically reducing the power consumption of the lighting component to indoor growth facilities.

The building will explore joint educational and training opportunities with CSU and CSU Extension, as well as other Philips partners and customers. New internship and cooperative learning opportunities will also be created for CSU’s graduate and undergraduate students.

The installation of the new Philips Horticulture LED Solutions lighting in the CSU Horticulture Center is expected to be completed in early 2016.

A ribbon-cutting event will be held to celebrate the partnership and the opening of the new facility.