This thesis conducted an evaluation of the performance and return on investment of a 2 x 6m, simple design greenhouse, as a climate control technology. Specifically, differences in internal microclimate conditions between a greenhouse treatment plot, and sun and shaded control plots were assessed and related to observed differences in crop yields across these plots. Growing conditions and productivity of two crops, tomato and swiss chard, which were grown over summer and winter growing seasons, respectively, were compared. It was found that the greenhouse was associated with improved growth conditions (as measured by the R-Index) for both crops but resulted in higher productivity only for tomatoes. Return on investment and food security impacts from the scaling of greenhouse agriculture were also explored.

There is a need for indicators of transportation-land use system quality that are understandable to a wide range of stakeholders, and which can provide immediate feedback on the quality of interactively designed scenarios. Location-based accessibility indicators are promising candidates, but indicator values can vary strongly depending on time of day and transfer wait times. Capturing this variation increases complexity, slowing down calculations. We present new methods for rapid yet rigorous computation of accessibility metrics, allowing immediate feedback during early-stage transit planning, while being rigorous enough for final analyses. Our approach is statistical, characterizing the uncertainty and variability in accessibility metrics due to differences in departure time and headway-based scenario specification. The analysis is carried out on a detailed multi-modal network model including both public transportation and streets. Land use data are represented at high resolution. These methods have been implemented as open-source software running on commodity cloud infrastructure. Networks are constructed from standard open data sources, and scenarios are built in a map-based web interface. We conclude with a case study, describing how these methods were applied in a long-term transportation planning process for metropolitan Amsterdam.