I’m a little confused as to why you think canopy is an inefficient concept, if used properly? In agriculture yield is always measured per area. Farmers don’t calculate yield per total farm size either, they calculate yield per acre/hectare of planted space, because that’s where fertilizer is applied, that’s where irrigation occurs, etc. That’s where the cost is at. The “canopy monster” is the same thing indoors, you just need to do a little extra work to determine if the other areas of your facility are included when determining the efficiency of your operation. And sure indoors might not be the best way to grow (depending on your goal), but it’s a fact of the industry right now that cannot be ignored.
Greenhouses being designed improperly is a fair point but seems unrelated to this discussion.