Advice on building a hydroponics room.

[Dornier]

Greetings, first time posting here. Looking forward to it all.

I have the opportunity to build a small addition to the side of my garage, and I want to divide 2/3 of it for growing but I have some questions. I live in south TX, and in our neighborhood we've had too much trouble with critters getting into the beds. We're organic food snobs, so to speak, and this seems to be the next logical step.

1. will i require sky lights or artificial lighting?
2. climate control issues? Would a wall AC unit suffice?
3. how much space would be required to provide vegetables for, say, a family of five? Or rather, how much could i produce in a space of 8' x 12'?

I'm fine with building tables, piping, etc.

Any help to springboard this will be great, and I'll post pictures and updates to pass along to the next guy.

thanks in advance.