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Israel’s Vertical Field Inks Deal To Deploy Its Farming System In UAE
Ag-tech company to launch pilot in Emirates ahead of wider roll-out; its vertical farming system could lessen food insecurity in water-scarce Gulf state
By LUKE TRESS
Produce grown using Israeli start up Vertical Field's farming system. (Courtesy/Vertical Field)
Vertical Field, a startup that has developed a vertical farming system, has signed an accord with an Emirati company to deploy its products to the United Arab Emirates.
The Israeli ag-tech firm signed the agreement with Emirates Smart Solutions & Technologies, Vertical Field said in a statement on Wednesday.
Vertical Field will set up pilot vertical farms in the Emirate of Umm Al Quwain ahead of a wider roll-out in the UAE, the company said. The pilot will aim to determine which crops are best for the local market and will be supported and overseen by Vertical Field’s Israeli agronomists.
The firm expects the project to expand into a multimillion-dollar venture that will include distributing Vertical Field’s products to additional Gulf states, the company said.
Roughly 80 percent of agricultural food products in the UAE is imported from abroad, amounting to $10 billion in trade in 2018. The increasing cost of transporting food and concerns over food security played a part in the new partnership, Vertical Field said.
“Arid desert regions face many challenges surrounding the production of high-quality agricultural produce at low prices. With the help of various agricultural technologies and new developments, we believe that we can successfully align the demands of the market with competitive prices without compromising quality,” Guy Elitzur, Vertical Field’s CEO, said in a statement.
Maher Makalde, the CEO of Emirates Smart Solutions & Technologies, said, “We are excited for the opportunity to partner with Vertical Field and bring advanced Israeli vertical technology that enables the growth of produce in a controlled and predictable way, overcoming harsh outdoor climate conditions.
“Our goal is to establish food security that is independent of imports and to develop a high-quality agricultural infrastructure that reaches the retail market,” Makalde said.
An illustration of vegetables growing on walls by Vertical Field. (Courtesy)
Vertical Field’s soil-based installations are made up of separate blocks of plants that can be rearranged at will to produce locally sourced vegetables. This green wall of vegetation is suitable for growing vegetables in stores, offices and apartment buildings, or anywhere in urban areas, which have little space but many walls.
The firm, formerly called Green Wall Israel, said that products grown with its farming method are pesticide-free, generate less waste than conventional agriculture and utilize 90% less water, growing in precise quantities in a controlled environment with shorter growing cycles.
Produce in its containers can grow 365 days a year and is free of the limitations usually imposed by seasons, weather, climate and location.
The farms are modular, expandable and moveable, with fully automated crop management and a sterile environment that requires significantly less human contact. The crops that are currently offered include lettuce, basil, parsley, kale, mint and others, and are competitively priced, the firm said in a statement.
Israel and the oil-rich UAE signed a US-brokered normalization agreement in September, opening the way for business and tourism between the two countries, after years of covert trade exceeding $1 billion annually by some estimates.
The UAE, a federation of seven desert sheikdoms dependent on petrodollars, has been keen to cash in on the influx of Israeli investment and travel, particularly after the pandemic diminished demand for oil and hammered international tourism.
Earlier this month, Vertical Field signed an agreement with Moderntrendo S.R.O, an agricultural distributor in Ukraine, to deploy its plant installations in supermarket chains nationwide.
In December Vertical Field also signed a “multi-million dollar” agreement with Israeli discount supermarket chain Rami Levy for the installation of its vertical farming containers on the stores’ premises.
Vertical Field is based in Ra’anana in central Israel and was founded in 2006.
VIDEO INTERVIEW: Fork Farms Experiences “Growth” In Vertical Farming
January 12, 2021
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - Hydroponic farming is a way to grow fresh food year-round indoors.
Fork Farms in Green Bay is one company leading the way on vertical farming. You may have seen their hydroponic walls growing fresh greens at the Appleton International Airport. The company has more than 600 installations and just expanded into the overseas market.
On Action 2 News at 4:30, Fork Farms President Alex Tyvink talked about the growth (pun intended) in this industry and how vertical farming can make a difference in communities.
Israel’s Vertical Field To Deploy Smart Vertical Farms In Ukraine
Vertical Field’s agreement with the Czech Republic-based Moderntrend SRO, one of the largest agricultural distributors in Ukraine, will see the Israeli company’s solutions set up at Varus, a local grocery chain with 95 stores across 25 cities nationwide
Vertical Field's farms are grown on 'green walls.' Garu Nalbandian
Israeli company Vertical Field, the developer of smart vertical growing solutions for fresh produce, announced a new agreement on Wednesday to deploy its vertical farms in Ukraine, starting with a pilot program with one of the country’s largest supermarket chain.
Vertical Field’s agreement with the Czech Republic-based Moderntrend SRO, one of the largest agricultural distributors in Ukraine, will see the Israeli company’s solutions set up at Varus, a local grocery chain with 95 stores across 25 cities nationwide.
Founded in 2006, the Ra’anana-based Vertical Field uses advanced IoT software, embedded sensors, and in-house monitors to ensure its indoor vertical farms, which grow fresh vegetables, greens, and other plants, are nurtured in controlled conditions regardless of geography, physical location, weather, and climate conditions. The company says its soil-based vertical growing systems make the most efficient use of spaces, both indoors and outdoors, for both agricultural and smart landscaping.
Vertical Field CEO Guy Elitzur said the company’s solutions are ideal for urban environments where land is scarce and access to fresh produce may be more limited. He also indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the need for reduced contact and a more efficient supply chain.
“One of the realizations that have surfaced during the COVID-19 crisis is the need to develop solutions that allow urban residents access to healthy food, with minimal human handling and without depending on transportation and shipping from remote locations,” Elitzur said in a company statement. “We are delighted to be able to provide – and expand access to – healthy, and high-quality vegetables grown right outside the consumer’s door.”
Elitzur said the agreement with Moderntrend SRO will lead to partnerships with additional chains in the future.
Moderntrend SRO Director Bondar Denis said the pilot project introduces “innovative and proprietary technologies for vertical cultivation of products for the urban ecosystem by Vertical Field” and represented “a new level in the Ukrainian market.”
Last month, Vertical Field finalized a multi-million-dollar agreement with Israeli grocery chain Rami Levy to install vertical farms at dozens of the supermarket company’s branches across the country over the next five years.
By NoCamels Team January 06, 2021
SEE ALSO: Israeli Grocery Chain To Offer Fresh Produce Grown On-Site
Featured Project: Jakob Factory Saigon
Proposing an environmentally friendly alternative to the typically horizontally spread manufacturing buildings, the Jakob Factory offers an innovative vertical densification strategy, stacking the usable zones on superimposed slats
November 10, 2020
Jakob Factory Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Approximately 39,288 of
Living Walls & Green Façades
Greenroofs.com Featured Project November 10, 2020
When referring to acting responsibly and specifying green architecture, don’t we all say, “Put your money where your mouth is?”
Well, Jakob Rope Systems has certainly done that with its beautifully and sensitively designed second factory in the former Saigon. Plus, it’s a great way to showcase your own products!
Image: Jakob Rope Systems
Taking its cue from nature, the factory has been designed to increase workers’ comfort and decrease its environmental footprint by creating the first project in Vietnam with completely naturally ventilated manufacturing halls. Kudos to Jakob Rope Systems and its designers!
Image: Oki Hiroyuki, courtesy G8A Architects and rollimarchini Architekten
Excerpt from Greenroofs.com Project Profile:
Located in the center of an industrial park 50 kilometers north of Ho Chi Minh City, the new Jakob Factory Saigon opened in late 2019. The factory houses steel rope producers Jakob Rope Systems, specializing in custom made steel meshing.
Designed by rollimarchini Architekten and G8A Architects, the highly innovative manufacturing space boasts completely naturally ventilated manufacturing halls.
Image: Oki Hiroyuki, courtesy G8A Architects and rollimarchini Architekten
Ever since Vietnam’s economic reform in 1986 the country has experienced industries and populations moving from a primarily agricultural industry to a focused industrial practice. Priorities have focused on economic gain rather than environmental impact and the past ten years have seen the doubling of industrial parks.
The design of the new Jakob Factory Saigon offers an alternative to these detrimental practices, presenting a strategically land saving project with focus elements of passive design.
Image: Oki Hiroyuki, courtesy G8A Architects and rollimarchini Architekten
Proposing an environmentally friendly alternative to the typically horizontally spread manufacturing buildings, the Jakob Factory offers an innovative vertical densification strategy, stacking the usable zones on superimposed slats. This robust design avoids unnecessary ground usage negating needless land development, while also offering workers agreeable outdoor spaces.
Taking reference from the traditional tropical architecture of the region, the design has a porous façade devised as a lush-planted skin. The suspended structure is supported by a two-layer rope network stretched from the ground to the roof. The horizontal planters not only filter rain and sun, but also contribute to lowering the atmospheric temperature through evaporation, acting as air purifiers and dust particle binders as well as allowing the air to circulate.
Image: Oki Hiroyuki, courtesy G8A Architects and rollimarchini Architekten
Image: Jakob Rope Systems
More
Covered in a wide variety of tropical plants, two types of greenwalls are found at the Jakob Factory Saigon. The multilayer system on the façades of the production and office building are sustained by Jakob ropes and stainless steel RHS frames, and living walls are planted in custom horizontal planters consisting of a geotextile, HDPE, and Jakob Webnet. Green façades cover the parking area using Jakob Webnet with climbing plants planted in the ground.
Based on passive climatic strategies adapted to its tropical region, amenities for staff, and the intelligent distribution of work spaces, the pioneering initiative of the Jakob Factory Saigon is set to become a design reference for sustainable, tropical living architecture.
Image: Oki Hiroyuki, courtesy G8A Architects and rollimarchini Architekten
Year: 2019
Owner: Jakob Rope Systems
Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Building Type: Industrial
Type: Living Walls & Green Façades
System: Single-Source Provider
Size: Approximately 32,292 sq.ft. Living Walls & 6,996 sq.ft. Green Façades
Slope: Living Walls: 1-2% & Green Façades: 100%
Access: Private
Image: Oki Hiroyuki, courtesy G8A Architects and rollimarchini Architekten
Credits:
ARCHITECTS:
G8A ARCHITECTS & ROLLIMARCHINI ARCHITEKTEN
STAINLESS STEEL, WEBNET, STAINLESS STEEL ROPES AND ACCESSORIES FOR LIVING WALLS & GREEN FAÇADES:
JAKOB ROPE SYSTEMS
WATER SAVING APPLIANCES:
DELABIE
Image: Oki Hiroyuki, courtesy G8A Architects and rollimarchini Architekten
See the Project Profile
See the Jakob Factory Saigon Project Profile to view ALL of the Photos and Additional Information about this particular project in the Greenroofs.com Projects Database.
Image: Oki Hiroyuki, courtesy G8A Architects and rollimarchini Architekten
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Love the Earth, Plant a Roof (or Wall)!
By Linda S. Velazquez, ASLA, LEED AP, GRP
Greenroofs.com Publisher & Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summits Host
Watch #VirtualSummit2019 Speaker Videos and EXPO and Speaker Q&A Videos on demand through 2020 with FREE Registration!
Tags: ARCHITECTURE, BIODIVERSITY, GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE, GREEN WALLS, STORMWATER MANAGEMENT, SUSTAINABILITY
World’s First Fully 3D-Printed Vertical Farm Debuts
The Banyan Eco Wall is a vertical farm with a seamless sculptural design. Unlike other 3D-printed structures, its functionality — the irrigation and drainage system — is embedded inside. The eco wall was printed with a BigRep One V3, which is considered one of the most advanced large-scale industrial 3D printers in the world
29-09-2020 | Yahoo/In The Know
The world’s first fully 3D-printed irrigated green wall made its debut in June 2019.
The Banyan Eco Wall is a vertical farm with a seamless sculptural design. Unlike other 3D-printed structures, its functionality — the irrigation and drainage system — is embedded inside. The eco wall was printed with a BigRep One V3, which is considered one of the most advanced large-scale industrial 3D printers in the world.
Mirek Claßen, Tobias Storz, and Lindsay Lawson of NowLab, BigRep’s research and innovation program, designed the project.
“Similar vertical farm structures have required channels to be manually embedded into the design in a complicated process after manufacturing with metal piping and a variety of other parts,” BigRep said in a statement. “The Banyan, on the other hand, is 3D-printed with internal channels included in the design.”
That means consumers won’t have to figure out how to create and install a plumbing system on their own once the vertical farm is installed. Thus, it’s cheaper and more user-friendly than its predecessors — which is also demonstrated by its irrigation system’s ability to self-regulate. The Banyan disperses water in the form of “micro-showers” at controlled intervals to meet each plant’s needs.
Not only is it functional, but it’s also aesthetically beautiful. The white wall consists of interlocking, organic shapes that resemble the curves of tree branches.
The Banyan is 6.5 x 6.5 x 2 feet and printed in four modular parts that snap together. It is printed with PETG, a form of plastic used in 3D printing that can be 100 percent recyclable.
“Systems such as this inspire interior designers and architects developing a greener future — from home or workspace plant walls and green facades to vertical gardens and other forms of urban farming,” the statement said.
Source: Yahoo/In The Know
Photo Courtesy of Bigrep
Green Walls Can Purify Indoor Air And Even Grow Veggies
Want to insulate your office from the heat and cold outside, while purifying the air inside from potential toxins? Israeli startup Vertical Field is accomplishing that with sensor-controlled indoor and outdoor “green walls” installed by the likes of clients such as the Israeli offices of Google, Apple, Intel, and Facebook
Israeli startup Vertical Field sensor-controlled smart planters allow customers to place hundreds of greens up and down a wall, indoors or outdoors.
By Brian Blum OCTOBER 6, 2019
Green walls purify indoor air. Photo courtesy of Vertical Field
Want to insulate your office from the heat and cold outside, while purifying the air inside from potential toxins? Israeli startup Vertical Field is accomplishing that with sensor-controlled indoor and outdoor “green walls” installed by the likes of clients such as the Israeli offices of Google, Apple, Intel, and Facebook.
Indoor air pollution is an invisible but serious problem. High levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in offices, classrooms, homes, trains, and planes could be affecting our cognitive performance and in more severe cases may trigger inflammation or even kidney calcification and bone demineralization, according to a recent study published in Nature Sustainability.
Guy Elitzur, Vertical Field’s CEO, tells ISRAEL21c that one solution to “sick building syndrome”is to bring healthy and natural elements inside.
Plants work their magic by transforming carbon dioxide (CO2) into oxygen via photosynthesis. Installing a Vertical Field living biofilter in your home or office can remove about 95 percent of the pollutants in a building, the company claims.
Vertical Field’s green walls are not static. Sophisticated sensors measure fluctuating air quality in the building, while cameras track how many people are in a room bumping up the amount of CO2.
When the CO2 level goes above a certain threshold, Vertical Field can “manipulate the plants in an active way,” Elitzur says, by adding precise amounts of water, fertilizer and other nutrients through drip irrigation into the planters’ soil in order to increase absorption of CO2 and other allergens.
The result is “a wall that reacts to the indoor environment,” Elitzur explains. “It’s not just for beauty” — although a vertical wall of plants is that, too.
A typical Vertical Field installation contains between five and 15 types of plants. Software and big data drive the system’s customization.
“We have a characterization for each type of plant – its soil needs, the vitamins it requires to be more efficient, plus data coming from outdoors,” Elitzur notes. “This creates the best-growing program for each specific plant.”
A vertical forest on the exterior of a building creates a protective ecological shell. Photo courtesy of Vertical Field
Vertical Field also installs “vertical forests” on the exterior of buildings. Israeli cybersecurity leader Check Point, for example, has a green wall outside floors 12 to 15 of its Tel Aviv offices.
Elitzur says the vertical forest creates an ecological shell that protects the building against direct radiation from the sun and enables a more stable internal temperature with less artificial cooling.
The cost for installing a vertical green wall starts “from a couple of thousand shekels per square meter,” Elitzur tells ISRAEL21c. The outdoor ones “are less sophisticated so they cost a bit less.”
Urban farming
Purifying the air and insulating buildings is only part of the Vertical Field story. The company also specializes in urban farming: a green wall growing lettuce and other leafy greens.
One such customer isTel Aviv chef restaurant L28, which grows organic pesticide-free vegetables in a vertical farm on the building’s roof.
A vertical wall growing edible greens. Photo courtesy of Vertical Field
In New York, Vertical Field has a project installed “in a shipping container in the parking lot of a hotel and another one at a senior living facility,” Elitzur says. In the latter, the seniors take an active part in planting and harvesting.
An urban farm on the roof of a supermarket could provide the store’s customers fresher produce with no carbon footprint since the vegetables do not have to be trucked in from a far-off farm.
“The technology we’re creating can help bridge the way we live today with the complexity of nature,” Elitzur says.
Vertical Field CEO Guy Elitzur. Photo: courtesy
Vertical Field was founded in 2006 by Guy Barness. Guy no. 2 (Elitzur) came to Vertical Field from Bio Ag Technology, a startup that has developed eco-friendly biological pesticides.
“It was the same concept of doing something better for the globe and lowering the chemical footprint,” Elitzur says.
Vertical Field already has hundreds of projects, mainly in Israel through its Israeli subsidiary, Green Wall. Vertical Field is the entity that’s expanding beyond the Middle East, with the United States as its first target market.
While Vertical Field is focused on corporate clients, it can install a green wall in a private home thanks to a cadre of trained subcontractors, Elitzur says.
Vertical Field is not alone in offering vertical farming and green walls. Other companies include Germany-based InFarm, Freight Farm (which specializes in container farming) and Florida-based Live Wall and GSky. The latter is the biggest of the bunch with more than 800 green walls installed in 19 countries.
We asked Elitzur what makes Vertical Field different.
“All of us are great,” he says. “But we’re the only ones using soil to grow. Most of the others are based on hydroponics. Soil is a better way to grow plants. It provides a better ecosystem and is healthier. But there’s a place for everyone. We’re all serving a very good cause.”
For more information, click here
The Global Impact of Biophilic Design In The Workplace
Aramis Velazquez on March 27, 2019
Photo: Jakob Rope Systems
Mike Steer of CNN Business writes:
Biophilia is our instinctive human love of nature, and it is behind a growing design movement in workplaces that is making employees healthier and more productive. At a time when the World Health Organization (WHO) has dubbed stress as the "health epidemic of the 21st Century," could surrounding office workers with nature really offer a meaningful path to change?
One advocate for biophilic design is Oliver Heath. The Brit has worked on biophilic design for seven years and says it “most certainly” helps companies. “I have been teaching architects all over the EU about the business and the ROI (return on investment) of biophilic design. Research suggests that it is an essential component of supporting healthy people,” he said. His claims are well-supported. A 2015 report commissioned by the modular flooring company Interface and led by organizational psychologist Professor Sir Cary Cooper, titled “The Global Impact of Biophilic Design in the Workplace” details international research into the benefits of nature in our workspaces.
The impact of the work environment is already well established in Robertson Cooper’s ‘6 Essentials’ model – a robust model, validated by research with over 100,000 employees – that shows the key aspects of working life that affect workplace well-being and employee engagement. It is designed to guide the process of making well-being work for an organization.
Among the ‘Essentials’ is ‘job conditions’ – this concerns how our work environment makes us feel. Job conditions are defined as those elements of the physical environment that impact employee experience – that could be anything from being sat next to a noisy printer to having an uncomfortable workstation. While the 6 Essentials model emphasizes the importance of removing the barriers to well-being created by ‘job conditions’, biophilic design adds a new and positive approach to the area. Rather than simply removing those ‘hygiene’ factors that block individual well-being, it’s clear that biophilic design can positively influence one of the 6 Essential Factors, and consequently be a direct driver of well-being.
Greenery in the office, such as plants and green walls, was associated with higher levels of creativity.
LiveWall Indoor Living Wall Livens Up Coava Coffee’s New Café Location, Portland, OR, USA:
GSky Wall in Long Island Marriott, Long Island, NY, USA:
Watch a video from Interface: