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VIDEO: Vertical Farms Could Take Over The World
As the global population continues to increase, vertical farming is becoming a more widely recognized and viable solution to our food production problem
By JACK BERNING
May 22, 2021
Vertical Farming Offers Better Tasting,
More Sustainable Produce.
Will It Take Over Farming
As We Know It?
As the global population continues to increase, vertical farming is becoming a more widely recognized and viable solution to our food production problem. Vertical farming is a type of indoor farming where crops are grown in stacked layers, rather than spread out across large plots of land.
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These futuristic farms aren't just going to have an impact on how we survive here on Earth; they could also enable us to create a food source beyond our planet, without a dependence on the outdoor climate or arable land.
Although the task sounds unimaginable, developments in controlled environment agriculture are proving that it is very much possible. Adopting these sustainable farming practices could lead to a monumental shift in how we produce food, both for today and the future of humanity.
Vertical Farming Advantages
Vertical farms offer many benefits over traditional farming practices — an increased crop yield with a smaller land requirement, more control over the resulting flavor and cleanliness of crops, and the prospect of better access to healthy foods in underserved communities, to name a few.
Because these farms are constructed completely indoors using LED lights, their output isn't subject to the natural elements that typically affect plant production such as adverse weather, insects, and seasons.
Vertical farms offer more control over the resulting flavor and cleanliness of crops, and the prospect of better access to healthy foods in underserved communities.
They're better for the environment because they require less energy and put out less pollution, without a need for heavy machinery, pesticides, or fertilizers. Vertical farms often use soil-less farming methods like aquaponics, hydroponics, and aeroponics, which requires just 10% of the amount of water consumed by conventional outdoor farms.
Think of a vertical farm as a plant factory — one that enables farmers to predictably grow anything, anywhere, from strawberries to kale. The idea was first introduced in 1999 by Dickson Despommier, a professor at Columbia University. Despommier and his students came up with designs for a "skyscraper farm" that could feed 50,000 people. Though the structure has yet to be built, they successfully managed to popularize the ideology behind vertical farming systems.
Output isn't subject to the natural elements that typically affect plant production such as adverse weather and insects.
So, why wasn't the skyscraper farm ever built? The answer sheds light on one of the most prominent vertical farming disadvantages — cost. A single farm can cost a hundred million dollars to construct, and a lack of data surrounding the long-term economic feasibility of vertical farms has caused some investors to shy away.
However, this hasn't stopped vertical farmers from persisting to disrupt the food production industry. Vertical farming has already been adopted in countries like China, Japan, and other parts of Asia. In fact, the market for vertical farming in that region is expected to increase 24% by 2026. And in the U.S., some vertical farming companies are already selling their produce in stores.
More Produce With Less Resources
One of those companies is Plenty, headquartered in San Francisco, California. Plenty was founded in 2014 by Matt Barnard and Nate Storey with a simple yet powerful mission to improve the lives of plants, people, and the planet.
Plenty already has established vertical farms in the San Francisco Bay Area, Wyoming, and Washington. These farms supply fresh produce including kale, arugula, and lettuce to major grocery stores like Whole Foods and Safeway.
The team at Plenty recently began construction on a new farm in the Bay Area that they call Tigris. Tigris will be its largest and most efficient farm yet, capable of growing a million plants at a time.
With Plenty's vertical farming technology, 700 acres of farmland can be condensed into a structure the size of a big-box store. Plenty's farms harvest 365 days per year and shrink growth cycles to about 10 days for many of their products.
This results in a yield increase of about 700% as compared to traditional farming, all while saving about a million gallons of water per week and using just one percent of the land that traditional farms use.
The secret to this astronomical efficiency lies in the technology. Plenty's farms are equipped with air handling units that capture transpired water, allowing them to recirculate 99% of the water back into the system. They also use LED light bulbs and, seeking to be as efficient as possible, the bulbs are designed in a grid format that maximizes the amount of energy absorbed by the plants.
These systems allow farm operators to have more control over their crop yield — all the way down to a plant's flavor profile. Blue LED lighting, for example, can create a crispier crunch in kale leaves. Additionally, without a need for pesticides, their products are completely organic.
Plenty's farm saves about a million gallons of water per week and uses just 1% of the land that traditional farms use.
"When you grow things outside, the elements are much more unpredictable," Shireen Santosham, the head of strategic initiatives for Plenty, explains. "If you grow indoors, you can control a lot of those factors in ways that are accessible to outdoor growers. And the result is that our produce can be hundreds of times cleaner."
Not only is the produce cleaner, it's also higher quality. Because Plenty's products are grown in urban areas and don't have to be shipped across the country, the brand doesn't have to prioritize shelf life. Less transportation needs also reduces their carbon footprint.
What could all of this mean for the future? That every place in the world, regardless of climate, could sustainably grow the same nutrient-rich and flavorful crops. And it could someday result in the colonization of other planets, as well.
"We can give the world back — a lot," says Storey. "We can give the world back land. We can give back the jungles of Borneo to the orangutans. We can give back the Amazon to the planet. We can give back the midwest to the buffalo. We can give back the things that we've taken. And we can be a lot less extractive."
CANADA: Feeding a City From The World’s Largest Rooftop Greenhouse
Can you grow enough produce for an entire city in rooftop greenhouses? Two entrepreneurs in Montreal, Canada, believe it might be possible.
May. 08, 2021
By Sean Fleming
The world's largest rooftop greenhouse is in Montreal, Canada.
It measures more than 15,000m2 and produces more than 11,000kg of food per week.
The company behind it had to hire 200 new employees due to pandemic-driven demand.
Can you grow enough produce for an entire city in rooftop greenhouses? Two entrepreneurs in Montreal, Canada, believe it might be possible.
Lauren and Mohamed Hage cofounded Lufa in 2009. The company has four urban gardens in the Canadian city, all in rooftop greenhouses. Lufa's most recent sits on top of a former warehouse and measures more than 15,000m2 – larger than the other three greenhouses combined. Its main crops are tomatoes and aubergines, producing more than 11,000kg of food per week. It is, the company says, the largest rooftop greenhouse in the world.
An Ambitious Goal
Rathmell says the new greenhouse will accelerate Lufa's mission to grow food where people live and help it to meet an "ever-growing demand for fresh, local, and responsible foods".
The company – which says it's not trying to replace local farms and food makers, acknowledging that not everything can be grown on rooftops – follows what it calls 'responsible agriculture' practices. These include capturing and recirculating rainwater, energy-saving glass panels, and an absence of synthetic pesticides. Any waste is composted and reused, and food is sold directly to customers on the day it is harvested. Lufa also has a fleet of electric vehicles to make those deliveries.
"Our objective at Lufa is to get to the point where we're feeding everyone in the city," Hage said in an interview in Fortune. Lufa's fifth greenhouse is due to open later in 2021.
At the moment, Lufa grows food for around 2% of the city's population. While that might sound like a modest proportion, interest in urban agriculture is on the rise. Presently, agriculture in urban areas tends to be more common in developing countries. But the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) favors an increase in urban agriculture, saying it can have "important benefits for food security."
Urban farming is often more common among poorer members of society. UN FAO
A Growing Global Trend
Lufa produces more than 11,000kg of food per week, including tomatoes and aubergines. Lufa
Urban agriculture has been taking off in other parts of the world in recent years, too – from shipping containers in Brooklyn, New York City, to allotments in unused spaces in Brussels, Belgium.
And at 14,000 m2, there's Nature Urbaine in Paris – which claims to be the world's largest urban rooftop farm. Nature Urbaine rents out growing space to Parisians who want to grow their own crops. Tenant farmers pay around $450 per year per 1m2 sized plot. They get a welcome pack with everything they need to start growing, as well as regular access to the Nature Urbine gardening team who are on hand to offer advice and support.
Lufa's first greenhouse was opened in 2011, in Montreal's Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough, to grow herbs, microgreens, cucumbers, and peppers. Two more were added in 2013 and 2017, with the fourth joining last year. It sits on top of a former Sears warehouse in the Saint-Laurent area of the city.
In addition to its own produce, Lufa also sells a selection of other locally made or grown food, including bread, cheese, and drinks to its customers. Rising demand for its service, in the wake of the pandemic, led to the company hiring an additional 200 people, and partnering with 35 new farmers and food makers.
Lead photo: The new greenhouse will accelerate Lufa's mission to grow food. Lufa
Lufa
Feeding A City From The World’s Largest Rooftop Greenhouse
The world’s largest rooftop greenhouse is in Montreal, Canada. It measures more than 15,000m2 and produces more than 11,000kg of food per week. The company behind it had to hire 200 new employees due to pandemic-driven demand
The New Greenhouse Will Accelerate Lufa’s Mission To Grow Food
Image: REUTERS/Mariana Bazo
20 Apr 2021
Senior Writer
The world’s largest rooftop greenhouse is in Montreal, Canada.
It measures more than 15,000m2 and produces more than 11,000kg of food per week.
The company behind it had to hire 200 new employees due to pandemic-driven demand.
Can you grow enough produce for an entire city in rooftop greenhouses? Two entrepreneurs in Montreal, Canada, believe it might be possible.
Lauren Rathmell and Mohamed Hage cofounded Lufa in 2009. The company has four urban gardens in the Canadian city, all in rooftop greenhouses. Lufa’s most recent sits on top of a former warehouse and measures more than 15,000m2 – larger than the other three greenhouses combined. Its main crops are tomatoes and aubergines, producing more than 11,000kg of food per week. It is, the company says, the largest rooftop greenhouse in the world.
Lufa says its new rooftop greenhouse in Saint-Laurent, Montreal, is the largest in the world. Image: Lufa
An ambitious goal
Rathmell says the new greenhouse will accelerate Lufa’s mission to grow food where people live and help it to meet an “ever-growing demand for fresh, local, and responsible foods”.
The company – which says it’s not trying to replace local farms and food makers, acknowledging that not everything can be grown on rooftops – follows what it calls ‘responsible agriculture’ practices. These include capturing and recirculating rainwater, energy-saving glass panels, and an absence of synthetic pesticides. Any waste is composted and reused, and food is sold directly to customers on the day it is harvested. Lufa also has a fleet of electric vehicles to make those deliveries.
“Our objective at Lufa is to get to the point where we’re feeding everyone in the city,” Hage said in an interview in Fortune. Lufa’s fifth greenhouse is due to open later in 2021.
At the moment, Lufa grows food for around 2% of the city’s population. While that might sound like a modest proportion, interest in urban agriculture is on the rise. Presently, agriculture in urban areas tends to be more common in developing countries. But the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) favours an increase in urban agriculture, saying it can have “important benefits for food security”.
Urban farming is often more common among poorer members of society. Image: UN FAO
A growing global trend
Urban agriculture has been taking off in other parts of the world in recent years, too – from shipping containers in Brooklyn, New York City, to allotments in unused spaces in Brussels, Belgium.
And at 14,000 m2, there’s Nature Urbaine in Paris – which claims to be the world’s largest urban rooftop farm. Nature Urbaine rents out growing space to Parisians who want to grow their own crops. Tenant farmers pay around $450 per year per 1m2 sized plot. They get a welcome pack with everything they need to start growing, as well as regular access to the Nature Urbine gardening team who are on hand to offer advice and support.
Lufa produces more than 11,000kg of food per week, including tomatoes and aubergines. Image: Lufa
Lufa’s first greenhouse was opened in 2011, in Montreal’s Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough, to grow herbs, microgreens, cucumbers, and peppers. Two more were added in 2013 and 2017, with the fourth joining last year. It sits on top of a former Sears warehouse in the Saint-Laurent area of the city.
In addition to its own produce, Lufa also sells a selection of other locally made or grown food, including bread, cheese, and drinks to its customers. Rising demand for its service, in the wake of the pandemic, led to the company hiring an additional 200 people, and partnering with 35 new farmers and food makers.
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MALAYSIA: Turn Empty Spaces Into Urban Farms To Grow Food
WITH the Covid-19 pandemic highlighting the importance of food self-sufficiency, it is probably time for Malaysians to turn empty urban spaces into farms. Urban farming is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in or around urban areas
17 Apr 2021
WITH the Covid-19 pandemic highlighting the importance of food self-sufficiency, it is probably time for Malaysians to turn empty urban spaces into farms. Urban farming is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around urban areas.
Although our country is rich in natural resources, we are still highly dependent on high-value imported foods. Currently, our self-sufficiency level (SSL) for fruits, vegetables, and meat products is 78.4%, 44.6%, and 22.9% respectively.
With a lower occupancy rate in both retail and office space after businesses folded due to the pandemic, property owners could perhaps be induced into redeveloping their buildings for urban or vertical farming. This is being done in Singapore with tremendous success.
According to the National Property Information Centre (Napic), the occupancy rate for shopping malls in Malaysia has dropped steadily for five consecutive years, declining from 79.2% in 2019 to 77.5% in 2020, the lowest level since 2003.
And, according to the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH), the occupancy rate for privately-owned office buildings is lower now compared to the pre-pandemic era.
Aquaponics, a pesticide-free farming method that combines aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (growing plants without soil), would be one of the ways forward in food production. In aquaponics, the nutrient rich aquaculture water is fed to the hydroponic-grown plant.
This method of farming could be the economic livelihood for many, particularly the underprivileged and disabled communities as well as fresh graduates who are still struggling to secure a decent job.
Sunway FutureX Farm, Kebun-Kebun Bangsar (KKB) and Urban Hijau are examples of good urban farming initiatives in the Kuala Lumpur city centre.
Perhaps Malaysians could adopt Singapore’s approach by setting up aquaponics farming systems on roofs of car parks and opening urban farms in unused buildings.
The vertical rooftop system is another way of increasing our food production capacity. This system requires only a quarter of the size of a traditional farm to produce the same quantity of vegetables. At the same time, it also reduces the need to clear land for agricultural use.
The government should provide incentives for farmers and the relevant stakeholders who are interested in venturing into urban farming. This would enhance the supply and affordability of a wide range of minimally processed plant-based foods, as suggested under the latest Malaysia Economic Monitor “Sowing the Seeds” report by the World Bank.
With the current administration’s laudable commitment to tackling food security issues, this would provide the opportunity for Malaysia to review the current national food security policy by addressing productivity, optimization of resources, sustainable consumption, climate change, and water and land scarcity. By putting greater emphasis on urban farming, the government could encourage farmers to plant more nutritious and higher-value crops.
Given that the involvement of youths in the agriculture sector is only 240,000 or just 15% of the total number of farmers in Malaysia, as noted by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industries I Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah, the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry and Youth and Sports Ministry would need to come up with training programmes and develop grant initiatives to attract the younger generation to farming, in this case urban farming.
These ministries can also work with the Agriculture Department, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi), and Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) to develop more comprehensive urban farming initiatives.
The upcoming 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) would also provide opportunities for the government to turn empty spaces into urban farming. In a nutshell, every Malaysian can do their part to help the country become more food resilient by converting empty spaces into farms.
Lead photo: Vertical farming systems can maximize use of space in an urban context.
AMANDA YEO
EMIR Research
Kuala Lumpur
TAGS / KEYWORDS: Letters & Opinion,
AUSTRALIA: A Brilliant Plan To Turn Parking Garages Into Rooftop Gardens
“It’s the third-largest land use in the city,” he says. Community space, on the other hand, ranks dead last. Bates Smart crunched the numbers and found that, in total, parking takes up nearly 1,200 acres of space, or more space than New York’s Central Park
Sourced from Fast Company
There are more than 41,000 parking spaces in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia. Many of them could be put to better use, says Julian Anderson, a director at the large Australian architecture firm Bates Smart.
“It’s the third-largest land use in the city,” he says. Community space, on the other hand, ranks dead last. Bates Smart crunched the numbers and found that, in total, parking takes up nearly 1,200 acres of space, or more space than New York’s Central Park. And if it’s not bad enough that these parking spaces take up so much space and encourage more driving, they also sit empty most of the time. “You think, my god, there’s one and a half times Central Park wrapped up in car parking in central Melbourne,” Anderson says. “What can we do to unlock this?”
One potential solution, he says, is to convert some of that parking into much-needed community space such as playgrounds, community gardens, and rooftop parks. And with a new mechanism his firm is developing in consultation with the city government, there may be a way to incentivize the owners of these parking spaces to make that happen.
Anderson says there are at least 20 standalone parking garages in central Melbourne that would be good candidates for reuse. Bates Smart has developed concepts for a few garages to serve as models for how this conversion could work, with some minor structural revision. One, located near the city’s main sports stadium, imagines the space converted into a series of playgrounds and gymnasia, with basketball courts and other recreational spaces. Another, in the city’s Chinatown, uses the ground floor as a market space and the rooftop as an outdoor eatery with open-air cinema. Anderson calls these potential projects a new kind of “vertical urban space.”
Source:https://www.fastcompany.com/90579163/a-brilliant-plan-to-turn-parking-garages-into-rooftop-gardens
Tagged: green roof, green roof benefits, living roof, living roof benefits, rooftop parks, rooftop garden, Melbourne, sustainability, resilience
Rooftop Greenhouses Take Urban Farming To New Heights In Quebec
Lufa claims this latest site, opened this summer, becomes the world's largest rooftop greenhouse
BY EMMA JACOBS (FREELANCE REPORTER/PRODUCER) , IN MONTREAL
Lauren Rathmell co-founded the company Lufa, whose latest rooftop greenhouse opened in Saint-Laurent, QC earlier this year. Photo courtesy: Lufa.
October 8, 2020 — Cherry tomato plants tower over Lauren Rathmell’s head in the latest greenhouse built by the company she co-founded, called Lufa.
"We train everything vertically so that we can keep these plants a lot longer than a typical garden tomato plant," she explains. "We're in the probably 15 to 20-foot-long plant range now. They're really high."
Emma Jacobs Rooftop greenhouses take urban farming to new heights in Quebec
Their height makes it hard to tell that the greenhouse encloses a space the size of three football fields — all dedicated to growing varieties of tomatoes and eggplants.
It’s also four stories off the ground, on the roof of a former Sears warehouse not far from Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport.
Greenhouse-grown produce is a relatively small but growing part of agriculture in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
Lufa claims this latest site, opened this summer, becomes the world's largest rooftop greenhouse.
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"Once everything's picked and ready, it's going to go down right to our warehouse below us and packed into tomorrow - early tomorrow morning, into the baskets for the day," says Rathmell. The baskets containing the items customers' order online get delivered around the Montreal area and as far away as Quebec City in the company's electric delivery vehicles.
"We forecast really accurately and we try to pick just what's needed for that day's baskets. It's better for taste, it's better for quality, and it means no waste in the end as well," she says.
Lufa's latest 163,000 square foot greenhouse is located on top of a former Sears warehouse in Saint-Laurent, QC. Photo courtesy: Lufa.
Rathmell, originally from Vermont, founded Lufa with her husband to try and eliminate the environmental footprint associated with shipping produce across the continent. Lufa is named for a Lebanese cucumber. Rathmell’s husband is Lebanese. They call their customers "lufavores."
While greenhouses use a lot of energy, especially up north, Rathmell says putting them on a rooftop cuts winter energy use in half.
"We benefit by just passively receiving the heat that's coming from that building below, rather than being on a cold ground level in wintertime," she said. The greenhouse also creates an insulating bubble over the building below. The former Sears building now also contains other offices and warehousing.
Lufa established what was then the world’s first commercial rooftop greenhouse back in 2011.
With its latest, the company now operates four sites in the greater Montreal area, which have year-round growing seasons. Building on a rooftop does come with extra costs but Rathmell says energy savings and proximity to consumers help to offset them.
At the start of the pandemic, those customers doubled virtually overnight. People looking to order groceries for delivery signed up at rates that took the company by surprise.
"Within a week or two we had gotten a waitlist in place, first time ever we've never had a waitlist before, but we couldn't keep up," Rathmell recalls.
The company had to reorganize its greenhouses and warehouses for safety while also increasing the density of plants in its greenhouses. But Rathmell says it was a useful test for their business, which she’d like to expand someday to other cities, potentially in the northeastern United States.
Eggplants grow in the Saint-Laurent rooftop greenhouse. Photo courtesy: Lufa.
She’s also interested in expanding the range of crops.
"We do have two banana trees at one of our greenhouses as well," she says. "You can basically grow anything in a greenhouse. Is it worth growing in a greenhouse? Maybe not. But yeah, the bananas, I think they took like a year and a half, but we did get bananas.
So Quebec’s probably not the next banana capital, but certainly, a good place to experiment with greenhouse farming in cold climes.
Related Topics
montreal · environment · quebec · canada · agriculture
Four Storeys Up, A Commercial Vegetable Garden Thrives In A Converted Sears Warehouse
Growing food on roofs represents the future of farming, especially in these pandemic times, says Mohamed Hage, Lufa’s chief executive officer, who co-founded the company with his wife, Lauren Rathmell
DAVID ISRAELS
SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL
SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
The Lufa greenhouse sits atop a former Sears warehouse in Montreal's St-Laurent neighbourhood.
CHRISTINNE MUSCHI/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
In the industrial part of Montreal’s St-Laurent area, it can be hard to distinguish the bulky buildings from one another, except for one – the roof sticks out like a green thumb.
It’s a great glass greenhouse roof atop a former Sears warehouse – a giant vegetable garden, said by its creators to be the world’s biggest commercial rooftop greenhouse.
The 163,000-square-foot garden, which opened last week, is the equivalent of nearly three football fields worth of food. To date, it is the fourth and biggest commercial facility for Montreal-based Lufa Farms.
Lufa is already well known among local “Lufavores” – foodies, restaurants, and alterna-living people in the Montreal area, who value its fresh tomatoes, eggplants, and vegetables, as well as the produce it gathers from local farmers.
Growing food on roofs represents the future of farming, especially in these pandemic times, says Mohamed Hage, Lufa’s chief executive officer, who co-founded the company with his wife, Lauren Rathmell.“
When we looked at how to grow where people live, we realized that there was only one option – rooftops. It’s not sustainable to always be trucking food in from across the continent or shipping from all over the world,” Mr. Hage says.
The new building was planned and construction began well before COVID-19 hit the world, but it offers a strong response to the pandemic, he explains.“
In March 2020, we saw a doubling of demand for our food. Growing food locally on rooftops and sourcing from local farming families allows us to swiftly adjust and respond to this demand,” he says.
An employee works inside the Lufa greenhouse. | HANDOUT
Co-founder Ms. Rathmell, who is also Lufa’s greenhouse director, says it took three months to build the St-Laurent facility and grow the site.“That would normally have taken years,” she says.
“In response to COVID-19, we enacted stringent safety protocols early on, launched seven-day service, tripled our home-delivery capacity, and launched new software tools,” she says. The company also brought in more than 200 new team members, 35 new local farmers and food makers, and 30,000 new Lufavores customers.
Lufa’s new staff includes two full-time nurses to take workers’ temperatures as well as “social-distancing police” to walk around and make sure workers aren’t too close to one another, Mr. Hage says. The company has also boosted the frequency of its air exchange in all of its facilities, including the new one.
Designing and building a rooftop greenhouse is challenging, Mr. Hage says. Although some of the preparation required is not much different than getting any equipment onto a roof, some of the prep work up there is more complicated, he says.“
We have to meet national building codes, and of course, everything for the greenhouse needs to be hauled up to the roof on a crane,” he says. “Yet once it’s there, you have to do a lot of stuff manually rather than mechanically. All of this is harder than it would be to do on the ground.”
It’s also expensive. “This greenhouse costs two times as much as a ground-based greenhouse,” he says. Lufa declines to give out the cost of this latest project but says the first of its four facilities, built 10 years ago, cost $2.2-million.
Using buildings for farming is catching on, says Mike Zelkind, co-founder of 80 Acres Farms in Cincinnati, Ohio, which also operates building-based facilities in Arkansas, North Carolina, and New York.
“A field can be the least efficient place to grow food,” he says. “An indoor farm can produce more than 300 times more food, with 100-per-cent renewable energy and 97 percent less water. That’s the beauty of growing in buildings.
Montreal-area foodies value Lufa's fresh tomatoes, eggplants and various other vegetables. HANDOUT
”Similarly, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., up the Hudson River from New York City, restaurateur, food-truck owner, and chef John Lekic pivoted as the COVID-19 lockdowns spread to launch an indoor farming business called Farmers & Chefs.“
“We use technology from an Israeli company called Vertical Field that was being showcased at the Culinary Institute of America, which is nearby,” he says. The Israeli company supplies all the materials to grow some 200 different crops on roofs and in parking lots with minimal experience required.“
We planted and installed a container in March and our first harvest was in April, Mr. Lekic says. “We’re learning fast, but it’s an easy way to grow herbs and produce.”
”Mr. Hage agrees, adding that “rooftops are superior places for an urban farm.”
“When we started [in 2009], we considered leasing parking lots for growing, but no one wanted to give them up,” he recalls. “But for most commercial building owners, rooftops are unloved – they leak, they have to be maintained and, in a cold climate like ours, you have to clean off the snow. A commercial rooftop greenhouse is a solution.”
The new St-Laurent project gives Lufa a total of about 300,000 square feet of agricultural production, and the company plans to eventually expand into Southern Ontario and the U.S. northeast.
Mr. Hage points out that a rooftop greenhouse also makes great sense in terms of environmental sustainability and reducing energy and carbon emissions.“
“We don’t use pesticides and our greenhouses use half the energy that a greenhouse at ground level would consume because we use heating from the building that rises up to the roof,” he explains.
“The biggest challenge is not the greenhouse space – who doesn’t want to walk around in a warm sunny greenhouse when it’s 20 below outside? The challenge is maximizing the warehouse space below the greenhouse,” he says.
“We’re growing so many tomatoes that the warehouses never seem to be big enough to store them.”
Urban farming in Canada is still a niche in a nationwide food industry that is primarily export-based, and accounts for 12 percent, or $62.5-billion, of Canada’s total exports every year, says Claire Citeau, executive director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA).
But in a post-COVID-19 world, every bit of food production counts, she says. “We continue to see the adoption of science, technology, and innovative ways to feed people and create new economic opportunities at home and abroad.”
And if that’s not enough, just look at the place, Mr. Hage says. “Boy, do I like driving by – it sticks out like a crystal,” he says. “And when you go inside, it’s like being in a spa.”
TOPICS AGRICULTURE CORONAVIRUS GREENHOUSE MONTREAL ORGANIC FOOD
Singapore: Going Beyond Urban Farming
Urban farms are not just centers of food production, but also spaces to provide care to the community, says Mr. Bjorn Low, founder of social enterprise Edible Garden City.
February 5, 2020, By Asian Scientist Newsroom
Urban farms are not just centers of food production, but also spaces to provide care to the community, says Mr. Bjorn Low, founder of social enterprise Edible Garden City.
AsianScientist (Feb. 5, 2020) – Home to more than half of the world’s urban population, Asia is already beginning to feel the strain of rapid modernization. The expansion of cities takes a toll on the environment, and so does the provision of food for burgeoning populations—food production accounts for 30 percent of greenhouse gases generated globally.
New models for sustainable urbanization and food security are sorely needed, and countries may have found an answer in urban farming, the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in or around urban areas. Mr. Bjorn Low, the managing director and co-founder of social enterprise Edible Garden City, is a pioneer of urban farming in Singapore.
Returning to Singapore in 2012 after pursuing a diploma in agriculture in the UK, Low was confronted with the reality of a land-scarce nation and a populace that placed little emphasis on farming. Undaunted, Low took it upon himself to promote urban agriculture in the city-state.
“Edible Garden City was founded as a platform for like-minded people to come together to drive the urban farming movement,” Low said. “Today, we are a team of 40 full-timers and volunteers coming together to provide urban food production solutions for corporate offices, restaurants, and schools.”
With a keen focus on sustainability, Edible Garden City has created a farming system that takes in food waste and converts that into organic fertilizer that is fed back into the food production system. Low calls this a closed-loop urban farming system that generates minimal waste, echoing the principles of a circular economy, where resources are kept in use for as long as possible and regenerated or upcycled to extend their lifespan.
Low’s vision for urban farming is one that is not only sustainable but also inclusive. Among his collective of farmers are persons with disabilities who contribute to the farms and help advocate for urban farming. “One of the big shifts for us in the next five to 10 years is to really look at how to bring out the intangible values of the urban farms. So farms are not just about food production, we want to use the farms as spaces to provide care to the community,” Low explained.
“We have, over the last few years, done a series of studies together with the Center for Urban Greenery and Ecology (CUGE), Singapore, to look at the value of horticultural therapy for pre-dementia patients,” he added.
Horticultural therapy involves plants and gardening activities guided by trained professionals to maximize the benefits of engaging with nature. Highlighting a study conducted with CUGE in 2019, Low noted that the benefits of horticultural therapy are measurable and significant.
In the study, 59 older adults were randomly divided into two groups: one group receiving horticultural therapy and a control group. The researchers took blood samples from the study subjects for profiling of their immune cells and assessed each individual’s mental health, social status and functional capacity within the community. They reported that levels of a protein called interleukin 6 (IL-6) were reduced in the group receiving horticultural therapy.
“IL-6 contributes to inflammation of the body, and that causes dementia, arthritis, cancer, and other conditions,” Low said. Horticultural therapy may, therefore, hold benefits for patients suffering from those diseases.
“In addition, we have just started a small garden at the National Cancer Center, Singapore, where we’re not just carrying out horticulture therapy, but also identifying a handful of local herbs that possibly have anticancer properties,” he added.
The nutritional density of plants grown indoors in vertical farms (versus those grown outdoors under natural sunlight) is also something that Low is keen on investigating, and he is in talks with the National University of Singapore to initiate such studies.
“I think we need diversity in farming systems, which then means that you can’t have everything indoors in vertical farms and using hydroponics. There still needs to be outdoor farms, rooftop farms, and plants grown in soil,” Low said. “Technology is important, but it is not a silver bullet,” he quipped.
NYC's Roofs Are Getting A Sustainable Makeover
It's been two months since New York's Sustainable Roof Laws, part of the Climate Mobilization Act, took effect. Now architects and officials must decide: Are green roof systems or solar systems best?
It's been two months since New York's Sustainable Roof Laws,
part of the Climate Mobilization Act, took effect.
Now architects and officials must decide:
Are green roof systems or solar systems best?
AUTHOR: Cailley LaPara
Jan. 22, 2020
While the buzz around the passage of New York City’s Climate Mobilization Act in April 2019 has fizzled, the city’s public officials, property owners, architects, real estate moguls, and financiers are revving up to put new policies into practice.
As of Nov. 15, 2019, Local Laws 92 and 94 are in effect to target a vast, often overlooked and underutilized resource in New York: roofs.
The laws, known informally as the Sustainable Roof Laws, require most new buildings and buildings undergoing major roof reconstruction to include a sustainable roofing zone on 100% of the available roof space.
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Sustainable roofing zones are defined as "areas of a roof assembly where a solar photovoltaic electricity generating system, a green roof system, or a combination thereof, is installed." In other words, the roofs must have a solar panel array, green roof or both.
"When you fly into New York City, you see an amazing amount of unproductive roof space," Jonce Walker, senior associate at Thornton Tomasetti, told Smart Cities Dive. Walker and others in the sustainable design community hope Local Laws 92 and 94 are going to change that.
Facing change
The Sustainable Roofs Laws have mobilized several sectors in New York City, from the government to investment, each one grappling with how to manage new regulations designed to drive drastic changes in the city.
"The goal [of Local Laws 92 & 94] is to make sustainable roofs just one of the parts of how you put a good building together," Mark Chambers, director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, told Smart Cities Dive.
Currently, sustainable roofs are far from the norm in New York. According to a mapping project from The Nature Conservancy, there were only about 730 green roofs out of over 1 million rooftops in New York City in 2016.
Solar is much more prevalent, with a total of about 22,000 completed solar projects throughout the city as of 2019, according to the team at Sustainable CUNY. They indicate the number of new solar projects implemented each year in the city has increased dramatically since 2016, due in part to the establishment of Professional Certification (Pro-Cert), which shortened the review period of new solar projects to just 24 hours.
Solar growth in New York City. | Credit: Sustainable CUNY
Not all property owners will be immediately faced with the required adjustments. Buildings dedicated to affordable housing have an alternative compliance timeline of five years during which the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) will conduct studies on the impact of the law on affordability.
But Jennifer Leone, sustainability officer at HPD, pointed out that the department has "already been leading the charge" when it comes to sustainable roof practices with programs like the Green Housing Preservation Program.
Lead Photo: Credit: Alex Potemkin vis Getty Images
"Montreal Will Be The Home of The World's Largest Rooftop Greenhouse"
Lufa Farms has announced the construction of their fourth commercial rooftop greenhouse, soon to be completed in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal
Lufa Farms Announces Expansion
Lufa Farms has announced the construction of their fourth commercial rooftop greenhouse, soon to be completed in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal. The greenhouse will measure 163,800 square feet (about 3 football fields), making it the largest rooftop farm in the world. Construction began in September of this year and is expected to be finished by March 2020. This milestone also coincides with the tenth anniversary of Lufa Farms' founding in 2009.
This greenhouse repurposes an existing industrial rooftop to further Lufa's vision of growing food where people live and doing so sustainably. "With each greenhouse, we hold ourselves to an ever-higher standard for sustainable design. Our new farm will be the most energy-efficient to-date and integrate all our learnings from the last ten years to responsibly grow more vegetables year-round," says Lauren Rathmell, Co-Founder and Greenhouse Director.
Responsible agriculture meets innovative greenhouse technology
The greenhouse will feature double-paned glass and two sets of energy-saving screens for improved insulation, and its integration with the building below provides additional thermal benefit to both structures. The greenhouse will also capture rainwater to be used in the closed-loop irrigation system, as well as offset waste with an on-site composting system. At this fourth and largest site, Lufa Farms will be growing eggplants and more than ten unique tomato varieties without the use of synthetic crop protection.
Scaling urban agriculture to feed Montreal
Lufa Farms' most recent greenhouse will have a greater surface area than their three current greenhouses combined. "This rooftop greenhouse will double our growing capacity and allow us to feed 2% of Montreal with fresh, local vegetables. It's an unbelievable step forward for hyper-local, sustainable urban farming," says Mohamed Hage, Co-Founder, and CEO.
Saint-Laurent's Mayor, Alan DeSousa, further stated that "as a sustainable municipal territory, Saint-Laurent is proud to welcome the fourth greenhouse for Lufa Farms. Located in the heart of Saint-Laurent's biodiversity corridor, this greenhouse will facilitate residents' access to local, sustainably-grown products and further promote healthy habits. It will also make it possible to fight against heat islands in our district, where more than 70% of the surface area is devoted to industrial and commercial activities. And lastly, it confirms Saint-Laurent's position at the forefront of the new 4.0, particularly innovative green technologies."
Lufa Farms' mission is to create a better food system by growing food sustainably on city rooftops and partnering with hundreds of farmers and food makers, to provide customers with fresh, local, responsible food via their online Marketplace.
See one of Lufa Farms' other rooftop greenhouses in action in the video below.
Lufa Farms
(514) 669-3559
info@lufa.com
montreal.lufa.com
Publication date: Mon 25 Nov 2019
Federal, State, And City Officials Join Project Renewal To Break Ground on Bronx Supportive and Affordable Housing Development Featuring Rooftop Fish And Produce Garden And Living Green Façade
The project will feature a number of unique and innovative elements including a rooftop aquaponics greenhouse, a living green façade, and a community playground
Bedford Green House will house more than 160 residents and include an aquaponics greenhouse, along with other innovative features
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), the New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC), New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, and TD Bank today joined Project Renewal at a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction on Bedford Green House in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx. The $58.8 million, 118-unit development will provide supportive and affordable housing for more than 160 residents, including families, singles, and seniors.
The project will feature a number of unique and innovative elements including a rooftop aquaponics greenhouse, a living green façade, and a community playground. Located at 2865 Creston Avenue, the 13-story, block-and-plank building will meet or exceed LEED Gold standards for energy efficiency and environmentally friendly design.
“We are thrilled to break ground on Bedford Green House, a development that will provide high-quality affordable and supportive housing for hundreds of individuals and families. Throughout our 50-year history, Project Renewal has provided innovative programs to help New Yorkers in need. We will continue to do that at Bedford Green House with comprehensive services and cutting-edge features like aquaponics to ensure that residents can lead healthy, stable lives,” said Mitchell Netburn, President & CEO Project Renewal.
The rooftop greenhouse will be filled with nutritious produce in an innovative vertical farming system called aquaponics, in which residents will raise delicious, nutritious fish and vegetables in a symbiotic ecosystem. Edible tilapia fish will live in large tanks connected to a bio-filter that breaks down fish waste and carries nutrients to the plant roots; meanwhile the plants will clean the water for the fish. Because the aquaponics growing platforms can be stacked vertically, produce yields per square foot will be many times higher than with traditional soil-based farming.
Project Renewal will use the rooftop space outside the greenhouse for organic farming in planter boxes to grow vegetables that are less suited to aquaponics. Residents will work with Project Renewal’s horticultural therapist to grow their own food in the airy and light-filled greenhouse, year-round, alongside their friends and neighbors. Horticultural therapy in the greenhouse will be especially beneficial to elderly residents who can often be isolated at home, and for residents who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is common during winter months.
The rooftop will also feature a demonstration kitchen with healthy cooking classes for residents and community members, taught by professional chefs from Project Renewal’s Culinary Arts Training Program.
Bedford Green House’s active design was influenced by the theory of biophilia—the innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms. Scientific studies have supported biophilia, showing that exposure to the natural world reduces stress levels, shortens recovery times for hospital patients, lowers blood pressure, reduces depression, and increases insulin sensitivity among diabetics.
In light of these findings, Bedford Green House will feature an exterior living green façade at the building frontage, featuring vines cascading from planters. In addition to transforming the visual character of the neighborhood, the vines will reduce the building’s energy usage by absorbing solar radiation during the hot summer months when the vines have leaves. During winter months, the vines will shed their leaves and allow solar radiation to warm the building, bringing in heat and light when it is most needed. The vines will also remove airborne pollutants, which is especially important in the Bronx where children are hospitalized by asthma at a rate that is 21 times higher than more affluent areas of New York City.
Bedford Green House will create an inviting streetscape through landscaping along the sidewalk frontage, and seats at the setbacks that will encourage residents and neighbors to engage with the building. Highlighting the front yard will be a colorful community playground—with two slides, jungle gym, and musical instruments—that will be accessible to children of families who live in the building, as well as community residents.
The project is the first phase of the Project Renewal’s larger Bedford Green House project, the second phase of which will add another 116 supportive and affordable homes through the development of an adjacent site.
Bedford Green House’s development team is led by Mitchell Netburn and Sam Wells at Project Renewal, and by Jonathan Rose and Dale White at The Jonathan Rose Companies. Hollister Construction Services is serving as the general contractor. Architectural design services are provided by Edelman Sultan Knox Wood Architects, with structural engineering by Robert Silman Associates, MEP engineering by Allen Rosenthal, geotechnical engineering by Mueser Rutledge, landscape design by Billie Cohen, Ltd., waterproofing and façade design by The Façade Group, lighting by Jim Conti, aquaponics by A&A Epiphany, LEED design by Steven Winter Associates, cost estimating by SBI Consultants, environmental consulting by The Hillmann Group, Sam Schwartz Engineering, Genesis Environmental, surveying by Montrose Surveying, title search by Chicago Title Company, and expediting by Design 2147.
Bedford Green House was financed under HDC’s Extremely Low- and Low-Income Affordability (ELLA) program and HPD’s Supportive Housing New Construction program. The total development cost for the project is over $58.8 million. HDC provided more than $28.2 million in tax-exempt volume cap bonds, $1.7 million in recycled tax-exempt bonds, and nearly $7 million in corporate reserves. HPD provided $8.85 million in City subsidy, inclusive of $2 million in HOME funds. HPD also provided an allocation of annual Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), which generated nearly $24 million in tax credit equity. Bank of America served as tax credit investor and provided the construction letter of credit. NYS OTDA provided $6.22 million under the Homeless Housing and Assistance Program (HHAP). Additional grant funding was provided TD Bank and Deutsche Bank Foundation.
“Healthy homes lead to healthy residents, a principle that Secretary Carson knows from experience to be true and one that will prove itself for the formerly homeless families and individuals that will call Bedford Green home. Financed in part through $2 million in HUD HOME funds, this extraordinarily designed project will nurture the minds, bodies, and spirits of its clients, helping set them on the path to economic recovery and self-sufficiency,” said Lynne Patton, HUD Regional Administrator for New York and New Jersey.
“We are proud to be contributing $6.2 million through our Homeless Housing and Assistance Program. Projects like this highlight Governor Cuomo’s ongoing commitment to increase the number of affordable and supportive housing units available in New York City and throughout the state,” said Samuel D. Roberts, Commissioner, Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.
“A critical pillar of the Jerome Avenue Neighborhood Plan is creating sustainable, high-quality, affordable housing. The start of construction of Bedford Green House – a LEED designed supportive housing development that will provide 118 homes and a rooftop garden and vertical farm to foster healthy living – represents a significant milestone towards that commitment. Through HNY 2.0, our accelerated and expanded housing plan, we will continue to build on the policies and programs already set in motion to ensure that neighborhoods like those surrounding Jerome Avenue are anchored by affordability and opportunity for generations to come," said HPD Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer. “I want to thank Project Renewal and our many government and private partners for their creativity and hard work to advance this dynamic project for the community.”
“Bedford Green House will bring 118 low-income and formerly homeless households into safe, high-quality affordable housing, with a built-in network of critical social services and amenities. This project underscores how vital all our government, private, and non-profit resources are to creating new affordable and supportive housing,” said HDC President Eric Enderlin. “I congratulate Project Renewal and all our partners, including many agencies across federal, state and city government, for their commitments to this project and their dedication to building a more affordable New York.”
"Project Renewal is an exceptional partner committed to solving the homelessness crisis here in New York City. CSH is investing $5.3 million in loans in Bedford Green Phases 1 & 2 because these new affordable, supportive housing units will go a long way toward providing real homes to New Yorkers who have struggled through homelessness on our streets," said Jennifer Trepinski, Director of Loan Originations, CSH.
“In addition to delivering much needed affordable and supportive housing options to the residents of the Bronx, Bedford Green House brings innovative, sustainable design elements that will advance healthy living in the Bedford Park neighborhood. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is excited to have provided over $54MM of debt and equity investments to support Project Renewal’s vision for transforming lives in the communities that it serves,” said Todd A. Gomez, Market Executive - North Region, Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
"We take our commitment to our communities seriously, and the Housing for Everyone campaign enables us to enhance our economic support for the neighborhoods we serve. We are honored to partner with organizations that are providing individuals with a chance to live in their own home and build a future," said Mike Rayder, Donation and Foundation Manager, TD Charitable Foundation.
“Deutsche Bank is proud to support Project Renewal in the development of the Bedford Green House. This will provide critically needed affordable and supportive homes to hundreds of residents, many of whom have experienced homelessness, as well as facilities shared with the local community. Bedford Green House will be a true asset to the neighborhood and city,” said John Kimble, Vice President / Philanthropic Initiatives, Deutsche Bank.
“Architecture at its most fundamental is an expression of societies’ aspirations. In that context Bedford Green House is a statement that we take care of the people of our community who are disadvantaged. These individuals are deserving of an exceptional building that has the capacity to make their lives better, through the choice of layout, materials, amenities, and greenhouse for teaching healthy living. And we extend that aspiration into the community, making a building with a neighborhood play area, a 24-hour doorman watching the street, green infrastructure that will help clean the air and brighten lives, and by leaving exposed the bedrock of the site, which is the history of the Bronx. In this way the building contributes to the neighborhood, making it greener, healthier, and more connected. Bedford Green House is an embodiment of the best that New York City, New York State and the Bronx has to offer its community,” said Andrew B. Knox, Partner, Edelman Sultan Knox Wood / Architects LLP.
“Hollister is very proud to be part of this team bringing to life such a unique building in the Bronx. Knowing that this facility will change the lives of many people makes the project even more special. Since our inception, we’ve made a constant effort to involve ourselves with projects that benefit and transform communities and Bedford Green House is a great example. We are all looking forward to seeing many happy faces when the facility makes its grand opening,” said Christopher Johnson, CEO, Hollister.
Who Wants To Buy The Dutch Rooftop Greenhouse? And The Building Below
More than a year ago, the city nursery on top of the building De Schilde in The Hague went bankrupt. Since the bankruptcy of the nursery Urban Farmers in July 2018, the greenhouse has been empty
More than a year ago, the city nursery on top of the building De Schilde in The Hague went bankrupt. Since the bankruptcy of the nursery Urban Farmers in July 2018, the greenhouse has been empty. "It turned out that (vertical) city farming does not have a future in the building on Televisiestraat 2", is the conclusion of the Municipal Executive of The Hague. A replacement of the alderman should speed up the sale. "A substantive transfer of Sustainability to Economy is desired for the process of selling the building De Schilde."
The largest commercial city facility for food production in Europe. In this way, the rooftop greenhouse on De Schilde was announced in 2015. 2.7 million euro was invested in the 1,200 m2 facility. That should have resulted in a production of 45 tons of vegetables and 19 tons of tilapia per year, coming from the 6th floor of the former Philips building in The Hague.
Bankruptcy
This was not a success. In 2018, Urban Farmers was declared bankrupt. "The activities of the company have been losing revenue since the beginning. The costs were high and the turnover lagged. The stakeholders subsequently could not agree about the course and strategy to follow", the curator wrote in the bankruptcy report. After the bankruptcy of the mother company in Switzerland and the departure of various involved persons, bankruptcy was requested by the Fonds Ruimte en Economie in The Hague.
The Fonds Ruimte en Economie Den Haag is an initiative of the municipality The Hague and provides loans for investment in company spaces. European funds were used for this. With such a loan, the rooftop greenhouse was ultimately realized. This gives the Fund the first right of lien to the facilities. The building is owned by Starterspanden Den Haag CV/BV. This company was founded to offer accommodation for starting entrepreneurs. Stakeholders in the company are the municipality The Hague and the Fonds Ruimte en Economie Den Haag. Both have a say of 49%, and 2% for the company itself.
The building
The intended purpose of the building on the Televisiestraat was a multi-tenant building for city farming, sustainability and innovation. This has been set up under the title The New Farm, but it turned out to be difficult - and has become even more difficult when Urban Farmers went bankrupt. "After the reconstruction of the building in 2016 and 2017, the occupancy rate was low and dropped even lower when Urban Farmers went bankrupt in 2018", the municipality The Hague wrote last month. "It turned out that (vertical) city farming does not have a future in the building on the Televisiestraat 2. The concept did not prove to be a success here. The advice is to let go of the concept."
Within the municipality, the building is now transferred from the alderman for Sustainability and Energy Transition to the alderman for Economy, Sport, and Outdoor.
"The current rental income is insufficient to meet the fixed costs of managing the building. The economic new start/reorientation is becoming increasingly urgent. Selling/renting out of the building could partially compensate the investments/loans of the stakeholders FRED and the municipality. A substantive transfer of Sustainability to Economy is desired for the sale of the building De Schilde."
Take In A Farm Above The Borough With A Tour of Brooklyn Grange
If you’ve ever wanted to get a rooftop view of the borough while roaming amidst a bumper crop of herbs, vegetables and other growing goodies, you can get a behind-the-scenes look at Brooklyn Grange this summer
Jul 9, 2019 • by Susan De Vries
If you’ve ever wanted to get a rooftop view of the borough while roaming amidst a bumper crop of herbs, vegetables and other growing goodies, you can get a behind-the-scenes look at Brooklyn Grange this summer.
The rooftop farm company operates three urban farms in New York City. The Long Island City farm opened first in 2010, Brooklyn Navy Yard was added in 2012 and the Sunset Park farm opened this year. About 80,000 pounds of produce are harvested between the three farms every year. The locally grown food is available via a CSA program, weekly markets and is also sold to local restaurants and retailers.
Market harvest looking green green green#bgseason10 #bggrows #sofreshandsogreen
To get a glimpse at all that fabulous produce and the techniques employed to make it flourish, Brooklyn Grange is offering tours of two of their farms this summer. Tours of the Navy Yard farm are held every Wednesday at 10 and 11:30 am. Get a look at the Long Island City location on Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. The tours are held rain or shine and last about 45 minutes.
Tickets are $18 per person. For more information on exact location and tour details and to purchase tickets visit the Brooklyn Grange event calendar here.
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Email tips@brownstoner.com with further comments, questions or tips. Follow Brownstoner on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.
Belgium: Construction Commences On 9,500 sq mt. Rooftop Greenhouse
“It Should Be Functional, But It Definitely Should Also Be Beautiful”
“Did everyone arrive at the top safely?” Not the most common question when visiting the construction site of a greenhouse. Yet it was a logical question after about 60 people climbed the stairs to the top of REO Veiling’s crate warehouse to witness the start of the construction of rooftop greenhouse Agrotopia of Inagro. With the construction, Roeselare will get an innovation centre focused on the future, and moreover, they’ll get a proper landmark right by the motorway.
Bart Naeyaert (deputy Agriculture and Fisheries West Flanders), Paul Demyttenaere (REO Veiling), Mia Demeulemeester (Inagro) and Rita Démare (REO Veiling).
9,500 square metres
It took a while before the construction could definitively be started. “Finally,” was therefore often heard. Late 2018, the crate warehouse, which has now been in use for two years, could finally be made ready for carrying the greenhouse. Soil and sewer activities came first, five silos were constructed for the supply of water, and the next phase was started this week: the construction of a rooftop greenhouse of 9,500 square metres.
Eventually - oh irony - construction commenced on exactly the same date as last year Dutch rooftop greenhouse De Schilde was declared bankrupt. However, the two complexes are nothing alike. Whereas De Schilde acted as a commercial greenhouse, the Belgium rooftop farm will serve as a research greenhouse.
During the official laying of the foundation stone, deputy Bart Naeyaert emphasized the importance of the project for the greenhouse horticulture sector.
In the rooftop greenhouse Belgium organisation Inagro will conduct practical research on horticulture within the city. The rooftop greenhouse is to be an example of integrating food production in urban areas.
It took quite a bit of imagination to actually see a greenhouse this week, and it helped to have an artist impression. The design is by Van Bergen Kolpa Architecten in cooperation with co-architect Meta Architectuurbureau.
The 9,500 m² building will house high-tech research facilities and will include an educational route for a wider audience. Approximately 6,000 m2 is reserved for cultivation compartments for research that must provide answers to current and future questions about hydroponic grown leaf and fruit vegetables.
Various hydroponics systems are given a place in the compartments, including installations for closed multi-layer cultivation with LED lighting. High vertical cultivation will be discussed in the facade greenhouse, with a height of 12 meter
In addition to research and development, demonstration will also be an important function of the roof greenhouse. For example, Agrotopia must give space to a living lab, both literally and figuratively.
The pile was placed uptight by united effort. In the background, the pipeline of waste incinerator MIROM can be seen, which will supply residual heat to the rooftop greenhouse.
Efficient use of space and energy
Piles don’t have to be driven into the ground of course, but to still have an official start, the deputy of West Flanders for Agriculture and Fisheries, Bart Naeyaert, could hold a pile upright and drill it into place. He naturally didn’t do that without giving a short speech to the people present first, and thanking all of the parties involved. During his short speech, Naeyaert mentioned that the use of space and energy is as efficient as possible.
Residual heat
The space spoke for itself on top of the roof, but the energy needs a bit more explanation. The greenhouse will use residual heat from REO Veiling, but also from nearby waste incinerator MIROM. The flue gases are not (yet) used now, but people are already in talks regarding this. In any case, the greenhouse will also have a compartment with the necessary pipe system to conduct tests with the external CO2, according to Peter Bleyaert of Inagro during a tour of the site. “We’re still seeing a lot of growers who aren’t completely convinced they can use the flue gases of these kinds of sources safely. Growers want proof first, and testing can help in that.”
Landmark with appeal
Naeyaert also talked about the importance of the rooftop greenhouse as landmark. Part of the greenhouse will be 12 metres high, and as it’s right by the motorway, it should become a symbol for the attention paid to greenhouse horticulture by the region. “That is something that could be shown more often,” Naeyaert says.
Mia Demeulemeester of Inagro also spoke before construction got started. She was naturally also proud of the project, which, according to her, is important to continue to be a part of the developments in greenhouse horticulture that are following each other in rapid succession, specifically regarding production in cities. “Since it became known that this building will feature a rooftop greenhouse, we managed to make a lot of additional contacts with parties interested in urban production in particular, even though the greenhouse isn’t even finished yet.”
Once the pile was upright, it could be signed by anyone interested. Pictured is Paul Demyttenaere of REO Veiling.
Staying connected to developments in the sector
The knowledge acquired in the greenhouse, which should be operational late in 2020, will be shared with the sector. It’s also Inagro’s aim to strengthen the ties with growers thanks to the location near the auction. Bart Verhaeghen of Inagro: “We now organise a lot for growers, but we can do that even more soon. Thanks to our state-of-the-art facilities, our tests will connect to modern facilities and the accompanying methods of production of progressive growers even more. It’s a method of growing we would like to introduce to the general public, so we’ll also have a visitor corridor to introduce people to the manner of production of the future.”
This is what it looks like from the motorway now.
Stijn Cappon (Deforche Construct), Francis Vancraeynest (Deforche Construct), Johan Vermeulen (Maïs Automatisering) and Jago van Bergen (Van Bergen Kolpa Architecten). Deforche will construct the greenhouse, Maïs Automatisering will take care of technical aspects of the greenhouse, and Van Bergen Kolpa Architecten came up with the serrated façade and the 12-metre high greenhouse as a landmark.
For more information:
Inagro
www.inagro.be
info@inagro.be
Publication date: 7/4/2019
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