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Tenders Awarded To Turn 9 HDB Carpark Rooftops Into Urban Farming Sites
With these farming systems, the sites have the potential to collectively produce around 1,600 tonnes of vegetables annually"
September 30, 2020
SINGAPORE - Parked cars will soon make way for growing vegetables as tenders were awarded for urban farming at nine carpark rooftops by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) on Wednesday (Sept 30).
The sites, which are rooftops of Housing Board multi-storey carparks, comprise five single sites and two clusters of two sites each. They were awarded to six tenderers.
Each site has a term of up to three years.
The highest tender of $90,000 for annual rent was awarded to IT Meng Landscape and Construction for a cluster site in Jurong West, with one site spanning a total area of 3,311 sq m - three-fifths of a football field - and the other at 2,974 sq m.
Other carpark locations include Choa Chu Kang, Tampines, Hougang, Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh, and Sembawang.
SFA chief executive Lim Kok Thai said: "The successful tenderers' proposals included hydroponic and vertical farming systems with a variety of innovative features such as IoT (Internet of Things), blockchain technology and automated climate control."
With these farming systems, the sites have the potential to collectively produce around 1,600 tonnes of vegetables annually."
He added: "We look forward to seeing these HDB multi-storey carpark rooftops transform into productive vegetable farms that will contribute to Singapore's '30 by 30' goal, and we will render assistance and guidance to farms where needed."
The 30 by 30 goal refers to Singapore's aim to produce 30 percent of the country's nutritional needs locally by 2030.
Ms. Phoebe Xie, 30, director and co-founder of local urban technology company AbyFarm, was one of the six who successfully tendered for the carpark rooftop spaces. With the 3,171 sq m site at Ang Mo Kio, the company hopes to begin construction of the farm in the next few months, and to have its launch date within the first half of next year. Using a combination of hydroponics and aeroponics vertical farming methods, the farming process is expected to use 90 percent less water, and it is said to be 10 times more productive compared to traditional methods. “The farm will be entirely automated, with real-time technology used to control the environment within the green house, and to consistently monitor the crops and early identify the possibility of bad crops, which will ensure the quality of our crops,” she said. With an expected yield of 200 tonnes of fruits and vegetables each year, the company is looking to harvest local favourites, such as kang kong and kailan as well as other types of produce such as mushrooms, figs, and Japanese melon. Co-founder of SG Veg Farms Eyleen Goh, 46, who secured a cluster site at Sembawang, said the company is expecting around 80 to 100 tonnes of vegetables per site each year. The company will be selling most of its produce to nearby supermarkets, though it hopes to host weekend markets for residents to buy its vegetables.
Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that “the challenges of Covid-19 and climate change, together with other trade and environmental pressures, pose a threat to Singapore’s supply of critical resources such as food”.
As land is scarce in Singapore, the SFA has been “unlocking alternative spaces to grow food, such as vacant buildings, like the former Henderson Secondary School and carpark rooftops”.“
Over the next few years, we will be master-planning the larger Lim Chu Kang area and will be engaging the stakeholders and the public in the process,” she said, adding that there are longer-term plans in place to “expand agriculture in the Lim Chu Kang area and aquaculture off (Singapore’s) southern coast”.
Mr. Melvin Chow, senior director of SFA's food supply resilience division, said in May that the launch of the tender for the nine sites came as a result of growing interest from both the industry and the public towards urban farming in community spaces.
Last year, a pilot urban farm - spanning 1,900 sq m - was launched at a multi-storey HDB carpark in Ang Mo Kio. Known as the Citiponics Farm, it aims to grow up to four tonnes of vegetables a month.
The tender for the nine sites, which was launched on May 12, had closed on June 16, and the sites were awarded using the price-quality tender method, where both the bid price and the quality attributes, such as production output, design, and site layout, as well as business and marketing plans, were factored into the tender evaluation.
The SFA said it will be working with HDB to tender out more multi-storey carpark rooftop sites for urban farming in the fourth quarter of the year, as the move is also in line with HDB's Green Towns Programme to cool HDB towns through the use of greenery, such as on carpark rooftops.
More details of these plans for tender will be released at a later date.
Lead Photo: Local agri-tech firm Citiponics' vertical farming plot at the multi-storey carpark rooftop at Block 700 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6.ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
Green Shoots: Rooftop Farming Takes Off In Singapore
Urban farms are springing up in crowded cities around the world, but the drive to create rooftop plots has taken on particular urgency in densely populated Singapore, which imports 90 percent of its food
30 September 2020
This photograph taken on September 7, 2020 shows a staff member tending to a rooftop garden used for urban farming to grow edible plants above the Raffles City mall in Singapore. - On the rooftop of a Singapore shopping mall, a sprawling patch of eggplants, rosemary, bananas and papayas stand in colourful contrast to the grey skyscrapers of the city-state's business district. (Photo by Roslan RAHMAN / AFP) /
On the rooftop of a Singapore shopping mall, a sprawling patch of eggplants, rosemary, bananas and papayas stand in colourful contrast to the grey skyscrapers of the city-state's business district.
The 10,000 square-foot (930 square-metre) site is among a growing number of rooftop farms in the space-starved country, part of a drive to produce more food locally and reduce a heavy reliance on imports.
The government has championed the push amid concerns about climate change reducing crop yields worldwide and trade tensions affecting imports, but it has been given extra impetus by the coronavirus pandemic.
This photograph taken on September 7, 2020 shows a casper eggplant growing in a rooftop garden above the Raffles City mall in Singapore. - On the rooftop of a Singapore shopping mall, a sprawling patch of eggplants, rosemary, bananas, and papayas stand in colourful contrast to the grey skyscrapers of the city-state's business district. (Photo by Roslan RAHMAN / AFP) /
"The common misconception is that there's no space for farming in Singapore because we are land-scarce," said Samuell Ang, chief executive of Edible Garden City, which runs the site on the mall.
"We want to change the narrative."
Urban farms are springing up in crowded cities around the world, but the drive to create rooftop plots has taken on particular urgency in densely populated Singapore, which imports 90 percent of its food.
Farming was once common in the country but dwindled dramatically as Singapore developed into a financial hub packed with high-rises. Now less than one percent of its land is devoted to agriculture.
In the past few years, however, the city of 5.7 million has seen food plots sprouting on more and more rooftops.
Authorities last year said they were aiming to source 30 percent of the population's "nutritional needs" locally by 2030, and want to increase production of fish and eggs as well as vegetables.
With coronavirus increasing fears about supply-chain disruption, the government has accelerated its efforts, announcing the rooftops of nine car parks would become urban farms and releasing Sg$30 million ($22 million) to boost local food production.
'Buffer the shock'
Edible Garden City, one of several firms operating urban farms in Singapore, runs about 80 rooftop sites.
But they have also created many food gardens in more unusual places, including a former prison, in shipping containers, and on high-rise apartment balconies.
Their farms use only natural pesticides such as neem oil to repel pests.
"What we really want to do is to spread the message of growing our own food. We want to advocate that you really do not need large parcels of land," said the firm's chief executive Ang.
The company grows more than 50 varieties of food, ranging from eggplants, red okra, and wild passion fruit to leafy vegetables, edible flowers, and so-called "microgreens" -- vegetables harvested when they are still young.
It is also using high-tech methods.
At one site inside a shipping container, they are testing a specialised system of hydroponics -- growing plants without soil -- developed by a Japanese company.
This photograph taken on September 7, 2020, shows a staff member tending to a rooftop garden used for urban farming to grow edible plants above the Raffles City mall in Singapore. - On the rooftop of a Singapore shopping mall, a sprawling patch of eggplants, rosemary, bananas, and papayas stand in colourful contrast to the grey skyscrapers of the city-state's business district.
(Photo by Roslan RAHMAN / AFP) /
The system features sensors that monitor conditions, and strict hygiene rules mean crops can be grown without pesticides.
Edible Garden City's produce is harvested, packed, and delivered on the same day -- mainly to restaurants -- but online customers can also subscribe to a regular delivery box of fruit and vegetables.
Sales to restaurants slowed when Singapore shut down businesses to contain the coronavirus from April to June, but Ang said household clients grew three-fold in the same period.
William Chen, director of the food, science, and technology programme at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said developing city farms was a "way to buffer the shock of supply chain breakdowns".
"Skyscraper farming in Singapore is certainly a bright option," he added.
Still, there are limits to what a country half the size of Los Angeles can achieve, and Chen stressed the city would still have to rely on imports of other staples, such as meat.
"We don't have animal farms, and for rice we don't have the luxury of land," he said. "Growing rice and wheat in indoor conditions will be very costly, if not impossible."
In addition, a lack of skilled farmers in modern-day Singapore presents a challenge.
"While we are able to recruit people with an interest in farming, they do not have the relevant experience," Ang said.
Singapore, Singapore | AFP
GERMANY: ‘Urban Farming’: Are Rooftop Fields The Future?
Large cities offer millions of square meters of unused roof space. Why aren’t they being converted to cultivate crops? The potential seems enormous, but “urban farming” is still in its infancy. EURACTIV Germany reports.
By Florence Schulz | EURACTIV.de
Translated by Sarah Lawton | September 30, 2020
Blueprint of a planned roof garden in Berlin. Up to two million square meters of roof space could be used for plant cultivation in Germany's capital alone. But the investment costs are still relatively high. [© Dachfarm Berlin]
This article is part of our special report New terminologies in sustainable food systems.
Large cities offer millions of square meters of unused roof space. Why aren’t they being converted to cultivate crops? The potential seems enormous, but “urban farming” is still in its infancy. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Salad from the roof of the supermarket or tomatoes from the facade of a high-rise building? What sounds like fiction is already a reality in some cities, albeit on a small scale. Urban farming is not a new concept, but one that has hardly been exploited to date.
Cultivating fruits and vegetables could experience a boom in the coming decades. After all, the human population is growing rapidly and is increasingly settling in cities. More than half of this population is already living in cities, and by the middle of the century, around 66% of people are expected to be living in cities – out of a world population of 9.7 billion.
More food also means correspondingly more demand for farmland, but this already accounts for 42% of the global land area.
Another problem is transport. According to the Fraunhofer Institute, around 12% of agricultural emissions are attributable to this alone.
As the World Summit on Biodiversity opens on Wednesday (30 September), new measures to halt its decline are being discussed, including the concept of payments for environmental services, which is currently widely debated in France and Europe. EURACTIV France reports.
Urban gardens for times of crisis
Could urban farming be part of the solution? One thing is certain: The idea is not new. Until the 19th century, cultivating crops was common practice within cities. When they disappeared, private allotment gardens spread.
Interestingly, a new trend is emerging: self-sufficiency is booming in the city, especially in times of crisis.
Often with success, as the British example shows: During World War Two, the government launched the “Dig for Victory” campaign. As a result, up to 50% of fruit and vegetables were produced by the population in allotment gardens.
In Spain, during the economic crisis, the proportion of allotment plots and community gardens increased six-fold between 2006 and 2014.
Apart from private cultivation, however, there are hardly any places where agriculture takes place on a larger scale in cities.
Roof gardens of the future use domestic heat and rainwater
In Europe, urban farming is still in its infancy.
“Every morning, I ask myself why not many more cities invest in it,” says Jörg Finkbeiner, architect, and co-founder of the Berlin network ‘Dachfarm.’ The consortium consists of gardeners, agro scientists, and architects, who together plan greenhouses for growing crops in the city.
However, Finkbeiner believes that this cannot be the case with urban farming, because most buildings are not statically suitable for it: “If you put crops in tubs on a roof and water them, you can quickly achieve 300 kilograms per square meter. Most buildings can’t support that.”
Dachfarm, therefore, relies on roof structures that are as light as possible and are built on top of existing buildings. The plants grow either in substrates such as pumice, lava or compost, as these are much lighter than soil or in hydroponic systems, where the nutrient supply is provided directly via a nutrient solution.
The glass gardens are designed to operate as efficiently as possible by using the waste heat from the building, collecting rainwater, or recycling greywater from households.
The concept of soil carbon sequestration, a cornerstone of regenerative farming, is regaining strength as a key measure in both climate mitigation and adaptation.
With Dachfarm, we want to show that the increasing amount of pavement in cities and the loss of arable land do not contradict themselves, Finkbeiner told EURACTIV.de.
Other advantages are that roof gardens can be used to produce close to the consumer and “on-demand,” so to speak, eliminating long transport routes or the need to store food. But not every type of agricultural cultivation is structurally possible, Finkbeiner points out. Besides, there are many open questions particularly in terms of building codes.
Bologna and Amsterdam with great potential
For supermarkets or restaurants, the own roof garden could be an attractive concept.
However, it is not worthwhile for everyone, because investment costs are still comparatively high and the food harvested in this way is more expensive.
A 2017 study by the European Parliament’s Scientific Service (EPRS) also came to the same conclusion: urban agriculture is “associated with considerable ecological, social and health benefits,” but can increase biodiversity and counteract the heating of cities.
However, this is also associated with high operating costs, for example for electricity, and is in competition with other types of use, for example for solar energy systems. In addition, the report says, tensions between “traditional and innovative farmers” and an increase in land values are also concerns.
There are no reliable figures on how widespread urban farming is in the EU. However, according to the ERPS evaluation, the potential could be huge, depending on the city.
In Bologna, for example, more than three-quarters of the vegetables consumed there could be grown in roof gardens. In Amsterdam, where currently only 0.0018% of food is produced locally, up to 90% of the fruit and vegetables consumed could be grown.
In a clear nod to the strategic importance of agroforestry, the term has now cropped up in both the European Green Deal, the European Commission’s roadmap for making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, and the EU’s flagship new food policy, the Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy.
Commission has no plans special funding
These figures seem optimistic, as they would probably require strong political support. In the current EU Common Agricultural Policy, urban farming projects can theoretically be financed with funds from both pillars as well as from the European Social Fund and the Regional Development Fund, but this is at the discretion of the member states.
Further support is not in sight, as the Commission “currently has no plans to coordinate strategies for urban agriculture beyond different levels of government,” according to the response EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski gave in the European Parliament in May.
However, a planning study on the topic is currently being prepared. This should be completed this autumn.
[Edited by Gerardo Fortuna/Zoran Radosavljevic]
EURACTIV's editorial content is independent from the views of our sponsors.
"Urban Farming": Are Rooftop Fields The Future?
Large cities offer millions of square meters of unused roof space. Why aren’t they being converted to cultivate crops? The potential seems enormous, but “urban farming” is still in its infancy. EURACTIV Germany reports
By Florence Schulz | EURACTIV.de | translated by Sarah Lawton
September 30, 2020
This article is part of our special report New terminologies in sustainable food systems.
Large cities offer millions of square meters of unused roof space. Why aren’t they being converted to cultivate crops? The potential seems enormous, but “urban farming” is still in its infancy. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Salad from the roof of the supermarket or tomatoes from the facade of a high-rise building? What sounds like fiction is already a reality in some cities, albeit on a small scale. Urban farming is not a new concept, but one that has hardly been exploited to date.
Cultivating fruits and vegetables could experience a boom in the coming decades. After all, the human population is growing rapidly and is increasingly settling in cities. More than half of this population is already living in cities, and by the middle of the century, around 66% of people are expected to be living in cities – out of a world population of 9.7 billion.
More food also means correspondingly more demand for farmland, but this already accounts for 42% of the global land area.
Another problem is transport. According to the Fraunhofer Institute, around 12% of agricultural emissions are attributable to this alone.
As the World Summit on Biodiversity opens on Wednesday (30 September), new measures to halt its decline are being discussed, including the concept of payments for environmental services, which is currently widely debated in France and Europe. EURACTIV France reports.
Urban gardens for times of crisis
Could urban farming be part of the solution? One thing is certain: The idea is not new. Until the 19th century, cultivating crops was common practice within cities. When they disappeared, private allotment gardens spread.
Interestingly, a new trend is emerging: self-sufficiency is booming in the city, especially in times of crisis.
Often with success, as the British example shows: During World War Two, the government launched the “Dig for Victory” campaign. As a result, up to 50% of fruit and vegetables were produced by the population in allotment gardens.
In Spain, during the economic crisis, the proportion of allotment plots and community gardens increased six-fold between 2006 and 2014.
Apart from private cultivation, however, there are hardly any places where agriculture takes place on a larger scale in cities.
Roof gardens of the future use domestic heat and rainwater
In Europe, urban farming is still in its infancy.
“Every morning, I ask myself why not many more cities invest in it,” says Jörg Finkbeiner, architect, and co-founder of the Berlin network ‘Dachfarm.’ The consortium consists of gardeners, agroscientists, and architects, who together plan greenhouses for growing crops in the city.
However, Finkbeiner believes that this cannot be the case with urban farming, because most buildings are not statically suitable for it: “If you put crops in tubs on a roof and water them, you can quickly achieve 300 kilograms per square meter. Most buildings can’t support that.”
Dachfarm, therefore, relies on roof structures that are as light as possible and are built on top of existing buildings. The plants grow either in substrates such as pumice, lava, or compost, as these are much lighter than soil or in hydroponic systems, where the nutrient supply is provided directly via a nutrient solution.
The glass gardens are designed to operate as efficiently as possible by using the waste heat from the building, collecting rainwater, or recycling greywater from households.
The concept of soil carbon sequestration, a cornerstone of regenerative farming, is regaining strength as a key measure in both climate mitigation and adaptation.
With Dachfarm, we want to show that the increasing amount of pavement in cities and the loss of arable land do not contradict themselves, Finkbeiner told EURACTIV.de.
Other advantages are that roof gardens can be used to produce close to the consumer and “on-demand,” so to speak, eliminating long transport routes or the need to store food. But not every type of agricultural cultivation is structurally possible, Finkbeiner points out. Besides, there are many open questions particularly in terms of building codes.
Bologna and Amsterdam with great potential
For supermarkets or restaurants, the own roof garden could be an attractive concept.
However, it is not worthwhile for everyone, because investment costs are still comparatively high and the food harvested in this way is more expensive.
A 2017 study by the European Parliament’s Scientific Service (EPRS) also came to the same conclusion: urban agriculture is “associated with considerable ecological, social and health benefits,” but can increase biodiversity and counteract the heating of cities.
However, this is also associated with high operating costs, for example for electricity, and is in competition with other types of use, for example for solar energy systems. In addition, the report says, tensions between “traditional and innovative farmers” and an increase in land values are also concerns.
There are no reliable figures on how widespread urban farming is in the EU. However, according to the ERPS evaluation, the potential could be huge, depending on the city.
In Bologna, for example, more than three-quarters of the vegetables consumed there could be grown in roof gardens. In Amsterdam, where currently only 0.0018% of food is produced locally, up to 90% of the fruit and vegetables consumed could be grown.
In a clear nod to the strategic importance of agroforestry, the term has now cropped up in both the European Green Deal, the European Commission’s roadmap for making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, and the EU’s flagship new food policy, the Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy.
Commission has no plans special funding
These figures seem optimistic, as they would probably require strong political support. In the current EU Common Agricultural Policy, urban farming projects can theoretically be financed with funds from both pillars as well as from the European Social Fund and the Regional Development Fund, but this is at the discretion of the member states.
Further support is not in sight, as the Commission “currently has no plans to coordinate strategies for urban agriculture beyond different levels of government,” according to the response EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski gave in the European Parliament in May. However, a planning study on the topic is currently being prepared. This should be completed this autumn.[Edited by Gerardo Fortuna/Zoran Radosavljevic]
Topics agriculture Agrifood CAP reform urban farming Urban Gardening
The content of this page and articles represents the views of the author only and is his/her sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.
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Lead Photo: Up to two million square meters of roof space could be used for plant cultivation in Berlin alone. But the investment costs are still relatively high. [YuRi Photolife/ Shutterstock]
VIDEO: Featured Project: Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm #2 at Brooklyn Navy Yard, Building No. 3
Brooklyn Grange is a privately owned and sustainably operated enterprise, and the U.S.’s leading soil-based rooftop farming and intensive greenroofing business
September 28, 2020
65,000 sf. Greenroof
Greenroofs.com Featured Project September 28, 2020
We’re replaying Brooklyn Grange’s second rooftop farm at Brooklyn Navy Yard to recognize their hard work and commitment to sustainable urban agriculture through these trying times of the COVID-19 pandemic. It would be great for Aramis and me to visit again soon!
They’re currently booking small groups for private tours, and offering workshops along with other events. With information that is up to date as of September 2020, Brooklyn Grange states there “is no need to register in advance to visit our weekend open houses and markets; just follow the directions we link to below and come on by during the hours listed!” Brooklyn Grange’s sister organization is City Growers, a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization founded in 2011 by Brooklyn Grange. You can also book a variety of workshops and youth educational visit through City Growers. Continued success!
Image: rooflite
Excerpt from Greenroofs.com Project Profile:
Brooklyn Grange is a privately owned and sustainably operated enterprise, and the U.S.’s leading soil-based rooftop farming and intensive greenroofing business. Community-oriented, they host weekly open houses in season and feel the green space contributes to the overall health and quality of life, bringing people together through green business and around good food with their wholesale, retail, and CSA members.
Their goal is to put more farms on roofs throughout New York and beyond, and grow more food, train and employ more farmers.
Image: © Anastasia Cole Plakias/Brooklyn Grange
Brooklyn Grange’s second farm, located atop Building No. 3 at the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard, is a massive 65,000 square foot roof towering twelve stories over the East River.
Most of the financing was granted by the Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Infrastructure Stormwater Management Initiative, and Farm #2 manages over one million gallons of stormwater each year. Installed in 2012, the farm is covered in 10-12″ of rooflite Intensive Ag blend, rooflite drain granular drainage layer, and the Carlisle Roof Garden system by Carlisle SynTec Systems.
Image: rooflite
Image: rooflite
Brooklyn Grange’s second farm increased the business’ annual yield to 50,000 pounds of fresh produce between their two locations and created many new green jobs. (Update: as of 2019 the yield has increased to 80,000+ of pounds of fresh produce between three locations.) The farm cultivates row crops such as leafy greens, aromatic herbs, heirloom tomatoes and peppers April through November.
Brooklyn Grange sows cover crops, such as clover and oats in winter months to prevent soil erosion and replenish vital nutrients. The Brooklyn Navy Yard farm is also home to many of the 30+ hives comprising Brooklyn Grange’s Apiary.
Image: © Anastasia Cole Plakias/Brooklyn Grange courtesy Brooklyn Grange
More
They also host a robust events program here, with guests participating in yoga sessions or just enjoying a cocktail and some canapés overlooking the skyline at sunset. Brooklyn Grange partners with numerous non-profit and community organizations to extend the positive impact of the farm, including City Growers, a non-profit education program based on their rooftop farms.
Brooklyn Grange’s Rooftop Farm #2 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard is a win-win-win, reducing stormwater runoff, creating local jobs, and providing access to fresh produce for the community.
Image: Laura Messersmith of Goldfinch and Scout
Year: 2012
Owner: Lessor – Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation
Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA
Building Type: Commercial
Type: Intensive
System: Single Source Provider
Size: 65,000 sq.ft.
Slope: 1%
Access: Accessible, By Appointment
Image: Kerry Ross, GRP
Credits:
CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER:
BEN FLANNER, BROOKLYN GRANGE
GREENROOF SYSTEM:
CARLISLE SYNTEC SYSTEMS
GROWING MEDIA:
ROOFLITE®
DRAINAGE:
ROOFLITE®
GREEN ROOF OVERBURDEN DESIGN:
ELIZABETH KENNEDY LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS (EKLA)
GREEN ROOF OVERBURDEN DESIGN:
DILIP KHALE, ARCHITECT, PC
ROOFING CONTRACTOR:
MARFI CONTRACTING CORP
ROOFLITE BLENDER:
LAUREL VALLEY SOILS
GROWING MEDIA PNEUMATIC PLACEMENT / INSTALLATION:
DOWNES FOREST PRODUCTS
Image: Kerry Ross, GRP
See the Project Profile
See the Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm #2 at Brooklyn Navy Yard project profile to view ALL of the Photos and Additional Information about this particular project in the Greenroofs.com Projects Database.
The Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm #2 at Brooklyn Navy Yard, Building No. 3. Photo © Courtesy of Brooklyn Grange.
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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!
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Today’s Rooftops Are Increasingly Becoming Green Spaces As Part of A Drive Towards Cleaner Cities
Today, there are often financial incentives for going green. In Hamburg, green roofing measures for both residential and commercial buildings are subsidized with up to €50,000 via the Hamburg IFB bank
September 23, 2020
Contributors: Erin Williams & Isabel Scruby
Take a bird’s eye tour of many of the world’s well-known cities and there’s one noticeable feature they have in common: a growing number of green roofs.
Whether it’s carefully cultivated gardens on Chicago’s skyscrapers, urban farms nestled among Hong Kong’s towers, or grassy layers atop many of Copenhagen’s large buildings, more cities have brought in planning laws mandating green roofs on new developments.
Toronto, for example, introduced laws for new buildings or extensions greater than 21,000 square feet back in 2009. Since then, developers have had to cover between 20 and 60 percent of their buildings with vegetation – and while they can opt-out for a fee, fewer than 10 percent choose to do so, according to data from Toronto’s City Hall.
Other cities have opted for more flexibility. In San Francisco, 15 to 30 percent of roof space on new buildings must incorporate solar panels, green roofs, or both.
“Local government policy has and continues to be the major game changer as more cities aim to improve air quality, protect against flooding and heat stress during heatwaves, and build nature back into the urban environment,” explains Isabel Scruby, Planning, Development & Heritage consultant at JLL.
It’s a far cry from when green roofs first appeared 50 years ago when it was often charities or housing cooperatives leading the charge in German cities such as Düsseldorf and Stuttgart, today considered Europe’s green roof capital.
Driving a greener future
Today, there are often financial incentives for going green. In Hamburg, green roofing measures for both residential and commercial buildings are subsidized with up to €50,000 via the Hamburg IFB bank.
In America, Washington DC’s stormwater regulations and Philadelphia’s tax credit scheme both encourage green roofs.
In London, there are no such incentives. However, it’s now home to some 42 percent of the UK’s overall green roof space, in part through residential schemes such as Barnet’s Collingdale Gardens and Islington Square.
“Since 2008, there has been a clear drive in the uptake of urban greenery in London – specifically living walls and green roofs – as part of the Living Roofs and Walls Policy,” says Scruby.
The challenge is for those areas where there are low levels of greenery to improve, says Erin Williams, consultant in JLL’s Upstream Sustainability Services team.
“That will require more developers and existing real estate owners to embrace to the idea.”
While there are certainly practical issues to overcome, from transporting materials onto the roofs to ongoing irrigation and stormwater management, there are also benefits for investors and tenants.
“Developers or redevelopers sometimes need convincing of the benefits of a green roof on a property’s long-term value and energy efficiency,” says Williams.
While utility costs vary between cities, the National Research Council of Canada estimates a green roof can reduce air-conditioning use by up to 75 percent.
And comparing the expected cost of a conventional roof with the cost of a 21,000 square-foot green roof, a 2006 study from the University of Michigan found that over its lifetime, a green roof would save about $200,000, with almost two-thirds of that in energy.
Appealing to modern tenants
While green rooftop space can be left vacant or landscaped for recreational use to help improve health and wellbeing among building tenants, some rooftops are going down a different route.
With greater public concern over climate change and a growing appetite for locally sourced produce, urban farming is starting to take off – with rooftops often offering high-quality environments to grow fresh produce. The world’s largest urban farm, Agripolis’ Nature Urbaine, recently opened on a central Paris rooftop.
In Exeter, the Crown Estate’s Princesshay rooftop garden, which includes five hives, fruit trees, and a herb garden, is home to around 100,000 bees. Since launching in 2012, honey is sold in a delicatessen below.
“Using green roofs to grow fruit and vegetables is a great opportunity to move rooftops away from purely recreational use and drive more value from them while also benefiting the local community and wildlife,” Williams says.
It’s a model that property owner YKK has implemented in Hong Kong to create a 9,000 square foot urban farm producing organic vegetables that are donated to local charities to help feed people in need.
“We’ve turned the building’s under-utilized space into a vibrant place where our tenants volunteer to help cultivate the plants,” says Sotomi Funasugi, director and factory manager at YKK (HK) Limited. “It not only allows tenants to relax and socialize, but it also strengthens bonds with the community by supporting local charities and helping schoolchildren to learn about growing vegetables.”
While the number of green rooftops – and their range of uses – continues to grow, Williams says there’s room for the concept to grow further, pointing to Paris’ plans to make its rooftops a key part of its green transformation.
“As planning policy filters through and has a greater impact on developer thinking, there’s a strong possibility adding a green roof simply becomes part of planning applications,” Scruby says. “That’s the hope. We’re not there yet - but progress has been made.
Brooklyn Grange - Green Roofs
Brooklyn Grange is the leading rooftop farming and intensive green roofing business in the US. We operate the world’s largest rooftop soil farms, located on three roofs in New York City, and grow over 100,000 lbs of organically-cultivated produce per year.
OUR FARMS
Brooklyn Grange’s farming operations span three rooftops throughout NYC totaling 5.6 acres with 135,000 square feet of cultivated area producing over 80,000 lbs of organically-grown vegetables each year.
We also operate an apiary, keeping bees in over 40 naturally-managed honey bee hives, on roofs dispersed throughout NYC.
Brooklyn Grange is the leading rooftop farming and intensive green roofing business in the US. We operate the world’s largest rooftop soil farms, located on three roofs in New York City, and grow over 100,000 lbs of organically-cultivated produce per year.
In addition to growing and distributing fresh local vegetables and herbs, Brooklyn Grange also hosts events and educational programming; designs, installs, and often maintains green spaces for clients all over the tri-state area, and provides urban farming and green roof consulting services to clients worldwide. The business also operates an apiary, keeping bees in dozens of naturally-managed hives, on roofs, backyards, and nooks dispersed throughout NYC.
Brooklyn Grange provides several key ecosystem services, and partners with numerous non-profit and community service organizations throughout New York to promote healthy and strong local communities.
Brooklyn Grange designs, builds and maintains green roofs for private clients through the New York City area. We specialize in edible and native plant green roofs, and all of our installations are designed to be beautiful, ecological, and impactful. We have built green roofs on private homes, for non-profits, and for corporate buildings and offices. We will take on unusual and challenging jobs, and have built sloped green roofs, as well as moving existing green roofs, restoring them, and repurposing them.
Additionally, we specialize in helping building owners to find grants and financing for green roofs, and we will work in collaboration with structural engineers, architects, and other professionals to design and build the best fitting green roof for any building.
BROOKLYN GRANGE LLC
Brooklyn Navy Yard
63 Flushing Ave, Building 3, Ste 1105
Brooklyn, NY 11205
CONTACT US
info@brooklyngrangefarm.com
(347) 670-3660
LONG ISLAND CITY FARM
37-18 Northern Blvd., Roof
Long Island City, Queens 11101
Open Saturdays, June - October
Our LIC farm is located atop the historic Standard Motors Building on Northern Boulevard in Queens. When we first laid eyes on this site way back in April of 2010, we knew we’d found our home. Erected in 1919, this 43,000 sq ft building is solid as a rock, with structural capacity well in excess of what’s necessary to hold our 10″ of saturated green roof soil and plants. Lucky enough to be situated in one of the country’s most multicultural counties, this farm is all about gathering our Farmily. Each Saturday, mid-May - October, we host a weekly market and open house that is open to visitors free of charge. With 60 CSA members picking up their weekly share of this farm site’s harvest, the majority of the veggies and flowers we grow here are sold directly to neighborhood residents. This farm is also home to our famous “Butcher Paper Dinner” series at our 60-person communal farm table. The name of the game at this location is community, from the programming we offer to the diverse crops we cultivate.
BROOKLYN NAVY YARD FARM
63 Flushing Ave, Building 3, Roof
Brooklyn, NY 11205
TEMPORARILY CLOSED
Our second farm, located atop Building no. 3 at the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard, spans 65,000 sq ft and sits twelve stories over the East River with panoramic views of the lower Manhattan skyline. Installed in 2012, the farm is covered in 12″ of Rooflite Intensive Ag blend, and manages over one million gallons of stormwater each year, easing the burden on the overtaxed Red Hook Wastewater Pollution Control Plant. The Navy Yard is New York legend: ask any septuagenarian in the area and they’ll tell you a story about a spouse or sibling who worked there way back when. At present, the Navy Yard continues to encompass several fully functional dry docks as well as many of New York City’s most exciting light manufacturing businesses, artists, and innovators. However, as the Yard itself is not open to the public, this farm can’t be, either, except for ticketed and private tours, events, workshops, and yoga classes. Its location and infrastructure (namely, a freight so big you could drive a mini-cooper in there) make it easy to get produce down to the loading dock, into a delivery vehicle, and onto the nearby expressway and bridges to NYC’s best restaurants and groceries, so the majority of the harvest from this field is sold via wholesale channels to chefs and retailers. The views also make it a sought-after location for film and video shoots. Finally, our offices and rentable indoor space are located just downstairs from this farm.
SUNSET PARK FARM
850 Third Ave, Roof
Enter at 31st St between 2nd Ave and 3rd Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11232
Open Sundays, June - October
We’re beyond excited to open our third and largest farm atop the “Liberty View” building in the vibrant waterfront community that is Sunset Park. Spanning a sprawling 140,000 square feet, this location gives us room to stretch our legs and put to use the expertise we’ve accrued over ten seasons of building and operating rooftop farms. We have enough space to work and play at this site: from our 5,000 square foot greenhouse–home to our microgreens and hydroponic programs–to the 6,000 square foot indoor, climate controlled events hall and kitchen that will allow us to host events twelve months of the year, this farm will significantly grow our business. However, once we open our doors to the public, we will also be able to offer plenty of space for visitors to roam, and for our educational sister organization, City Growers, to educate even more young New Yorkers. We’re planning to host weekly open houses on Sundays at this location, as well as community programming throughout the year in our indoor venue. Live in the neighborhood and have ideas for programming we should offer, or crops you’d like us to grow? Send us an email at Info@BrooklynGrangeFarm.com! We love hearing from and meeting our neighbors, and can’t wait to get you up on the roof!
Cities Are Turning To Rooftop Farming
With green initiatives popping up, the benefits of rooftop farms are becoming worldly-recognized. We spoke with Thomas Schneider, co-founder and director of Rooftop Roots in Washington DC and Michelle Hong of Rooftop Republic, based in Hong Kong, China to know how to create and run a rooftop garden or farm
by Erin Tallman
August 24, 2020
With green initiatives popping up, the benefits of rooftop farms are becoming worldly-recognized. We spoke with Thomas Schneider, co-founder and director of Rooftop Roots in Washington DC and Michelle Hong of Rooftop Republic, based in Hong Kong, China to know how to create and run a rooftop garden or farm.
Hong Kongers and city-dwellers are increasingly concerned about the food they put on their dinner tables, According to Michelle Hong of Rooftop Republic, people are increasingly demanding food that is safe, healthy and sustainably produced. With green initiatives popping up, the benefits of rooftop farms are becoming worldly-recognized. One prime advantage is locality— reducing transport mileage equates to lowering emissions, but there’s more to it than a couple of miles here and there.
When bare roofs receive more heat than they emit, they increase emissions and greenhouse gases. Rooftop farms are also helping to cool buildings as they defer this “heat island” effect. The greenery of rooftop farms absorb CO2 and release oxygen, so buildings don’t diffuse as much heat—a good thing since the United Nations confirms our planet is warming much faster than we think.
There’s more still. Rooftop farming can offer low-income families a new source of revenue and better access to quality products—in the US, only 7% of low-income families eat the proper amount of fruits and vegetables, according to a report done by CBS This Morning.
The Rooftop Society
Rooftop Republic (Credit: Ann Woo for Let It Grow.)
Both the Rooftop Roots and Rooftop Republic were born from the realization that there was untapped potential in the city and that there was a real rupture between people and their food sources, health and community.
Rooftop Republic provides services to help install, maintain, learn and understand how to grow gardens on the top of the buildings. Some of the gardens act as a platform for corporate employee engagement or for students to immerse themselves in the educational experience of growing their own food. Through these actions, they’re taking a step forward to reconnect people to food explains Michelle Hong,
“Only by addressing this disconnection—this broken relationship—will we be able to change people’s mindsets and behavior and help them make more informed decisions about their food.”
Rooftop Roots was also created with the intention of rekindling this disconnect through providing economic, environmental and social justice. Their ambition is to generate jobs, offer a new source for fruits and vegetables, and establish a community for food deserts.
Choosing the Right Location
Thomas Schneider, the founder and executive director of Rooftop Roots, in one of his gardens. (Keith Lane/for The Washington Post)
Although the benefits are shiny on paper, Schneider reminds us that it’s not easy:
“Rooftop gardens are not going to end world hunger, weather conditions and temperature swings that occur high up render farming a lot more difficult than ground farms. Plants tend to prefer the earth.”
One can’t forget that rooftop farms are on roofs, literally vulnerable to strong winds on structures that need to be secure and have fundamental integrity. In the Hong Kong context, the first thing to consider when starting the urban farming revolution is to identify a good location that has easy access to water, explained Hong.
“Most herbs/veggies require a minimum of 4 to 5 hours of direct sunlight. No matter what containers you use, the bigger the better. The more space you give to your plants the easier they will find it to develop their root systems, to find nutrients in the soil, etc.”
Rooftop Republic is embarking on training more urban farmers of the future, and with the growing demand for urban agriculture, the company is optimistic that the potential of urban farming in creating employment/vocational opportunities, can be huge.
Immeasurable Benefits
Rooftop herb, vegetable and fruit garden by Rooftop Republic. Photo by Matthieu Millet
Rooftop farming doesn’t require that one purchases land for farming. Underutilized spaces such as rooftops, terraces or even ground surfaces can be re-utilized and re-valued. Although difficult at times, the perks of building community and giving others’ access to natural processes at work are priceless, Schneider maintained. When people begin to understand the tough work involved, a stronger sense of respect for food develops. Hong emphasized:
“People who grow their own food are likely to understand the processes of nature on agriculture, and are more likely to accept ‘imperfect’ produce, as well as be more conscious to treat food purchases with care. We are aiming to change the concept that food is something that we only engage with at the supermarket.”
Rooftop farms and gardens are being implemented to provide greenery and produce just as much as they’re learning experimentations. Today there still aren’t enormous amounts of data concerning the success or results of rooftop projects, which is why Rooftop Roots took it into their hands to initiate a pilot project in 2016 in collaboration with the University of the District of Columbia, in order to establish the best methods and plants for maximum production.
With the intent to improve food scarcity and help other urban growers, the project focuses on the testing of 6 varieties of both strawberries and tomatoes, because as Schneider put it,
“Tomatoes are the gateway drug to gardening.”
In other words: tomatoes are the plant one usually starts out with. Tomatoes are also exceptionally nutrient-dense and somewhat temperamental, so they are an interesting fruit to work with.
Although the teams have been working on this for about 2 years, results are still not definitive and the farmers are not in a position to report their findings. Yet, they can say that tomatoes are definitely not easy on rooftops.
Lead photo: Credit: Rooftop Republic
(This article was first published in our sister publication AgriExpo)
Rooftop Farming: Another Contribution To The Modern-Day Green Revolution
Green roofs are a growing trend in urban areas because of their unique ability to address several urban challenges at once
This article was written by Camilla Stanley, a guest writer for Green Roofs for Healthy Cities
Green roofs are a growing trend in urban areas because of their unique ability to address several urban challenges at once. These benefits include lowering a building’s energy costs, reducing the urban heat island effect, improving air quality, boosting urban biodiversity, having a positive impact on mental health, and, for businesses, strengthening a company’s marketing and increasing property value. But there is one co-benefit that is rarely taken advantage of… food production! In particular, rooftop farms and gardens provide the added benefit of being a source of locally grown produce.
The demand for locally and sustainably grown food is a growing trend as consumers become more interested in knowing where their food is coming from. There are growing concerns around the distance food travels before it reaches our plates (on average fruits and vegetables travel 1,500 miles / 2500 km), and the usage of hormones, pesticides, and GMOs in meat, dairy products and eggs. What the grocery industry is seeing now is a wave of consumers more willing to ‘vote with their dollar’ to ensure that food companies take the necessary steps to effectively reduce their environmental impact.
Rooftop urban farming is a great way to meet these growing demands as consumers are beginning to understand the importance of reconnecting and taking care of nature and the many ecosystem services that nature provides. Green roofs utilized to produce food present a great opportunity for property managers and community leaders to transform the built environment and better serve their communities. This is why Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) has put together an informative course on rooftop farming – Introduction to Rooftop Urban Agriculture – a comprehensive review of the benefits, importance, and potential of rooftop agriculture. GRHC is also hosting an Urban and Rooftop Agriculture Virtual Symposium on Thursday, July 23 from 1:00 to 4:30 pm est. The event is bringing together professionals from diverse backgrounds involved in mainstreaming urban agriculture.
The increase in events and resources are coming at a good time as urban agriculture is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the agricultural industry. Rapid technological innovation in areas like vertical farming is allowing entrepreneurs to take advantage of underutilized spaces in cities for food production. This is great for produce that is not well-suited for long-distance transport like leafy greens. Fruits and vegetables that travel long distances also lose flavor and nutrients the longer they are in transit. Urban agriculture helps reduce food waste along the supply chain, supports the growing demand for local and transparent supply chains, and improves the quality of the food available at supermarkets!
Community leaders seeking to address challenges such as poverty, environmental degradation, air and water quality, waste production and disposal and energy consumption would greatly benefit from integrating urban agriculture into their strategies as it is a proven solution in which communities can improve their ecological footprint while garnering social benefits.
Property managers would be interested to know that rooftop urban farming is a great way to earn LEED credits and maintain peak LEED performance. Sites that have on-site vegetable gardens are eligible for up to 6 LEED credits in the following categories: local food protection (1 credit), social equity within the community (1 credit), heat island reduction (2 credits) and site development: protect or restore habitat (2 credits).
Municipalities are taking initiative and investing in the development of sustainable communities and repurposing unused spaces. For example, in New York City on April 18, 2019, the city council passed The Climate Mobilization Act to reduce greenhouse emissions from buildings and includes a requirement for the installation of green roofs and/or solar panels on newly constructed buildings. A similar by-law was passed in Toronto, Canada back in 2009 where all buildings over 2,000 sq. meters must install a green roof. The city now has over 700 green roofs! Other cities that have adopted green roof mandates in recent years include San Francisco, Portland, and Denver! On a larger scale, initiatives such as the C40 Good Food Cities Declaration where fourteen cities around the world committed to achieving the “‘Planetary Health Diet’ by 2030 which aims to address both environmental and human health through better food choices.
For examples of some rooftop urban farms around North America, check out the list below:
- Brooklyn Grange in Brooklyn, NY
- Ryerson Urban Farm in Toronto, ON
- Boston Medical Center Rooftop Farm in Boston, MA
- Chicago Botanical Gardens in Chicago, IL
- Uncommon Ground in Chicago, IL
- STEM Kitchen Garden in San Francisco, CA
- Top Leaf Farms in Oakland, CA
Tagged: urban agriculture, rooftop farm, Brooklyn Grange, Ryerson Urban Farm, Uncommon Ground, C40 Cities, green infrastructure, urban farming, green roof benefits, Toronto Green Roof By-law, climate mobilization act, LEED