VERTICAL FARM PROJECT EXAMPLES

Several cities have embarked on vertical farming projects. The following narrative provides a concise summary, and Table 4.3 offers a list of these projects. The table differentiates among three different types of farming: Low Rise (LR), High Rise (HR), and Rooftop (RT). The LR type refers to 1- to 2-story structure that is used to grow food internally. In contrast, the HR type refers to a tall multistory building that is used to grow food entirely or partially.

Modest-Scale Vertical Farms

Companies interested in modest-scale vertical farming are proliferating around the world. For example, Nuvege in Kyoto, Japan, is a 2787 m² (30,000 ft²) hydroponic facility with 5295 m² (57,000 ft²) of vertical grow space that produces a variety of lettuces in a safe environment from the nearby Fukushima nuclear plant [25]. PlantLab in Den Bosch, Holland, is a three-story underground vertical farm that uses advanced LED technology that calibrates light composition and intensity to precise needs, entirely removing the wavelengths of sunlight that prevent plant growth [25]. The farm employs an automated system that monitors and controls numerous variables including humidity, CO,, light intensity, light color, air velocity, irrigation, nutritional value, and air temperature [25]. The high-tech farm produces a yield three times the amount of the average greenhouse while reducing water use by 90%.

TABLE 4.3

Summary of Examined Projects

HR = High Rise; LR = Low Rise; RT = Rooftop.

Sky Greens

One of the promising vertical farms is the Sky Greens of Singapore. As a small island, but with a population of more than five million, Singapore faces potential issues of food security. With land at a premium, limited space for farming is available. Singapore produces only 7% of the food it consumes, and only 250 acres of the island are devoted to farming. The remaining need is supplied by food imports from all over the world. However, the transportation costs of food are becoming increasingly prohibitive. For these reasons, Singapore has been taking vertical farming seriously. Although Singapore is an extreme case, it represents a looming problem facing myriad cities worldwide [26].

Sky Greens is Singapore’s first commercial “tropical vegetable urban vertical farm ... to achieve enhanced green, sustainable production of safe, fresh and delicious vegetables, using minimal land, water, and energy resources” [43]. The five-year-old farm is three stories tall (9 m or 30 ft) and uses a method called “A-Go-Gro (AGG) Vertical Farming” that uses translucent green houses to grow tropical leafy vegetable year-round at significantly higher yields than traditional farming methods. Sky Greens is capable of producing one ton of fresh veggies every other day. It supplies a variety of tropical vegetables including Chinese cabbage, spinach, lettuce, xiao bai cai, Bayam, kang kong, cai xin, gai lan, and nai bai. By providing high-quality produce at relatively affordable costs, the farm has thrived and intends to expand its production, providing a wider variety of vegetables.

Structurally, the AGG system consists of tall aluminum A-frames that can be as high as 9 m (30 ft) tall with 38 tiers of growing troughs that contain various growing media—soil and hydroponics. The A-frame system takes up only

5.6 m² (60 ft²), making it ten times more efficient than conventional farming [43]. The troughs slowly rotate around the aluminum frame (about three rotations per day) to ensure that the plants obtain uniform sunlight. Such continuous exposure also reduces or even eliminates the need for artificial lighting in some areas of the building. Rotation is powered by a patented low carbon hydraulic system that contains trays of plants. The hydraulic system is an ancient technology empowered with a modern twist; it is a closed-loop that makes efficient use of gravity and consumes little energy. Each 9-m (30 ft) tower uses only 60 W of energy and, therefore, the owner spends only about “$360/month ($3/tower) on electricity” to power the farm [43].

In addition to providing commercial benefits, Sky Greens is engaged in educational programs in the surrounding neighborhoods where students visit the farm, getting exposure and hands-on experience in transplanting, harvesting, and understanding the power of science and technology in creating green urban solutions. According to Sky Green’s website, the project provides numerous economic and environmental benefits, summarized in Table 4.4. The project started as a prototype developed jointly with Agri-Food and the Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) in 2010. Sky Greens together with AVA won the Minister for National Development’s Research & Development Award 2011 (Merit Award) for vertical farming. Sky Greens promises to become a viable food supplying option [43,44].

TABLE 4.4

The Environmental and Socioeconomic Benefits of the Sky Greens Vertical Farm Project

Source: Sky Greens, Available online: https://www.skygreens.com/, accessed on July 15,2017.

In the United States, cities such as New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, and others are becoming pioneers of vertical farming by repurposing vacant urban warehouses, derelict buildings, and high-rises to grow food. With so much vacant space available, the cost of property is often affordable to buy or rent. Within the buildings, vertical farmers build tall structures with several levels of growing beds, often lined with artificial lights, to grow crops and “microgreens” (i.e., salad vegetables such as arugula), Swiss chard, mustard, beetroot, and sunflowers. Indoor vertical farming is playing an important role in spurring economic development by repurposing vacant industrial buildings, supplying fresh and healthy food, and providing jobs in distressed areas. Among the pioneering vertical farm projects to spread across the United States are those carried by companies such as Green Spirit Farms, FarmedHere, The Plant, and Green Girls.

Green Spirit Farms

Located in New Buffalo, Michigan, Green Spirit Farms (GSF) is a professional food company that has openly embraced vertical farming. The New Buffalo facility has grown out of a former plastic factory. The building contains about 3716 m² (40,000 ft²) of space and sits on an 11-ha (27-ac) site. As standard practice, GSF will enter older vacant industrial or commercial buildings to supply produce nearby urban markets. It aims to provide local markets with high-quality, fresh, pesticide- free, non-genetically modified organism (GMO) foods at affordable prices. The company chooses to grow products with a high local demand like lettuce, basil, spinach, kale, arugula, peppers, tomatoes, stevia, strawberries, and Brussel sprouts. It sells its produce locally to grocery stores and restaurants and to a host of small “Harvest Markets,” which sells directly to consumers. GSF runs vertical organic farms in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Canada, and the United Kingdom [45]. The company has a strong belief in vertical farming. According to Green Spirit Farms’ Research and Development Manager Daniel Kluko, the future of farming is heading in one clear direction: the vertical. “If we w'ant to feed hungry people this is how we need to farm. ... We cut out the risk of traditional farming, the labor, and most of the equipment costs. ... This is not a niche business, it’s not something novel, this is a necessity for the human race to continue to live” [46].

GSF has advanced several technologies to grow vegetables. These include the Volksgarden Rotary Garden unit, referred to as a Rotary Vertical Growing Station (RVGS), and a multilevel tray system, referred to as a Vertical Growing Station (VGS). GSF has lately commercialized rotary and vertical farming systems using patented techniques to grow local vegetables, herbs, and some fruits and has opened vertical farms in repurposed industrial buildings, including one in East Benton, Pennsylvania. The new facility constitutes a major expansion compared to GSF’s first facility in New Buffalo, Michigan, containing 1715 vertical growing stations that will produce herbs, leafy vegetables, peppers, and tomatoes, the equivalent of 81 ha (200 ac) of farmland harvested year-round. This is enabled by facility’s efficiency, which uses “98 percent less water, 96 percent less land, and 40 percent less energy” than would be required by traditional agriculture [46]. It is expected that the facility will create more than 100 jobs to support the local economy. GSF has invested about $27 million to establish the vertical farm and received financial aid including a $300,000 Pennsylvania First Program grant, $303,000 in Job Creation Tax Credits, and a $45,450 Guaranteed Free Training grant to train new employees [47]. The location has appealed to Green Spirit because of its proximity to large local markets, with most of its produce selling within approximately 75 miles of the farm [47]. In summary, the vertical farm project provides a useful example of adaptive reuse established through a strong public-private partnership. This has been made possible through the collaboration between GSF and several agencies including the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County, Benton Township, and the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce.

FarmedHere

FarmedHere is a company that was founded in 2011 and has recently expanded to three locations in Illinois: Englewood, a Chicago Southside neighborhood; Flanagan in downstate Illinois; and recently in Bedford Park, a Southwest Chicago suburb. As the company grows, it expects to supply 6% or more of the Chicago area’s demand for premium green and culinary herbs. The company also hires local youths through Windy City Harvest, a Chicago Botanic Garden-led urban agriculture-training program targeted to underserved youths. FarmedHere received the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) Organic Certification at the end of 2012 [48]. The company’s product is spreading in several grocery stores including Whole Foods, Chicago-area Mariano’s Fresh Market, Green Grocer, and possibly soon at Trader Joe’s and Meijer. FarmedHere was able to receive financial support from Good Food and Whole Foods, the farm’s largest customers. The company expects that it has a market niche given the recent generational demands for healthy and organic foods. These new businesses also expect to obtain subsidies from tax-increment financing as well as property-tax breaks for reviving industrial properties [48].

Bedford Park’s facility is about 8361 m² (90,000 ft²), much larger than both the first facility in Englewood (371 m² [4000 ft²]) and the second facility in Flanagan (929 m² [10,000 ft²]). Bedford Park’s facility, about 24 km (15 mi) from downtown Chicago, is now hyped as the first of its kind and the largest indoor vertical farm in America [48]. It was opened in 2013 and is expected to become a new model for growing produce efficiently in a high-tech manner. The farm resides in a two- story, windowless warehouse and is designed to occupy the full extent of the space. Currently, the farm consists of two structures with large growing beds lit by fluorescent lighting. The first structure contains the aquaponic system in which water circulates between fish tanks, feeding plants that rest in cutouts on Styrofoam “floats” above. The second structure contains the aeroponic system, with water misters underneath that spray the exposed roots of the plants. Workers plant the seeds and grow seedlings on racks that then are transferred into the growing systems. After about a month, the crops are harvested and packaged manually in a cooling room at the facility and then shipped the next morning to grocers in Chicago’s metropolitan area [49].

By stacking aquaponic and aeroponic systems vertically, the facility contains 13,935 m² (150,000 ft²) of growing space or about 1.4 ha (3.5 ac). Planting in a controlled environment with ideal humidity and temperature ensures optimal growth. FarmedHere produces about 136,078 kg (300,000 lb) of leafy greens and plans to grow to what will eventually amount to more than 453,592 kg (a million pounds) of chemical-, herbicide-, and pesticide-free leafy greens yearly [49]. It also plans to expand by producing peppers, tomatoes, and other popular vegetables. Their aqua- ponies produces fish and organic herbs—basil and the like—whereas their aeropon- ics produces leafy greens like arugula and watercress. For space efficiency, plants are grown on six shelves that receive artificial fluorescent lighting and that are attended by workers using scissor lifts. The aquaponic method filters the nitrogen-rich waste of the tilapia fish and uses it to feed plants, and the hormone-free tilapia are bred in four 3028-L (800-gal) tanks, where water is ultimately recycled to create a closed loop that reduces water use by 97%. Therefore, the system is efficient in its use of water and space.

These new facilities also provide “on-demand farming,” meaning they are flexible and responsive to market demands. For example, demand may suddenly increase for particular types of mixed greens or mini greens. “We could change the whole system ... and pretty much within the next 14 to 28 days, we [would] have a full grown plant, whatever the market requires” [50]. However, the prime obstacle these farms face remains the electricity needed to grow the plants and heat the space. Because of exorbitant energy bills, some indoor farms have been closed down. In his book The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century, Dickson Despommier stresses the fact that energy remains the primary hurdle [4]. Nevertheless, vertical farmers are trying to find solutions by exploring solar, wind, and methane gas as ways to generate electricity or by supplementing artificial light with natural light through windows and skylights. Other farmers are experimenting with flickering lights sufficient to grow plants with little power.

The Plant

Located in the heart of Chicago’s derelict stockyards, the almost century old site of The Plant has a long history of food production as a former meatpacking facility and the former home of Peer Foods. The four-story, 8686-m² (93,500 ft²) redbrick warehouse is now set to become a major net-zero vertical farm where the operation is fueled by food waste [51]. The zero-energy facility relies on an on-site Combined Heating and Power (CHP) system that contains a large anaerobic digester that converts food waste into biogas to power, heat, and cool the building. The anaerobic digester captures the methane from 27 tons of food waste daily and 11,000 annually and burns it to produce electricity and heat. The Plant plans to turn the facility into a food business incubator, research lab, and educational and training facility for vertical farming. The building’s transformation, which started in 2010, was completed in 2016 [51].

The Plant is currently producing greens, mushrooms, bread, and Kombucha tea. Eventually, the facility will combine a tilapia farm, beer brewery, Kombucha brewery, communal kitchen, an aquaponic system, and green energy production. “We’re working to show what truly sustainable food production and economic development looks like by farming inside an old meatpacking facility, incubating small craft food businesses, brewing beer and kombucha, and doing it all using only renewable energy that we make onsite. By connecting outputs of one business to the inputs of another, we are harnessing value from materials that most people would throw away” [51].

The conversion of the space into a vertical farm and food business incubator was partly made possible by a $1.5 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to support the development of a comprehensive renewable energy system [51].

Green Girls

Green Girls Produce, a professional food company, is Tennessee’s first indoor vertical farm that supplies local restaurants with a year-round fresh produce in an effort to improve the health of Memphians and to fight urban blight. The 60,000-ft² facility is located in Memphis’ Historic Downtown on the fourth floor of the Emerge Building. Restaurants have a desire for microgreens, which give meals an additional flavoring and pizzazz [52]. “Chefs love them because they make a boring dish pop, they add intense flavor, texture and vivid color. ... On top of that, they are nutritious with up to 40 times the nutrients and vitamins of their mature counterparts” [52]. However, restaurants often refrain from purchasing microgreens given their high costs. Restaurants typically pay about $100 a pound for microgreens. The vertical farm reduces the costs down to below $40 per pound. Green Girls estimates a revenue of about $1 million a year. It supplies affordable microgreens and makes a profit because of efficient technologies provided by automated, recirculating hydroponic systems that require only two employees to run. It is characterized by being clean, efficient in its water use (Green Girls uses 90% less water than conventional farming), and green in its energy use, employing only LED lighting [52].