Redesigning Hydroponic Production for Vertical

Farming & Urban Markets

The State of Vertical Farming

A Growth Industry

Traditional Techniques in Vertical Farming

Redesigning Vertical Growing: Bright Agrotech and ZipGrow Towers

Problems with Traditional Growing Techniques:

• Ventilation Challenges and Stratification of Air Layers

Problems with Traditional

Growing Techniques:

• Labor and Use Challenges

Problems with Traditional Growing Techniques:

• Space and Materials Use Efficiency

• Production Type Space Use Efficiency Ratio (AP/Afl )

– 5 Layer Horizontal Rack (4'x8') 2.50

– 4 Layer Horizontal Rack (8'x8') 2.67

Problems with Traditional Growing Techniques:

• Market Access

• Product Distribution

• Cost of Labor

Problems with Traditional Growing

Techniques:

• Plant Health and Productivity

– Humidity Removal

– Pathogens

– Pests

– CO2 Depletion

Eliminating Problems with Design

• Working withHeat and Air Movement

• Designing ventilation solutions for enclosed environments

Eliminating Problems with Design

• Designing for Worker Safety and Ease of Use

– Minimizing bottlenecks in workflow

– Perform all tasks from ground level- eliminate scissor lifts

– Make all equipment modular

Eliminating Problems with Design

• Designing for Space and Materials Use Efficiency

• Reconfiguration and upgrades

• Production Type Space Use Efficiency Ratio (AP/AFl)

– 7' Vertical Racks 2.73

Eliminating Problems with Design

• Designing for Distribution

– Maintaining as many options as possible

– Live Sales

– Traditional sales and distribution

– Home CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) models

– Green Wall service models

Eliminating Problems with Design

• Designing for Productivity and Plant Health

– Ventilation

– CO2 Exchange

– Inter-tower disease communication

– Plant and tower removal

– Maximizing O2 exchange (atmosphere to root zone)

Other Variables: Growing as Manufacturing

• Scalability and Standardization

• Designing systems that scale into any space

• Designing systems with work flow and product flow in mind

– Always in a single direction

– Minimize obstacles and bottlenecks

Other Variables: Growing as Manufacturing

• Mobility and Work Flow

– Traditional growing operations move the line to the product

– Successful indoor growers move the product down the line

• Transport the product in the containers that it is grown in

• Allow workers to easily access and remove product.

• Product moves from planting to harvesting through the facility

Other Variables: Growing as Manufacturing

• Product Flow

– All products and workers flow in the same direction

– Reduce disease and pest spread

– Optimize production line

Other Variables: Growing as Manufacturing

• Production Automation– Automation plays a major role in the future of

vertical farming

• Low cost of development and implementation is key

• Minimize automation work by designing tasks to reduce articulation and complexity

• Focus on off-the-shelf solutions that can be modified

Growing High Quality Products

• Consumer Safety

– Indoor growing can be much more safe than field production

– High quality inputs results in high quality outputs

– The importance of Good Agricultural Practices

– Consumer trust results in consumer loyalty

Growing High Quality Products

• Transparency

– Transparency in production adds value to product

– Consumer trust leads to consumer loyalty

– Design systems to maximize transparency and communicate this to the customer

– Design systems and distribution models that maximize freshness, flavor and value

Growing High Quality Products

• Quality, Freshness and Flavor

– Vertical growing close to markets can result in unparalleled freshness for consumers

– Fast to market products will dominate the future of produce sales

Near-Term Vertical Farming

ZipGrow and ZipGrow Systems for China