SOHAIB ANJUMMAJID RAHEEMRAOHA EHSANAYISHA AQEELHINA SOHAILSOBAN AHMEDHUSHAAM ALI

WHAT IS SKY FARMING???

SKY FARMING is a proposed agricultural technique involving large scale agriculture in urban high-rises or "farm scrapers".It can be used for: Saving horizontal land to accumulate given area for crops Future high rise society Sustainability Energy Efficiency Organic Growth

WHY WE NEED SKY FARMING???

Population Pressures

• As Malthus identified, the human population has a linear relationship with land

• Present estimates indicated at least 80% of potentially arable land is already being used for agricultural purposes. • About ½ of the mature tropical forest cover of the earth has been destroyed, somewhere between 750-800 million hectares.

Population and Future Predictions

By 2025, the world’s population will swell from 6.6 billion to 8 billion people.

Is mathematician Thomas Malthus’s 200-year-old prediction, that human growth will one day outpace agriculture, finally coming to pass

Predictions and Problems:

•he world’s population will live in urban areas•the total population of the world will increase by 3 billion people•to feed 3 billion more people using traditional farming techniques an estimated 10^9 hectares of new farmland must be created•Scientists are concerned that this large amount of required farmland will not be available and that severe damage to the earth will be caused by the added farmland.

WHY WE NEED SKY FARMING???

Brazil

• Since 1970, 600,000 square kilometers of Amazonian Rainforest have been destroyed within Brazil for agriculture uses. That is about the size of Manitoba, or, two and half times the size of the United Kingdom. This is approximately 40% of its size of1950

• The soil of the Amazon is not ideal for crop cultivation, and tends to only stay fertile for a limited time. Farmers are constantly clearing more land to meet production needs

• Unless significant steps are taken to limit deforestation in this area, it is projected that by 2030 only 10% of this vital natural resource will remain

Agriculture’s Land Consumption

26%Forrest &Savannah 38%

Agriculture

• Approximately 38% of the Earth’s land is being used for human agriculture. When considering all forests/wooded areas/savannahs only cover 26%, and urban space a tiny 3.5%, the scale of human agriculture comes into view.

WHY WE NEED SKY FARMING???

Food Security

$145 barrelJuly 2008

$70 barrelJuly 2006

Environmental Variability

Food – Oil Connection

Haiti April 2008

Climate ChangePest DamageDrought

Food Security

•Dramatically Improve Land Efficiency to avoid…•Massive starvation•Irreversible ecological catastrophe

• Realize a Fossil-Fuel free form of agriculture

• Improve Food Security

• Reduce negative ecological impact of agriculture (methane, nitrous oxide emissions)

INITIATIVES FOR THE 21st CENTURY

CONCEPTS OF SKY FARMING

- There are different concepts behind the sky farming. Every architect perceives it by its own way.

• All-in-one eco-towers would be actually

produce more energy

•Water (via condensation/purification)

•Food than their occupants would consume

•To develop a sustainable and high-tech wonder

of ecological engineering.

vertical farm project by Chris Jacobs

Concept:

CONCEPTS OF SKY FARMING

Architect Pierre Sartoux of Atelier SOA

•A light-shading skin to admit the sunlight

•wind-driven and circulate oxygen and carbon

dioxide between growing and living spaces.

•garden and recreation spaces for residents

•light and air filters for the adjacent buildings

Concept:

Proposal for a vertical farming skyscraper

CONCEPTS OF SKY FARMING

Pacific Northwest regional architecture firm Mithun

Concept:

•incorporate various green building strategies in a mixed-use residential and commercial complex designed •Design a structure as a kind of built organism•completely self-sufficient and adaptive to its surroundings

•water and energy self-sufficiency from rainwater •and gray water collection and reuse•solar cells•vegetable and grain growing spaces •chicken farm

Design:

TECHNIQUES AND DEVICES

Vertical farming is dependent on various physical methods to produce food. The vertical farm brings these technologies and devices together, most of which are still under research. Some of the most common and popular technologies used are:

Solar greenhouse (technical) / Greenhouse Aeroponics / Hydroponics Composting Grow light Phytoremediation

SUSTAINABILITY

Methods for sky farming to make it SUSTAINABLE

Environmental scientist Dickson Despommier of Columbia University and other scientists propose a radical solution:

•Transplant farms into city skyscrapers

•towers would use soil-free hydroponic farming to slash demand for energy

•they’ll be powered by a process that converts sewage into electricity

•producing more food

•Free up farmland free tree would help to remove carbon from atmosphere

•vertical farms would grow food near which would emission of transport

•oil burned to cultivate and ship crops•most solid waste collections are simply compacted and transfer to landfills, or in a few instances, burn to generate energy.

ADVANTAGES

Bring employment to a city that has a 27% unemployment rate, and also offer education for those involved. Create a new tax base for a city that needs to collect taxes for services, but was losing more of its tax base year after year. Bring fresh fruit and vegetables to a city where residents often have to travel twice as far to a market than to a liquor store.Bring fresh produce to restaurants who otherwise have to buy from much farther away. Offer a model city for other cities that also are facing declining populations and perhaps inspire other cities to bring smaller farms closer, if not within the city limits. Create a new local economy. Bring beauty and a natural environment to city dwellers. Bring alternative energy to the inner city. The plan includes the installation of solar panels to power itself. Hantz Farms will also harvest wind energy and utilize geothermal heat and biomass fuel from recycling compost. Vertical farming would reduce the need for new farmland due to overpopulation, thus saving many natural resources, currently threatened by deforestation or pollution. Deforestation, desertification, and other consequences of agricultural encroachment on natural biomes would be avoided. Because vertical farming lets crops be grown closer to consumers, it would substantially reduce the amount of fossil fuels currently used to transport and refrigerate farm produce.

ADVANTAGES

Producing food indoors reduces or eliminates conventional plowing, planting, and harvesting by farm machinery, also powered by fossil fuels. Burning less fossil fuel would reduce air pollution and the carbon dioxide emissions that cause climate change, as well as create healthier environments for humans and animals alike. There are some species found in the roof garden that aren’t even on the ground. The soil on the roof has insulated the building so well that the energy needs of the 400,000 square foot building were reduced by about 10 percent. the roof retained 98% of its rainfall, preventing it from entering the storm water system, which can get over stressed with big storms. This also reduces costs for the municipal wastewater treatment.

DIS-ADVANTAGES

It is unlikely that traditional farms will become obsolete, as there are many crops that are not suited for vertical farming. ECONOMICS

FEASIBILITY

• 59 Floors

• 238 m (714 ft)

• 3,800,000 ft2 floor area

• 11,000,000 ft2 growing area

• Feeds over 40,000 people year round

• Fossil-fuel free agriculture

• Redefining ‘local’ agriculture

Sky Farm

SkyFarm

2,006,000 lbs of Lettuce

1,822,000 lbs of Cucumber

2,990,000 lbs of Eggplant

3,028,000 lbs of Strawberries

2,736,000 lbs of Peppers

4,672,000 lbs of Carrots

6,570,000 lbs of Spinach

6,570,000 lbs of Soybeans

5,292,000 lbs of Green Beans

5,474,000 lbs of Tomatoes

747 ,000

lbs of Poultry meat

455,000 dzn

Eggs

5,997,000 lbs of Wheat

7,231,000 lbs of Potatoes

242,000 lbs of Tilapia (fish) meat

SkyFarm YEARLY PRODUCTION

54,388,000 lbs of Vegetable Produce

989,000 lbs of Animal Meat

455,000 lbs of Eggs

x2.8 SURFACE AREA

Space Efficiency – Surface Area

63 metres(surface area)

182 metres(growing area)

=

EXAMPLE : Strawberry Production

x10

H

AR

VE

ST

S

Space Efficiency – Conditioned Space = Multiple HarvestsExample: Strawberry Production

1 ACRE X 2.8 (VERTICAL ORIENT.) X 10 HARVESTS

= 28 ACRES

• Temperature and lighting control enables the optimal growing conditions for each plant type to be maintained indefinitely

Space Efficiency – Vertical Stacking

James Wines – HIGHRISE OF HOMES

SkyFarm

18.18 acres of Lettuce

12.45 acres of Cucumber

48.93 acres of Eggplant

332.11 acres of Strawberries

22,20 acres of Peppers

18.70 acres of Carrots

389.64 acres of Spinach

340.02 acres of Soybeans

49.10 acres of Green Beans

14.43 acres of Tomatoes

n/a acres of Poultry meat

n/a acres Eggs

55.10 acres of Wheat

67.95 acres of Potatoes

n/a acres of Tilapia (fish) meat

SkyFarm PRODUCE EQUAL TO…

1369.62 acre

or 547.85 hectares

…of conventional farming

ANAEROBIC DIGESTERLIVING MACHINETM

SkyFarm

WASTE H20

CLEAN H20 POWER

SkyFarm BUILDING SYSTEM DIAGRAM

SILAGE

AGRI-WASTE

SkyFarm

POWER

SkyFarm URBAN SYSTEM DIAGRAM

PRE-FILTERSEWAGE

BIO-WASTE / COMPOSTABLES

ORGANIC WASTE

WASTE WATER

POWER TO GRID

WATER TO CITY

WATER

Skyscraper vegetation is an innovative, urban agriculture technique dedicated to building sustainable, commercial-scale hydroponic farms on urban rooftops.

The main goal is to improve the health and nutrition of city populations and provide new jobs and educational opportunities through the development of urban sustainable agricultural communities.

Each Sky Vegetables farm will provide nutritious, chemical free and locally grown produce, while reducing environmental damage.

BENEFITS TO COMMUNITIESSky Vegetables provides numerous benefits to partner cities including:•Increased access to fresh produce •Creation of green jobs •Improved nutrition for local citizens •Improved air quality •New educational opportunities •Decreased healthcare costs •Localization of the economy •Creation of sustainable communities

URBAN CENTRES

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS•Creates sustainable agricultural environments for urban centres •Reduces greenhouse gas emissions •Reduces fossil fuel use •Converts non-usable space into food production centres •All food is grown without herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers •No crop failures due to droughts, frost, floods, storms or pests •Carbon credits

URBAN CENTRES

GROWHousing Moss Park (Toronto)

GROW Housing

Moss Park• The tightly packed tenement houses that characterised the neighbourhood were cleared during the urban renewal programs of the 1950s and 60s

•Over the years, the city’s social and temporary housing initiatives slowly accumulated in the neighbourhood due to the affordable land and central location

•The building site, which is on the west side of the park, is currently consumed by the Moss Park Armoury

Program

GROW Housing

• LIVING MACHINE – FILTERS FARM & RESIDENTIAL WASTE WATER

• HYDROPONIC FARM – PRODUCES ENOUGH FOOD TO SUSTAIN 1,000 PEOPLE / YR

• ANAEROBIC DIGESTER – COLLECTS FARM WASTE, COMPOSTABLES FROM RESIDENTIAL UNITS AND SOLID WASTE FROM WASTE WATER TO PRODUCE POWER (ALSO CAN PROCESS BIO-WASTES FROM NEIGHBORHOOD)

LIVING MACHINE

HYDROPONIC FARM

ANAEROBIC DIGESTER

GROW Housing

Building System

Community Gardens

• CREATES 5,300 m2 OF COMMUNITY ACCESS GARDENS

• NUTRIENT-RICH COMPOST AND NATURAL FERTILIZERS GENERATED ON SITE (FROM ANAEROBIC DIGESTER)

• INTRODUCES SOCIAL ACTIVITY, AS WELL AS A GREATER DEGREE OF SELF- SUFFICIENCY FOR LOW-INCOME EARNERS

GROWHousing

GROWHousing

Cyclical Resource Flows

GROWHousing

Dongtan – ChinaARUP

Masdar – United Arab EmiratesSir NORMAN FOSTER

RAK Gateway – United Arab EmiratesOMA – REM KOOLHAAS