Design and Fabrication of Vertical Farming

The Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) accepts no responsibility or liability for the consequences of this report being used for a purpose other than the purpose for which it was commissioned. Declaration and Statement of Authorship: 1. We hold a copy of this document which can be produced if the original is lost/ damaged. This proposal is our original work and no part of it has been copied from any other student’s work or from any other source except where due acknowledgement is made. No part of this document has been written for us by any other person except where such collaboration has been authorized by the advisor concerned. Vertical farming is the proposed approach to dealing with farming problems that initially help in solving the food issue.

Vertical farming has in the past years been perceived as a science fiction concept rather than a realistic means of production. Things have however changed todays with the increased need for food production and the fact that there is little space for conventional farming. This project helps to understand how vertical farming operates, looking at the design, the lighting system and structural stability. A good design should be one that is able to make use of natural lighting so that there are minimized construction costs. The growth of plants in this case does not require any soil, it uses 80% less water and it creates very little environmental harm. Vertical farming may be a new element in agriculture but it has very many tangible benefits with it including the fact that it allows for the control of all technology that is used to grow the crops and this can be done all year round (Goldstein, p.

Vertical farms are able to provide the specific humidity and lighting that is required by a plant which allows for great productions within a short time. Vertical farming is shielded from natural calamities such as flooding, hurricanes, too much heat because plants are grown in an indoor setting where everything is well controlled (Kalantari et al. , p. It is estimated that the population of people in cities will continue growing and this means that more land will be converted to buildings to create more homes for the growing population hence leaving less land for farming. The United Nations estimates that the world’s populace will upsurge by 40% which will basically exceed 9 billion people by the year 2050. 80% of this increased population is estimated to reside in the urban areas which will lead to a 70% extra food needs to meet the demands of the new upsurge (The Growth of Robot Farming, p.

The food prices in the market today have already seen increased prices and it is estimated that these prices will continue to increase with the increasing oil prices. Urban agriculture faces a lot of problems with land scarcity as well as high land costs, it is becoming hard and hard for urban agriculture to prevail hence the need for change. , p. What is unfortunate however is the fact that all the cities all over the sphere including in UAE are all unprepared for this shift and hence the need to embrace vertical density, vertical farm model offers a potential solution to the food problems in cities. n evaluation of current agriculture systems and ventures would greatly help understand the needed implementations for a successful vertical farming venture (Nadal et al.

, p. Vertical farming engrosses various disciplines including, architecture, engineering, environment and natural sciences. 108) is the process of growing agricultural products within a factory style situation. Farming in this case happens without the typical natural resources that are normally associated with production of plants for instance sunlight and soil. The natural resources are substituted through the use of innovative lighting and nutrient delivery technology. Benke & Tomkins, p. (117) in their study illustrate that vertical farming is the most commonly solution that is associated with urban farming production problems, the method can easily be integrated into the urban landscapes thus reducing the length of supply chains.  He claims that one vertical farm with an architectural footprint of one square city block and rising up to 30 floors could provide sufficient nourishment to contentedly accommodate the requirements of 10,000 people with the currently available expertise (Despommier, 28).

 However he believes that farming plants is the limit to his concept of vertical farming and  farm animals seem to fall well outside the model of vertical farming” (Despommier, 33).  Despommier overall believes that vertical farming is a part of handling these problems of land scarcity, food demand, and transportation.  He wants the entire urban environment to be able to sustain itself on food, waste, and pollution management and thinks that vertical farming can have a huge impact on all of these areas (Despommier, 45).   Although the people at Green Sense Farms are not as concerned with pollution or waste management effects of vertical farms could provide they are in agreement in that vertical farming is a stepping stone in indoor plant production.

 This system is a unique technology that slowly moves platforms dipping them into nutrient rich baths that run off of less than $3 of electricity a month per tower (Shirk, p.  This technology and facility is the world’s first look at vertical farming on a commercial scale to see if it is an economically viable concept.  This is the goal to start creating facilities and try to find ways to make these concepts more and more efficient to become viable enough to make a real impact in our upcoming problems of population growth, land scarcity, food demand, and waste.   All the studies show that vertical farming offers a realistic alternative to conventional production. The method helps to achieve the necessary level of food production while at the same time helping to overcome environmental challenges.

• Construct the general project overview documents to be shared with prospective partners • Identify the programs that could help in funding of the project Phase 2- Fundraising for the project (October- December 2018) • Prepare and submit preliminary grant applications and requests for funding to support the project • Continue researching on potential partnerships Phase 3 – Detailed project planning (January to June 2019) • Research relevant policy context • Site assessment • Creation of a detailed site plan • Develop implementation strategy and operations plan Phase 4 - Implementation (June – September 2019) • Site preparation • Site construction Phase 4 - Program development and site management (September – December 2019) • Market • Programming Phase 5 – Evaluation (January 2013- On going ) • Develop an evaluation framework • Evaluate project components • Make necessary adjustments to the project components References Aswath, C. , Selvakumar, G. , Zimmerman, C.

, & Bajikar, M. Utilization of vertical spaces for horticultural crop production in urban and peri-urban areas. Future food-production systems: vertical farming and controlled- environment agriculture. Sustainability: Science, Practice & Policy, 13(1), (2017) 13–26. https://doi. org/10. 1394054  Despommier, Dickson D. eoearth. org/view/article/51cbef257896bb431f69cb45/ Goldstein, H. The green promise of vertical farms [Blueprints for a Miracle]. IEEE Spectrum, 55(6), (2018) 50–55. https://doi. GPN: Greenhouse Product News, 26(10), (2016) 28–31. Retrieved from http://search. ebscohost. com/login. aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=118800730&site=ehost-live Kozai, Toyoki, Genhua Niu, and Michiko Takagaki. Retrieved from http://search. ebscohost. com/login. aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=128262616&site=ehost-live    Mougeot, L.  J. 1016/j. scitotenv. 191 Selina Wang. The Future Of Farming Is Looking Up. Bloomberg Businessweek, (4537), (2017) 62–67. ebscohost. com/login. aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=114558469&site=ehost-live.