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Abstract 

A Concurrent Engineering (CE) study at DLR has inves gated the Ver cal Farming concept. A Ver cal

Farm (VF) is the cul va on of plants in skyscrapers. Here, a significant increase in produc on of fresh

vegetables and fruits per square meter footprint compared to conven onal greenhouse can be

achieved by implemen ng so‐called Controlled Environmental Agriculture (CEA) technologies.

The CE study objec ves were to determine the technical and economic feasibility of a Ver cal Farm.

DLR aimed to apply its knowledge of CEA Technologies in space systems to prepare and present the

first engineering design of a Ver cal Farm. A 37 story building was designed with a mul ‐crop pro‐

duc on strategy.

Authors: Schubert, D., Zabel, P., Poulet, L., Zeidler, C. (German Aerospace Center)

Environmental Control (Roof)   Environmental Control Floors

The heat load, which is removed

from the air by heat exchangers, is

vented to the roof where it is re‐

leased to the environment via large

heat dissipa on units.

Maintains the desired air temperature

and rela ve humidity, along with the de‐

sired CO2 levels for the plant cul va on

floors (PCF) to obtain maximum biomass

yield. Used air is pumped to 3 separate

environmental floors for processing;

Fresh air is pumped through the main air

sha in the middle of the VF towards the

PCF. Contaminants and trace gases are

removed from the air through filters .

Nutrient Delivery Floor Plant Cul va on Floors 

Aeroponic technology is used to

provide nutrients to the plants.

Mix computers ensure that the cor‐

rect quan es of nutrients are

mixed with the desired amount of

water.

The nutrient‐water mixture is

pumped to the plant cul va on

floors.

The 25 plant cul va on floors are the

central produc on areas of the VF. A

mul crop strategy (e.g. le uce, cab‐

bage, spinach, carrots, radish) is fore‐

seen, but with one single crop type on

each floor only.

Movable grow units are used to op mize

grow space per floor while allowing

proper access to each grow pallet.

Food Processing Floor   

The start of the plant life cycle is

the germina on phase, during

which the first plant sprou ng from

seeds occur.

The germina on floor enables

proper seed germina on. Further‐

more, steriliza on procedures of

used grow pellets take place on

this floor.

Crops are inspected to check the quality,

before cleaning and packaged for sale.

Edible fish is placed in a fish cleaning ma‐

chine, which removes the entrails, scales

and other unwanted parts.

The floor also inhabits a Ver cal Farm

control room, employee’s rooms and

several storage rooms.

Supermarket and Delivery Area Fish Farming Floors  People can buy the fresh food from

the ground floor supermarket.

The floor is also be used by the

forkli trucks to remove waste

from the waste management

floors, delivery of equipment &

goods and outgoing shipments of

food.

Fish ( lapia) breeding in 48 tanks across

three levels. Five sizes allow the proper

cul va on of different fish development

stages.

Filter facili es on each floor, filter the

water to remove waste, excess feed and

other undesirable substances.

Waste Management Floor 1 Waste Management Floor 2  Small waste containers are moved

around to either the biogas domes

or the fer lizer facility using fork‐

li s.

The mixing tank is used to mix the

shredded waste with water, before

it is pumped into special fermenta‐

on tubes for nutrient extrac on.

Gas from the biogas domes is led into a

gas separa on unit. Here, the biogas is

split into carbon dioxide and methane

gas.

The methane gas is burned to generate

electrical energy, while the carbon diox‐

ide is used for the plant cul va on.

Germina on and Cleaning Floor 

Germination Unit

Trolley storage area

Seeding station

Storage area / Workship

Laboratory / test area

Sterilization machineDrying machine / Oven

Washing machine

Seed storage area

Seed storage area

Germination Support Room

Air channel

Ventilation shaftsincoming air

Ventilation shaftoutgoing air

Air channeltowards ECF

Plant CultivationSection

NDS room

Movement mechanism

Grow Unit

Air and Nutrientcontrol system

Heat Exchanger system

Empty / To bedetermined

Nutrient & Trace mineraltanks

Water tank

Pump

Acid tank (optional)Acid pump(optional)

Storage area

Water tank

Heat exchanger

Air channel

Dehumidifierplates

Control Fans

Dust Fans

Exhaust/Inlet Fan

Trace gas filtration unit

Piping and Cabling

Biogas dome

Biogas domebuffer tank

Small (waste) container

Forklifttruck

Reserved space

Nutrient tank

Fluid separator Water tank

Fermentation tubes

Pump

Mixing tank

Wastechute

Shredder machine

Large storage containerWater buffer tank

Freightelevator

Bathrooms

Offices

Trolley storage area

Processed Food storage area

Packaging storage area

Bagging machine

Produce wrapper

Washingmachine

Waste chute

Buffer storage

Working area

Fish cleaning machineStretch wrapper machine

Cold storage area

Control Room

Break room

Forklift truck

Reserved space Gas separation unit

CO₂ tank

Compressor

Gas separationmembrane

Methane tank

Turbines

Power Control Unit

Biogas dome

Biogas domebuffer tanks

Freight elevator

Supermarket Supermarket Storage area

PersonnelElevator

Stairs

Waste chute

Freight elevatorEntrance area

Ver cal Farm Concurrent Engineering Group 

Daniel Schubert, Conrad Zeidler, Paul Zabel, Egbert Jan van der Veen,

Vincent Vrakking, Chirantan Banerjee, Andreas Wolf, Narayan Prasad

Nagendra, Miguel Bande Firvida, Ma hias Zglinski, Andrea Falconi,

Madeeha Nasrullah, Isa Karakas

Advantages 

Year‐round crop produc on

No weather related crop failures (wrt droughts, hail, heavy rain storms)

Reduc on in vehicular transport & crop spoilage (in‐situ produc on)

No use of insec cides and pes cides

Elimina on of agricultural runoff

Possible evapotranspira on recovery

Faster produc on and higher yields due to CEA

Improved sustainability for urban centers

Conversion of black or gray water to drinking water

Provision of energy via methane genera on

Crea on of new urban employment opportuni es

Challenges 

High investment for se ng up a Ver cal Farm

High energy demand & (fossil vs. renewable source)

Requires addi onal CEA technology development

Roof access point

PumpCooling fluid tank

Heat dissipation unit

Cross Sec on View 

Advantages/ Challenges 

Input/ Output Comparison   Ver cal Farm compared to Tradi onal Agriculture 

One square = 0,19 ha

Required agricultural land to produce the same amount

of crop output as the Ver cal Farm: 215,87 ha

Total growth

area of plants

in the Ver cal

Farm: 9,27 ha

Footprint of Ver cal

Farm building:

0,19 ha (44 x 44 m2)

The sales of the fresh fruit, vegetables and fish filet will be put towards the

running and maintaince of the Ver cal Farm. The cost per kilogram of pro‐

duce was calculated using the annual cost.

Minimum required average food price: 12,54 €/kg

Cost driver for the yearly Ver cal Farm costs

Ver cal Farm Cost Summary 

Supermarket & Delivery Area

44 x 44 m² Footprint

92.700 m² Cul va on Area

Environmental Control

Environmental Control

Environmental Control

Plant Cul va on

Plant Cul va on

Plant Cul va on

Germina on & Cleaning Food Processing

Waste Management

Fish Farming

Nutrient Delivery

37

Flo

ors

=>

16

7,5

m t

ota

l hei

ght

Building & Equipment

(Ini al Build‐up Phase)

23%

Power

45%

Equipment Maintenance &

Replacement

23%

Personnel

6%

Resources

2%

Environmental Control

Nutrient Delivery

Environmental Control

Environmental Control

Environmental Control

Germina on & Cleaning

Food Processing

Waste Management

Supermarket & Delivery Area

Fish Farm

Spinach (1x)

Le uce (4x)

Cabbage (2x)

Pea (4x)

Strawberry (1x)

Pepper (2x)

Potato (5x)

Radish (1x)

Carrot (2x)

Tomato (3x)

Input  

Resources  Consump on per year 

Electricity:   150.800 MWh

Carbon dioxide:  464.000 m3

Fer lizer:   11.000 l

High‐protein fish feed:   131 t

Fish feed => inedible biomass:   365 t

Water:  8.275 m3

Personnel:   60 people

Opera on costs with 20% margin:   62.173 k€

Output  

Resources  Consump on per year 

Electricity*:   2.838 MWh

Carbon dioxide*:  358.722 m³

Inedible biomass*:   3.420 t

Inedible fish output*:  394 t

Methane*:   717.444 m³

Total plant yield**:   4.854 t

Tilapia filet yield:   102 t

*in‐house use **Total output of all crops e.g. Tomatoes, Le uce, etc.

DLR ‐ Ins tute of Space Systems

Department of System Analysis Space Segment (SARA)

Robert‐Hooke‐Str. 7 D‐28359 Bremen

Contact: Daniel Schubert

+49 421 24420 1136

Daniel.Schubert@DLR.de

Culture tanks

Growout tanks

Working surface

Water buffer tank

Working surface

Water treatment units

Trolley storage area