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TRANSCRIPT
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
Culture tanks
Growout tanks
Working surface
Water buffer tank
Working surface
Water treatment units
Trolley storage area