Urban Farming: Rooftop Greenhouses vs. Vertical Farming
There are two different schools of thought for urban greenhouse development. The first is based on the proven commercial agricultural greenhouse model, modified in scale and design to fit on top of commercial buildings. Rooftop greenhouses have been built for years by companies like JGS, and Frank Jonkman. Traditional rooftop greenhouses have primarily been used for the purpose of research greenhouse facilities, and as part of teaching institutes. Newer minds have taken the rooftop greenhouse concept and built a business model for using the rooftop greenhouse not as a research centre but as a commercial production greenhouse to supply the local market. The second, and even newer concept to take hold in the urban agricultural movement is what has come to be known as Vertical Farming. Vertical farming is portrayed either as a growing system within the commercial greenhouse or rooftop greenhouse, or as a new architectural wonder built into the side of complex commercial high-rises, otherwise known as “Farmscrapers”.
Proponents for Rooftop greenhouses argue that a major advantage to this model is the ability to add on to existing downtown buildings. And companies like: BrightFarms, Gotham Greens, and Lufa Farms appear to be making the rooftop greenhouse a feasible business venture. Rooftop greenhouses do require additional engineering considerations that a traditional field construction sites don’t have, and due diligence is certainly necessary to ensure the building underneath the greenhouse has the structural supports in place for the added weight of structure, equipment, and crop. Roof top construction also requires greenhouse manufacturers to adjust standard sizes and posts spacing to accommodate the unusual dynamics of the site. And logistics for construction are very important when working downtown on top of the twelfth floor.
Once the greenhouse is built on top of the building, operating it is more or less the same as a traditional commercial greenhouse operation. The scale of the rooftop greenhouse may increase production costs, but the business case has been made that the increased production costs are easily offset by the reduction in transportation costs that the agricultural greenhouse farmer has to bring produce into the city.
Proponents of vertical farming on the other hand argue that while rooftop use is a good first step, the square footage of usable urban roofs does not provide enough growing capacity to satisfy the requirements of large urban centres. So, growing up, becomes the mantra for maximizing usable square footage in city centres. There are various vertical growing systems bandied about over the last 5 years though none seem to have gained much commercial attraction, and there have been a few spectacular failures to offset the excitement. Vertical farming does require higher capital investments, more sophisticated equipment for production efficiency, and higher lighting costs. Nonetheless, architects continue to dream up dynamic and futuristic Farmscrapers.
For the near future the rooftop greenhouse is a more attainable greenhouse production business, but as LED light technology and computer sensor controlled picking and packing systems continue to develop who knows what the future will look like for urban greenhouse growers.
1. At this time we are not aware of actual financial results for any of these companies. So the appearance of the financial viability is based strictly on expansion plans as reported in various media.
For more information on how GGS and JGS can help you with your Urban Greenhouse project, please contact:
GGS Structures Inc.
info@ggsstructures.com
www.ggsstructures.com