Urban Symbiotic Food Production
The overall aim of the project is to explore and experiment with urban resource sharing through building integrated agriculture for more circular-based food production in urban environments to enable sustainable and viable food provisioning. The small cabinet farm can be controlled by an app to regulate the watering and fertigation cycle, airflow, and most importantly, the lighting. We’ll use the small cabinet farm at the Live-in-lab to test a number of potential synergies, such as:
Resource use and circular flows
- Use of grey water as a source of water and nutrients
- Recovery of nutrients from food waste
- Testing of alternative substrates derived from local waste streams
Energy and lighting
- Variation of light intensity, spectrum, and photoperiod to optimize growth parameters
- Experimentation of dynamic energy use in relation to plant growth to optimize performance
- Understand the potential of using the residual heat provided
Environmental conditions
- Adjustment of temperature, humidity, and CO2 levels
- Testing of fertilization rates and irrigation strategies
Crop performance and quality
- Measurement of yield, growth rate, and product quality
- Comparison across crops and production cycles
Use in residential settings
- Evaluation of how growing cabinets can be shared and used by residents
- Analysis of how food production fits into everyday routines
The results provide insight into how modular vertical farming systems can operate in real buildings and contribute to more resource-efficient urban food production.
Research team
Project leader
