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Redesigning Hydroponic Production for Vertical
Farming & Urban Markets
The State of Vertical Farming
A Growth Industry
Traditional Techniques in Vertical Farming
Redesigning Vertical Growing: Bright Agrotech and ZipGrow Towers
Problems with Traditional Growing Techniques:
• Ventilation Challenges and Stratification of Air Layers
Problems with Traditional
Growing Techniques:
• Labor and Use Challenges
Problems with Traditional Growing Techniques:
• Space and Materials Use Efficiency
• Production Type Space Use Efficiency Ratio (AP/Afl )
– 5 Layer Horizontal Rack (4'x8') 2.50
– 4 Layer Horizontal Rack (8'x8') 2.67
Problems with Traditional Growing Techniques:
• Market Access
• Product Distribution
• Cost of Labor
Problems with Traditional Growing
Techniques:
• Plant Health and Productivity
– Humidity Removal
– Pathogens
– Pests
– CO2 Depletion
Eliminating Problems with Design
• Working withHeat and Air Movement
• Designing ventilation solutions for enclosed environments
Eliminating Problems with Design
• Designing for Worker Safety and Ease of Use
– Minimizing bottlenecks in workflow
– Perform all tasks from ground level- eliminate scissor lifts
– Make all equipment modular
Eliminating Problems with Design
• Designing for Space and Materials Use Efficiency
• Reconfiguration and upgrades
• Production Type Space Use Efficiency Ratio (AP/AFl)
– 7' Vertical Racks 2.73
Eliminating Problems with Design
• Designing for Distribution
– Maintaining as many options as possible
– Live Sales
– Traditional sales and distribution
– Home CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) models
– Green Wall service models
Eliminating Problems with Design
• Designing for Productivity and Plant Health
– Ventilation
– CO2 Exchange
– Inter-tower disease communication
– Plant and tower removal
– Maximizing O2 exchange (atmosphere to root zone)
Other Variables: Growing as Manufacturing
• Scalability and Standardization
• Designing systems that scale into any space
• Designing systems with work flow and product flow in mind
– Always in a single direction
– Minimize obstacles and bottlenecks
Other Variables: Growing as Manufacturing
• Mobility and Work Flow
– Traditional growing operations move the line to the product
– Successful indoor growers move the product down the line
• Transport the product in the containers that it is grown in
• Allow workers to easily access and remove product.
• Product moves from planting to harvesting through the facility
Other Variables: Growing as Manufacturing
• Product Flow
– All products and workers flow in the same direction
– Reduce disease and pest spread
– Optimize production line
Other Variables: Growing as Manufacturing
• Production Automation– Automation plays a major role in the future of
vertical farming
• Low cost of development and implementation is key
• Minimize automation work by designing tasks to reduce articulation and complexity
• Focus on off-the-shelf solutions that can be modified
Growing High Quality Products
• Consumer Safety
– Indoor growing can be much more safe than field production
– High quality inputs results in high quality outputs
– The importance of Good Agricultural Practices
– Consumer trust results in consumer loyalty
Growing High Quality Products
• Transparency
– Transparency in production adds value to product
– Consumer trust leads to consumer loyalty
– Design systems to maximize transparency and communicate this to the customer
– Design systems and distribution models that maximize freshness, flavor and value
Growing High Quality Products
• Quality, Freshness and Flavor
– Vertical growing close to markets can result in unparalleled freshness for consumers
– Fast to market products will dominate the future of produce sales
Near-Term Vertical Farming
ZipGrow and ZipGrow Systems for China
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