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UF001 LokDepot, Basel: The first commercial rooftop aquaponic farm

in Switzerland

Conference Paper · September 2014

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4589.7446

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Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Mass Balance and Nutrient Recycling in Aquaponics View project

Zero Emission Building View project

Andreas Graber

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Alex Mathis

Zurich University of Applied Sciences

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Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

UF001 LokDepot, Basel: The first commercial rooftop aquaponic

farm in Switzerland

Andreas Graber, Mark Durno, Roman Gaus, Alex Mathis, Ranka Junge

ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Institute for Natural Resource Sciences,

Waedenswil, Switzerland

26.09.2014

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

Introduction

Aquaponics is an innovative and sustainable food production system integrating aquaculture with hydroponic vegetal crops (Graber & Junge-Berberovic, 2009). This emerging technology has the potential to play a key role in provision of food while tackling global challenges such as water scarcity, food safety, food security, urbanization, and reductions in energy use and food miles.

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

Annual papers published G

oo

gle

Sch

ola

r H

its

While Aquaponic is a widely discussed technology today (about 1.9m hits on Google in May 2014), only very few research papers were published describing efficiency and performance of real systems.

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

Keyword Google Google Scholar

Ratio*

"membrane reactor technology" 368’000 28’900 13

Photovoltaic 8’270’000 626’123 13

Aquaculture 9’880’000 666’000 15

Hydroponic 3’740’000 67’300 56

"Wastewater-fed aquaculture" 21’000 335 63

"Green roofs" 1’500’000 12’200 123

"Building integrated agriculture" 30’400 32 950

Aquaponics 1’900’000 1’330 1’429

* This ratio might be describing a «media hype factor»

What is «hot» is not necessarily well researched !

A quick glance at citation statistics …

Realised projects are rare Farm Operators Location Realised examples

Information

Type Size (m2) Produce

(tons/annum)

Eli Zabar's Vinegar Factory New York City Eli Zabar's Garten soil ca. 2000 no data

Sky Vegetables New York City Farm Bronx hydro 743 no data

Gotham Greens, New York City Greenpoint Brooklyn hydro 1394 100

Top Sprouts Boston, MA no object declared

last BLOG 2009

hydro - -

Cityscape Farms San Francisco no object declared

website abandoned

aqua - -

AeroFarms New York City no object declared hydro - -

Lufa Farms Montreal 1 Rooftop-Farm hydro 2322 75

BrightFarm Systems New York City last news 2013,

planning

hydro - -

Big Box Farms New York City no object declared

last news 2011

hydro - -

Plantagon Sweden planning in Lingkoping hydro - -

SweetWaterOrganics Milwaukee closed operation as

commercial; object

used for education

aqua not clear no data

PodPonics Atlanta Launch 2010

Cargo Containers

no object declared

hydro - -

Met Farm Rotterdam Launch 2012

indoor, LED lighting,

indoor + vertical

hydro

UrbanFarmers Zürich UF001, Basel aqua 260 3 t vegetables

600 kg Fish

Z-Farm (Rennert & Kloas) Berlin 2009 aqua 167 1 t Tomatoes

600 kg Fish

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

Institute of Natural Resource Sciences IUNR

Focal points

Biological farming

Ecological engineering

Integrative ecology

Landscape and tourism

Urban Greening

www.iunr.zhaw.ch

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

R & D projects in Waedenswil

We developed our approach to Aquaponic during nearly 20 years of continuous R & D in more than 20 projects.

Some eminent projects:

• 1993 – 1995: Reuse of hydroponic nutrient solution in Wastewater-fed Aquaculture

• 1996-2000: Aquaculture plant Otelfingen for treatment of biogas-effluent

• 1999-2001: Ecological Improvement of Greenhouse Cultivation by Integration of Aquaculture: Tropenhaus Ruswil

• 2004-2007: Aquaponic as new source of income for swiss farmers

We studied different fish species (Tilapia, Trout, Perch) and a broad array of vegetables and ornamentals under temperate, alpine, and tropical conditions.

In addition we developed and are still developing educational modules for schools and professionals.

http://lsfm.zhaw.ch/de/science/institute-zentren/iunr-ecologicalengineering/oekotechnologie.html

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

Aquaponics is a key technology to achieve a resource efficient production

DISADVANTAGES

X Fish and plant

knowledge required

X Complex system

requires considerable

expertise

BENEFITS

Nutrient utilization

Low water consumption

Plant production in

addition to fish

Aquaculture Hydroponics

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

No use of pesticides or antibiotics

Making food `local`-

Reduced CO2 – footprint (zero food

miles, no storage)

Adding greenery in cities = evaporation

of water, cooling

Nearly closed nutrient cycles based on

natural processes 100% natural

culture, minimised use of fertilisers

Reduced energy input

Perfect food safety control

Approx. 90% reduction in water

consumption compared to traditional

agriculture

Increased efficiency due to vertical

mounting options

Advantages of Aquaponics in urban farming

BUT!!! This is only possible if

the system is operated

optimally.

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

Hydroponic with LECA

Rainwater

Fishfodder Fish (Perca fluviatilis)

Irrigation

Aquaponics Lab1 at ZHAW: established 2004

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

3 separate RAS systems of 4 m3 each

3 separate Hydroponic systems with 3 subsystems each

Research group on Aquaculture & Aquaponics

www.aquaponic.ch andreas.graber@zhaw.ch

Aquaponics Lab2 at ZHAW: established 2013

2011: ZHAW spin-off UrbanFarmers Ltd.

UrbanFarmers AG is a clean-tech start-up & Spin-off from the University of

Applied Sciences (ZHAW) in Waedenswil, Switzerland.

UF develops cost-efficient, sustainable and reliable systems to grow food

in the city at large scale.

The benefit for our customers is fresh & healthy food, produced in a safe

environment, directly at the point of consumption, eliminating emissions,

transportation distances and cost.

UrbanFarmers AG 12 26.09.2014 UrbanFarmers AG

Roman Gaus Andreas Graber

UF001 LokDepot: the world’s first Aquaponic

rooftop farm with commercial purpose

UrbanFarmers

Key figures: • 260 m2 of production space, Construction budget USD 900’000

• Farm operation going live in Q4 2012

• Capacity of producing annually 5’000 kg vegetables & 800 kg fish

Foto: by Raphi See

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

Project structure

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

26.09.2014 UrbanFarmers AG 16

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

Aquaponics – how does it work?

cleaned water

«fish water»

Fresh water

300 L

Fish feed 1kg

Fish harvest 700 g

Tomato harvest 5 - 10 kg

Evapotranspiration

290 L

Fish sludge 2 L

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

COMPOSTING UNIT // OUTDOORS

HYDROPONIC UNIT // GREENHOUSE AQUACULTURE UNIT // FISH HALL

F I S H TA N K

H Y D R O P O N I C

BIOFILTER

SOLIDS THICKE-

NING

S U M P SLUDGE

SOLIDS REMOVAL

+ O2 + UV

VERMICOMPOSTING

Aquaponics according to the «Waedenswil model»

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

The Waedenswil Model in practice: Floor plan of the rooftop farm

N

UF001 LokDepot Top View (scale 1:100), April 8, 2013

Biofilter

table 7

rafts

table 8

rafts

table 5

rafts

table 6

rafts

table 3

microgreens

table 4

microgreens

table 1

seedlings

table 2

microgreens

working table, sink

bas

in 1

stair

TANK 4

sludge separation

oxygenators/ blowers

TANK 1

TANK 2

TANK 3

Drum filter

bas

in 2

bas

in 3

bas

in 4

bas

in 5

UV/ Ozone

OxiJet

NFT1 high low

NFT2

UF Controller: Process control ensures

productivity, safety & efficiency

UrbanFarmers AG UrbanFarmers AG

Biofilter:

NH4

->NO2

->NO3

Sludge

Separator

Fish

sludge

Fertilizer

channel cultures NS-

raft cultures NS-

degassing CO2

gasifier O2

pH-Lift KOH

Fish food

UF AQUAPONIC PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM ("UF CONTROLLER") Automates nutrient balance between fish feed, fish population and plant cultures

NS+

NS+

NS-

NS-

NH4

NS-

N2

Drinking

water

NS+ Vegetable harvest

Fresh Fish

O2, pH, LF, water temperature

dryer Water flow

Solids (fish feed, sludge)

Controlled elements (O2, CO2 etc.)

NS = Nutrients

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

Results of the first year of operation

Input \ Output unit #

Water m3 763

Electricity MWh 20.9

Heat MWh 32.2

Vegetables produced total kg 3’401

Vegetable shrinkage (waste, quality,

overcapacity) kg 577

Fish produced total kg 706

Fish shrinkage (waste, quality,

overcapacity) kg 10

Balance from July 1, 2013 until June 30, 2014

This means: an aquaponic rooftop farm produces

2.7 kg fish/a and 13.1 kg vegetables/a per m2 of roof

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

• Total available vacant rooftop area in the city of Basel: 2‘000‘000 m2

• Key decision criteria for UF:

a) FAR (floor-to-area ratio)

b) Commercial & Industrial Zoning

c) Weight constraint and

d) Size (>500 m2)

• Estimated Potential: 5% used for rooftop farms = 100,000 m2

340 t fish = consumed by 34‘000 people p.a.

2‘020 t of vegetables = consumed by 14‘000 people

p.a.

The city of Basel has 170‘000 inhabitants,

UrbanFarmers could contribute 8-20% to the fresh fish

and vegetable consumption in Basel.

!

Rooftop Farming Potential: Example Basel, Switzerland

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

Aquaponics still offers many challenges

• Energy

- renewable electricity supply from photovoltaics

- reduction of heating energy demand

- additional lighting (LED? Induction?)

• Climate control

- humidity, temperature, light vs shading/insulation

• Water management

- Rainwater harvesting and pretreatment

- Optimal nutrient & pH levels for plants (additives)

• Organic matter / Organisms

- Pest control (beneficial bacteria…)

- Optimum fish feed (= permanent system input!)

- Composting of the fish sludge and plant waste

- New varieties of vegetables and fish

• Building integration

- interfaces of rooftop farm with existing building

COST ACTION FA1305

The EU Aquaponics Hub: Realising Sustainable Integrated Fish

and Vegetable Production for the EU

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

Aquaponics and Urban Agriculture

URBAN AGRICULTURE: Production of food in urban setting

Extensive: Low-tech Soil based Labour-intensive Private consumption

Intensive: High-tech

Soilless Capital-intensive Food for the city

Know-how input

Energy input

Community gardens Vertical Farming (Suwon)

Aquaponic gardens

Social insertion

Aquaponic rooftop farm

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

Integration of food production into the city

Integration of food production

into the city

Between the built structures

Building integrated

agriculture (BIA)

Multifunctional buildings

CPULS, community

gardens

Monofunctional buildings

Vertical farms

Add-on

Integrated

Aquaponics can be implemented in many ways

Zero Emission Buildings - Integrating Sustainable Technologies and

Infrastructure Systems ZEB - ISTIS

KORANET Korean scientific cooperation network with the European Research Area Joint Call on ‘Green Technologies’

contact the project coordinator: ranka.junge@zhaw.ch

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

Building Integrated Agriculture: Techniques and options

BIA Techniques and options

Soil based

Soilless

Hydroponic

Aquaponic

Open-air

Greenhouse

Horizontal

Vertical

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

Zero Emission Buildings

(adapted after Schuetze & Zeisel, 2010) www.zebistis.ch

Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge

To conclude ....

Aquaponics is only ONE technology amongst others that should become an

integral part of the «greener cities for tomorrow».

Further innovations are required that simplify operations and enable cost-

effective aquaponic farming, while making the products safe for human

consumption:

• new planting techniques

• new varieties of produce

• efficient biological pest control (beneficial microorganisms…)

• irrigation techniques

• integration with existing building infrastructures.

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