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I was even inspired enough to learn from the example of the towers, prepared to nurture our crops to provide the best yield.

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The Sky Green farm in Singapore can produce up to 1 ton of vegetable every 2 days, and they have been converting the farm to fully organic recently. However, another major part of their business involves the licensing of the idea and intellectual properties to others. To stay one step ahead of their competitors, they never stopped innovating to keep improving their design

Source:https://www.ipvaluelab.com.sg/Case-studies/Sky-Greens

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Our group was even inspired enough to learn from the example of the towers, prepared to nurture our crops to provide the best yield.

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The greenhouses constantly face the issue of algae growing on the surface of the glass. Maintenance staff have to constantly clean the surfaces to ensure the plants within the greenhouses receive enough sunlight.

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The skygreen towers utilise water to move the plant troughs around the frame. This here is the mechanism which converts motion of the fast-moving small chain to that of the slow-moving large chain, which slowly rotates the troughs around the tower.

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Some crops growing in the troughs on the tower. SkyGreen only grows the baby variety for its crops as they are i high demand in Singapore, and their short growth cycles reduce the chances of pests developing, as they are harvested before most pests can germinate and cause damage to the crops.

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The greenhouses here from a roof over a parking lot. This is a proof of concept, proving the efficacy and possibility of implementing these vertical farm greenhouses to form parking lots outdoors, or on rooftops, since they can provide shade for cars and receive sufficient sunlight at the same time.

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As a proof of concept, this greenhouse is built on a floating platform, showing the possibility of using the towers to grow crops in waterlogged areas or on water bodies. The pond next to it houses fish the farm keeps to eliminate plant waste from the farm.

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As seen in the greenhouses on the left, the first fully-functioning towers were built to be 9m tall. However, after some trial and error, the designers found out that a 6m tower was more effective for growing crops. This is due to the towers within the greenhouses casting shadows on each other, causing the plant growth to be less efficient.

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This is the mechanism which drives the movement of the tower. Water is pumped into the drum to move the chain, driving the mechanism.

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Having a large amount of crops in one greenhouse attracts pests that can damage the crops and affect the harvest. To counter this, the yellow insect trap has been set up, strung up with string, and with a sticky surface, to trap any flying insects that collide into it.

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The fish consume the plant waste produced by the greenhouse, the undesirable or non-marketable portions.

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Traditional farming is labour intensive, requires large amount of land, high food miles, heavy use of pesticides and high water run-off and pollution. Hence, Agri Technology firm came up with a green urban solution -- Sky Greens, the world’s first low carbon, hydraulic driven vertical farm -- to produce safe, fresh and delicious vegetables, using minimal land, water and energy resources.

How it works:

1. Rainwater collected in ponds

2. Water Pulley System uses momentum of flowing water and gravity to rotate the layers

3. The upper layers are lowered into water trays where soil absorbs water

4. Careful monitoring lowers risk of pest

3Rs: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle

This is done through precision farming which reduces input materials, and reusing water for irrigation in a closed system.

Exploit physic laws!

Hydraulic-powered systems along with gravity, momentum and gear ratio have been precisely calculated for vertical farming to work.

History:

Sky Green is a pioneer in vertical farming. Sky Green’s founder, Mr Jack Ng was well established into the construction and building industry, and wanted to work on sustainable farming solutions that can help solve Singapore’s food security challenges. He saw the opportunity for a simple eco friendly solution that is cheap to run. He started to work on a prototype in 2009, and in 2010 AVA signed a Research Collaborative Agreement with Sky Greens to formalise their cooperation. They started commercial operation in 2012

Investor:

Charoen Pokphand Group (C.P. Group), Thailand’s largest private company is an investor in Sky Urban, Sky Green’s holding company, and together operate a experimental 16 tower farm in Thailand.

Awards and accreditations

2011: National Development R&D Award(Merit) at Ministry of National Development (MND) Urban Sustainability R&D Congress

2012: Showcased itself at the World Cities Summit 2012 “Liveable and Sustainable Cities -- Integrated Urban Solutions”

2014: Singapore Sustainability Awards by Singapore Business Federation

2015: INDEX: Award 2015 (5 winners out of the 1123 nominations)

2015: Sustainia 100 featured as best few sustainability innovation

source:https://lovewholesome.com/local-farms/sky-greens-jack-ng/

https://designtoimprovelife.dk/2015-finalist-jack-ng-sky-urban-vertical-farming-system/

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The troughs on the towers are supplied with soil from soil pits such as this one. These soil pits are large composts which take the dead plant matter leftover from harvest, as well as leftover plant and animal waste from nearby farms and decompose them to make fertile soil for the crops.

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All in all, we had a fun time at SkyGreen, and learnt a lot of things there.

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The pond in front of the greenhouse here houses rainwater used for the running of the greenhouses. Water pumps pump the water into the greenhouses, to the towers, providing the driving power for the spinning of the towers, as well as water for the crops’ growth. The water is replenished every two weeks, ensuring a constant supply of nutrient-containing water.

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Forms and functions of vertical farming 

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Forms and functions of vertical farming 

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Vertical farms come in many different forms and can vary a lot. Most vertical farming systems utilise one of the 3 soil-free systems to cultivate the plants.

1. Hydroponics. Plants are grown without soil but instead in nutrient solutions, which are maintained at the correct composition. This is the most common growing system used.

2. Aeroponics. Plants are grown in an air/mist environment with no soil and little water. It can use up to 90% less water than hydroponic systems. Plants grown this way can be more nutritious as they absorb more nutrients and minerals.

3. Aquaponics. Plants are grown with fish in the same system. The waste from the fish are rich in nutrients, such as nitrogen, and is taken up by the plants. The plants then filter and clean the water the fish live in. This closed-loop system promotes and aids growth.

Many different forms of vertical farming exist:

1. Sky Greens

Sky Greens

The Sky Greens vertical farming system is a 9 meter tall structure that consists of 38 tiers of growing troughs. The troughs are on an A-shaped aluminium frame and are rotated to ensure plants are exposed to even amounts of sunlight. When the troughs reach the bottom of the structure, water and nutrients will be added to them.

2. Zip Grow

Zipgrow has many different systems that allow for cultivation of plants using less space. Their systems can be wall mounted and come with lights to help the plants to grow.

3. Verticrop

Verticrop is vertical farming system that grows plants using aquaponics on a suspended tray system powered by an overhead conveyor to rotate the towers horizontally. This plants are kept in a controlled environment where temperature, lighting, irrigation and water recycling is closely managed. This system increases crop yield by 20 times and uses 8% of the water conventional farming would use.

4. Cubic Farms

The cubic farm system uses cutting edge technology to grow plants anywhere and anytime. Its hydroponics system saves water and the system reduces land and labour required. Its system is rather similar to that of Skygreens, with vertical rotating towers, however, the entire environment is climate controlled to create an optimal environment for growth and LED lights allow for consistent growth all year round.

Source:

https://www.skygreens.com/about-skygreens/

https://shop.zipgrow.com/

http://www.verticrop.com/

http://cubicfarms.com/

Source

https://attra.ncat.org/calendar/question.php/what-are-the-different-types

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The troughs containing the soil and seeds are moved around the tower continuously, approximately once every 16 hours. The troughs receive water at the bottom of the tower through a sprinkler system, and receive a larger amount of sunlight at the top of the tower. These troughs can also be swapped with other mediums, such as small mini plots or different soil types.

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The Sky Greens vertical farming system is a 9 meter tall structure that consists of 38 tiers of growing troughs. The troughs are on an A-shaped aluminium frame and are rotated to ensure plants are exposed to even amounts of sunlight. When the troughs reach the bottom of the structure, water and nutrients will be added to them.

1. High yield

Vertical farming allows for more plants to be grown per unit land area as the plants are grown on many tiers. By utilising the land more efficiently, the system can result in at least 10 times more yield per unit land area. This is especially important in SIngapore, where land area is limited and a valuable resource. By utilising land more efficiently to grow more plants, higher crop yields can be achieved. This is also important as the population continues to rise.

2. Reliable Harvests

There are no seasonal crops as environment can be adjusted to grow the plants. This allows consistent harvests, providing reliable food sources not dependent on the environment, and confidence to deliver the goods on time (commercially stable).

3. High quality

The plants are housed in a greenhouse, allowing for more control over the environment it is in. This allows for high quality plants to be grown as the growing conditions is carefully controlled.

4. High flexibility

Vertical farming is not dependent of the external environment as plants are housed within a microclimate and grown in growing media. Hence, farming can take place in places that are not naturally arable. This is significant as it allows for cultivation in urban environments, allowing cities to become more self-sustaining. Parameters can be adjusted to grow specific crops if desired due to its extensive crop suitability.

5. Low Energy Use

Only 40W of electricity (equivalent to energy required by one light-bulb) is needed to power every 9m-tall tower! This is as, by harnessing natural sunlight, there is no need for artificial lighting, removing one source of energy-consumption. A unique, patented hydraulic water-driven system utilises the momentum of flowing water and gravity to rotate the troughs, further reducing consumption of energy.

6. Low Water Use

To rotate the 1.7 ton vertical structure, only 0.5 litres of water is required. The same water is then recycled for irrigation and fertilisation of the plants via a flooding method, removing the need for a sprinkler system and thereby eliminating water wastage due to run-offs. Furthermore, rainwater is collected and kept in an enclosed, underground reservoir system for use in the farm, and the water is reused and recycled to further reduce water usage.

7. Low Maintenance

The plants are housed in a protected environment and the throughs are rotated by machinery, reducing manpower dependency. Combined with the intensified plant-to-plot ratio that allows more plants to be cared for by a smaller manpower, there is higher efficiency as well. While maintenance to ensure the various machinery in the farm is functioning is unavoidable, the farm is overall very low-maintenance.

8. Lower transport costs

These vertical farms can be built anywhere that has sufficient power and water supplies. Locations can be deliberately chosen to decrease the time from harvest to consumer, and hence reducing costs for refrigerated transport.

Source: http://www.verticalfarms.com.au/advantages-vertical-farming