From 2012 to 2013 I did research with CU’s Architectural engineering department with respect to the practicality and implementation of urban vertical farming systems. With much of the developed world’s population now living in urban centers, coupled with the problems associated with burning fossil fuels, the need for agricultural operations in urban environments will become ever greater in the coming decades. There is also potential for living building facades to improve building envelope performance reducing overall energy use. Our goal with this white paper was to discuss our design, construction and testing of a modular, scalable, vertical farming solution to characterize the thermal benefits to the facade performance. I worked with Michael Gartman on this, who continued the project as part of his master’s thesis in 2013-2014.
