The effects of vertical farming on indoor carbon dioxide concentration and fresh air energy consumption in office buildings

Shao, Yiming; Li, Jiaqiang; Zhou, Zhihao; Hu, Zhenyu; Zhang, Fan; Cui, Yuanlong; Chen, Haojing

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.107766

Cited by 48 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…While the study addresses building energy integration, further synergies have also been outlined in the literature to integrate vertical farms in buildings. In a recent study, Shao et al (2021) also highlight the potential of employing vertical farms to reduce CO 2 concentration and reduce ventilation energy consumption in commercial buildings. Furthermore, additional studies have also highlighted the use of optical fibers in buildings to reduce the energy consumption for LEDs; see e.g., Asiabanpour et al (2018).…”

Section: Energy and Building Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While a number of studies have also reviewed the use of vacant lots, few study the use of indoor vacant spaces; see, e.g., Grewal and Grewal (2012). As such, the benefits of employing residual spaces for producing food through vertical farms can add to the rental returns for real estate owners, improve the quality of the spaces, and provide new business opportunities for food production and markets (Martin and Bustamante, 2021;Shao et al, 2021), providing insights to residential building owners on the benefits of employing residual space for urban food provisioning. As the results of this study show, these systems can be multi-functional by providing energy savings for the building, offering locally produced food, utilizing and valorizing residual streams, and increasing awareness of food production in urban areas.…”

Section: Implications For Urban Design and Sustainable Citiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimating the Potential of Building Integration and Regional Synergies to Improve the Environmental Performance of Urban Vertical Farming

Martin¹,

Weidner²,

Gullström³

2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Vertical farms have expanded rapidly in urban areas to support food system resilience. However, many of these systems source a substantial share of their material and energy requirements outside their urban environments. As urban areas produce significant shares of residual material and energy streams, there is considerable potential to explore the utilization of these streams for urban agriculture in addition to the possibility of employing underutilized urban spaces in residential and commercial buildings. This study aims to explore and assess the potential for developing more circular vertical farming systems which integrate with buildings and utilize residual material and energy streams. We focus on the symbiotic development of a hypothetical urban farm located in the basement of a residential building in Stockholm. Life cycle assessment is used to quantify the environmental performance of synergies related to energy integration and circular material use. Energy-related scenarios include the integration of the farm's waste heat with the host building's heating system and the utilization of solar PV. Circular material synergies include growing media and fertilizers based on residual materials from a local brewery and biogas plant. Finally, a local pick-up system is studied to reduce transportation. The results point to large benefits from integrating the urban farm with the building energy system, reducing the vertical farm's GHG emissions up to 40%. Synergies with the brewery also result in GHG emissions reductions of roughly 20%. No significant change in the environmental impacts was found from the use of solar energy, while the local pick-up system reduces environmental impacts from logistics, although this does not substantially lower the overall environmental impacts. However, there are some trade-offs where scenarios with added infrastructure can also increase material and water resource depletion. The results from the synergies reviewed suggest that proximity and host-building synergies can improve the material and energy efficiency of urban vertical farms. The results provide insights to residential building owners on the benefits of employing residual space for urban food provisioning and knowledge to expand the use of vertical farming and circular economy principles in an urban context.

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Section: Energy and Building Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications For Urban Design and Sustainable Citiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating the Potential of Building Integration and Regional Synergies to Improve the Environmental Performance of Urban Vertical Farming

Martin¹,

Weidner²,

Gullström³

2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…al. [4] studied vertical farming in 30 m 2 office with 1-3 occupants and discovered that building ventilating energy consumption could be reduced by 12.7%-58.4%. Constructing a green wall is an option for reducing concentration rates of CO2 without employing ventilation fans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Active Green Wall Systems for both Saving Energy and Improving Indoor Air Quality in Classrooms

Taemthong

Plitsiri²

2023

E3S Web of Conf.

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University classrooms in Thailand normally use air conditioners to enhance thermal comfort for building occupants. Classrooms with many students are often found to exceed standard concentration levels of carbon dioxide (CO2). This research aims to study the benefits of active green wall systems in two aspects. They are energy consumption and the ability to reduce CO2 of plants. The green walls in this research are divided into two systems, which are active green wall (AGW) and passive green wall (PGW). The experiments took place in an air-conditioned classroom with ten occupants. The room temperature was set at 25 °C for all experiments. The data collected for all experiments are CO2, temperature, and energy consumption. The results showed that two active green wall panels with a single plant of Epipremnum aureum is the optimal model for improving air quality in classrooms, when compared to other experiments. It can reduce the CO2 concentration by 35% and use less energy than the no green wall experiment at 26%.

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“…The main sources of indoor pollutants are carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) [ 9 ]. CO 2 is mainly derived from outdoor infiltration and people’s metabolism [ 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The energy and time saving coordinated control methods of CO2, VOCs, and PM2.5 in office buildings

Zhang

Hou

et al. 2022

PLoS ONE

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Indoor air pollution is complex and serious. In fact, an on-site investigation of an office building revealed that the concentration of three typical pollutants (CO2, VOCs, PM2.5) exceeded the Chinese standard. To identify a better control method to achieve good indoor air quality, an orthogonal experiment was carried out in an environmental chamber to compare the control time and energy consumption of four control methods (purifier+ and window+, purifier+ and window-, purified fresh air 240 m3/h and purified fresh air 400 m3/h) to meet the standard established for pollutants. The purifier+ and window+ method was found to be more effective in most conditions, with a control time reduced by 8.06% and energy consumption reduced by 11.91% compared with the traditional control method of purified fresh air 240 m3/h. This research highlights the optimal control strategy for the air quality in office buildings under different pollution conditions.

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The effects of vertical farming on indoor carbon dioxide concentration and fresh air energy consumption in office buildings

Cited by 48 publications

References 44 publications

Estimating the Potential of Building Integration and Regional Synergies to Improve the Environmental Performance of Urban Vertical Farming

Estimating the Potential of Building Integration and Regional Synergies to Improve the Environmental Performance of Urban Vertical Farming

Using Active Green Wall Systems for both Saving Energy and Improving Indoor Air Quality in Classrooms

The energy and time saving coordinated control methods of CO2, VOCs, and PM2.5 in office buildings

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