This thesis proposes a destination restaurant, near Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, Canada, that serves as an informative showcase of common food plants grown indoors, and allows visitors to experience the food cycle of growing, processing, cooking, eating, and composting, from soil to table. Throughout the building, the line between architecture and agriculture is blurred, as program areas incorporate food plants. The environmentally-conscious design, built primarily of re-used wood and locally sourced sandstone, inspires visitors to start growing food at home by being a living example of a variety of growing methods, most of which could be adopted at home on a smaller scale.

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<p>Vertical farming (VF) as a newer sector of controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) is proliferating as demand for year-round, local, fresh produce is rising. However, there are concerns regarding the high capital expenses and significant operational expenses that contribute to fragile profitability of the VF industry. Enhancing resource-use efficiency is a strategy to improve profitability of the VF industry, and different approaches are proposed in the three chapters of this dissertation. LEDs are used for sole-source lighting in VF, and although they recently have significantly improved electrical efficiency and photon efficacy, the Lambertian design of the illumination pattern leads to significant loss of obliquely emitted photons beyond cropping areas. In chapter 1, close-canopy lighting (CCL) is proposed as one effective energy-saving strategy, through which unique physical properties of LEDs were leveraged, and two CCL strategies (energy efficiency and yield enhancement) were characterized at four different separation distances between light-emitting and light-absorbing surfaces. Dimming to the same light intensity at all separation distances resulted in the same biomass production while significant energy savings occurred at closer distances. Significantly higher light intensity and yield were achieved under closer separation distances in the yield-enhancement strategy for the same energy input. The energy-utilization efficiency (g fresh/dry biomass per kWh of energy) was doubled in both scenarios when the separation distance between LED emitting surface and crop surface was reduced maximally. At reduced separation distances, the chance of photon escape from growth areas is less, and canopy photon capture efficiency is improved.</p><p>Optimizing environmental conditions for indoor plant production also helps improve resource-use efficiency for the nascent vertical-farming industry. Although significant technical advancements of LEDs have been made, use of efficient far-red (FR) LEDs has yet to be exploited. As a recent proposed extension to traditional photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm), FR radiation (700-750 nm) contributes to photosynthesis as well as photomorphogenesis when added to shorter wavelengths of traditional PAR. However, the interaction of FR with other environmental parameters such as CO2 is less studied. In chapter 2, the interaction effect of four FR fluxes (as substitution for red) in combination with three different CO2 concentrations were investigated at three distinctive stages of young-lettuce production. The highest biomass achieved at all stages occurred at 800 mmol mol-1 CO2 compared to 400 and 1600 mmol mol-1. A photomorphogenic effect of FR to promote leaf length was pronounced at the earliest stages of development, at which FR did not contribute to higher biomass accumulation. At more developed stages, 20 mmol m-2 s-1 of FR substituting for red contributed to biomass accumulation similar to shorter wavelengths of traditional PAR, whereas higher fluxes of FR in the light recipe resulted in undesirable quality attributes such as longer leaves.</p><p>Optimizing environmental conditions for indoor production with emphasis on light intensity and CO2 concentration at four distinctive stages of lettuce production was investigated in chapter 3. Utilizing the Minitron III gas-exchange system, light and CO2 dose-response profiles were characterized at four distinctive crop-development stages through instantaneous gas-exchange measurements at crop level. At all developmental stages, as CO2 concentration increased, photosynthesis increased up to 500 mmol mol-1, above which the incremental rate of photosynthesis was reduced. Light-dose response profiles were characterized at 400 or 800 mmol mol-1 CO2, and as light intensity increased, photosynthesis increased up to 650 mmol m-2 s-1. However, when instantaneous power (Watts) consumed for lighting was taken into consideration, power-use efficiency as the ratio of output photosynthesis increment to input power increment (to increase light intensity), decreased at higher light intensities. Vertical farming as a nascent and growing industry is facing limitations including marginal and even elusive profitability. Optimizing environmental conditions for indoor plant production such as these will help improve resource-use efficiency and profitability of the vertical farming industry.</p>

Just like in the rest of the world, the urban population in Sweden is increasing each year, which means that cities are becoming increasingly densified and natural green areas are claimed and used for built environment. As a result, biodiversity in cities is often low and inhabitants risk facing losses of ecosystem services of various kinds. As a counterforce to these challenges linked to urbanization, urban agriculture has become an increasingly popular and growing phenomenon in Sweden in recent years. Researchers have begun to recognize the potential of urban agriculture to address the issues of urban green spaces, food security and social interaction between different cultures in cities.  Despite the growing interest in urban agriculture, there seems to be a lack of empirical studies examining the potential of urban agriculture to contribute ecosystem services to cities. The aim of this thesis is thus to investigate and map ecosystem services from urban agriculture systems and perform a resilience analysis to assess the opportunities and challenges associated with the management and development of ecosystem services from urban agriculture. To do this, a case study was performed on two different types of urban farms located in the Stockholm region. The study was delimited to look at regulating, provisioning, and cultural ecosystem services from urban agriculture for commercial use in Stockholm. Moreover, the study applied a qualitative and semi-quantitative research method where the collection of data material was based on a literature study, semi-structured qualitative interviews, and observations. A resilience analysis of the empirically collected data material was performed using seven principles as a framework. These principles have been presented in previous research and are shown to have important links to the management of ecosystem services.  The results of the study show that commercial urban agriculture in Stockholm has great potential to contribute with ecosystem services to the city as the two investigated cases contribute with regulating, provisioning, and cultural services of various kinds. The studied outdoor farm was shown to contribute with 26 different ecosystem services, while the studied indoor farm in greenhouse was shown to contribute with 9. Furthermore, the study indicates that the two studied cases are, at present, not independent of external systems as they, among other things, require some inputs to maintain respectively cultivation activities. From a resilience perspective, the study indicates that many activities that are currently carried out in the studied urban farms contribute to strengthening the resilience of the produced ecosystem services. Examples of this are that they actively work for knowledge development, participate in research projects, integrate systems and risk thinking and involve a varied range of actors in their businesses. However, the study also suggests that challenges to strengthen resilience exists and look different in the two different urban farms. For the outdoor farm, it is indicated that the biggest challenges are related to financial aspects, as this is an obstacle to launching more ideas related to agriculture activities and thus also an obstacle to increasing the diversity of ecosystem services. For the indoor farm in greenhouse, on the other hand, challenges related to infrastructure and the dependence on a stable electricity supply to strengthen resilience through diversity of ecosystem services are emphasized. Finally, it can be stated that cooperation between actors at different levels is an important factor for the development of urban agriculture and for the resilience of the ecosystem services produced. / Precis som i resten av världen ökar den urbana befolkningen i Sverige varje år, vilket innebär att städerna blir alltmer tätbebyggda och grönområden tas i anspråk för att ge plats åt bebyggd miljö. Till följd av detta är den biologiska mångfalden i städer oftast låg och den urbana människan riskerar att gå miste om ekosystemtjänster av olika slag. Som motkraft till dessa utmaningar kopplade till urbanisering har stadsodling kommit att bli ett alltmer populärt och växande fenomen i Sverige under de senaste åren. Forskare har börjat erkänna potentialen för stadsodling att ta itu med frågorna om urbana grönområden, livsmedelssäkerhet och social interaktion mellan olika kulturer i städerna.  Trots det ökande intresset för stadsodling tycks det finnas en brist på empiriska studier som undersöker stadsodlingens potential att bidra med ekosystemtjänster till städer. Syftet med detta examensarbete är således att undersöka och kartlägga ekosystemtjänster från stadsodlingssystem samt utföra en resiliensanalys för att bedöma de möjligheter och utmaningar som är förknippade med förvaltning och utveckling av ekosystemtjänster från stadsodling. För att göra detta utfördes en fallstudie på två olika typer av stadsodlingar belägna i Stockholmsregionen. Studien avgränsades till att undersöka reglerande, försörjande och kulturella ekosystemtjänster från stadsodling för kommersiellt bruk i Stockholm. Vidare tillämpade studien en kvalitativ och semi-kvantitativ forskningsmetod där insamling av datamaterial baserades på en litteraturstudie, semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer och observationer. En resiliensanalys av det empiriskt insamlade datamaterialet utfördes genom att använda sju principer som ramverk. Dessa principer har presenterats i tidigare forskning och visats ha viktiga kopplingar till förvaltning av ekosystemtjänster.  Studiens resultat visar att kommersiell stadsodling i Stockholm har stor potential att bidra med ekosystemtjänster till staden då de båda undersökta fallen bidrar med reglerande, försörjande och kulturella tjänster av olika slag. Den studerade utomhusodlingen visades bidra med 26 olika ekosystemtjänster, medan den studerade inomhusodlingen i växthus visades bidra med 9 stycken. Vidare indikerar studien att de båda undersökta fallen i dagsläget ej kan vara oberoende av externa system då de bland annat kräver en del insatsmedel för att upprätthålla respektive odlingsverksamhet. Utifrån ett resiliensperspektiv indikerar studien att många aktiviteter som idag utförs i de undersökta stadsodlingarna bidrar till att stärka resiliensen av de producerade ekosystemtjänsterna. Exempel på detta är arbete för kunskapsutveckling, deltagande i forskningsprojekt, integrerade system- och risktänkanden samt involverande av flertalet aktörer. Däremot antyder studien även att utmaningar för att stärka resiliensen dess mer finns, och ser olika ut i de två olika odlingssystemen. För utomhusodlingen indikeras att de största utmaningarna är relaterade till finansiella aspekter, då detta är ett hinder för att sjösätta fler idéer relaterade till odlingsaktiviteter och därmed även ett hinder för att öka mångfalden av ekosystemtjänster. För inomhusodlingen i växthus, å andra sidan, framhävs utmaningar relaterade till infrastruktur och beroendet av stabil elförsörjning för att stärka resiliensen genom mångfald av ekosystemtjänster. Slutligen kan konstateras att samarbete mellan aktörer på olika nivåer är en viktig faktor för utvecklingen av stadsodling och för resiliens hos de producerade ekosystemtjänsterna.

Syftet med detta arbete var att undersöka inomhusodlingen av microgreens ur ett hållbarhetsperspektiv med anledning av att matförsörjningen står inför stora utmaningar. Detta gjordes i förhållande till resursanvändning, ekonomisk hållbarhet ur ett företagsperspektiv samt till vilka möjligheter och hinder microgreensodlingar har för att öka tillgången på lokala råvaror. Microgreens är unga hjärtbladsväxter som skördas när de har fått sitt första bladpar. I den här studien har både kvantitativa och kvalitativa metoder använts.Metoderna har inkluderat en materialflödesanalys samt en ekonomisk analys som har baseratspå Botildenborgs microgreensodling. Dessutom har semi-strukturerade intervjuer genomförts med två personer som har god kunskap om microgreens. Resultatet visade att resurserna iBotildenborgs microgreensodling används förhållandevis ekologiskt hållbart. Det finns däremot förbättringspotential, såsom ett konstant belysningsintervall och en lägreljusintensitet på LED-lamporna. Samtliga inköpta fröer borde även vara svenskproducerade.Vi kom även fram till att det är ekonomiskt hållbart för Botildenborg att bedriva sin micorgreensodling, även när elpriserna anses vara höga. Här finns också förbättringspotential rörande belysningsintervallet och lampornas ljusintensitet. Vi har konstaterat att de möjligheter som finns för att öka kundernas tillgång på lokala råvaror, såsom microgreens är: utbildning, tillgång året om, ökad efterfrågan samt microgreens närings-, hälso- ochmiljöfördelar. Hindren utgörs däremot av: bristande kunskap hos konsumenterna, greenwashing samt ett högt försäljningspris. Avslutningsvis kan inomhusodlingen av microgreens vara ett steg på vägen till att en tryggad livsmedelsförsörjning uppnås, men inte ett avgörande sådant. / The aim of this study was to investigate indoor farming of microgreens from a sustainability perspective, which is relevant as the food supply is facing major challenges. This was done in relation to resource usage, economic sustainability from a business perspective and which opportunities and obstacles there are for the cultivation of microgreens to increase the access to locally grown food. Microgreens are young cotyledons that are harvested at the true leaf stage. In this study both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used. This has included a material flow analysis and an economic analysis for Botildenborgs indoor farming of microgreens. Further on, semi-structured interviews were carried out with two people with good knowledge of microgreens. The results showed that resources in Botildenborgs indoor farming of microgreens were used relatively efficiently according to ecological sustainability. Although, there is some potential for improvements with constant lighting with low intensity LED lamps. All purchased seeds should also be produced at local scale (in Sweden) as far as possible. We also concluded that it is economically sustainable for Botildenborg to operate their indoor farm, even when the electricity prices are considered high. There is potential forimprovements here too, regarding the continuous lighting and the lamps intensity. We also concluded that opportunities to increase the customers access to locally grown food include education, all year-round access, increased demand, and nutritional, health-related, and environmental benefits. The obstacles on the other hand are lack of knowledge among consumers, greenwashing, and high selling prices. Finally, indoor farming of microgreens can be a step towards food security, but not a decisive one.

<p>There is a growing demand for indoor farm management systems that can track plant growth, allow automatic control and aid in real-time decision making. Internet of Thing (IoT)-based solutions are being applied to meet these needs and numerous researchers have created prototypes for meeting specific needs using sensors, algorithms, and automations. However, limited studies are available that report on comprehensive large-scale experiments to test various aspects related to availability, scalability and reliability of sensors and actuators used in low-cost indoor farms. The purpose of this study was to develop a low-cost, IoT devices driven indoor farm as a testbed for growing microgreens and other experimental crops. The testbed was designed using off-the-shelf sensors and actuators for conducting research experiments, addressing identified challenges, and utilizing remotely acquired data for developing an intelligent farm management system. The sensors were used for collecting and monitoring electrical conductivity (EC), pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) levels of the nutrient solution, light intensity, environmental variables, and imagery data. The control of light emitting diodes (LEDs), irrigation pumps, and camera modules was carried out using commercially available components. All the sensors and actuators were remotely monitored, controlled, and coordinated using a cloud-based dashboard, Raspberry Pis, and Arduino microcontrollers. To implement a reliable, real-time control of actuators, edge computing was used as it helped in minimizing latency and identifying anomalies.</p> <p>Decision making about overall system performance and harvesting schedule was accomplished by providing alerts on anomalies in the sensors and actuators and through installation of cameras to predict yield of microgreens, respectively. A split-plot statistical design was used to evaluate the effect of lighting, nutrition solution concentration, seed density, and day of harvest on the growth of microgreens. This study complements and expands past efforts by other researchers on building a low cost IoT-based indoor farm. While the experience with the testbed demonstrates its real-world potential of conducting experimental research, some major lessons were learnt along the way that could be used for future enhancements.</p>