This thesis presents the argument that the concept of vertical farming can help resolve the long-standing paradox of humanity’s inclination toward exponential demographic and economic growth while inhabiting a planet of limited material means. The document is comprised of two parts. The first establishes the intellectual framework necessary to assess agriculture’s effect on human and ecological systems, and explores the philosophies central to rationalizing high-density indoor agriculture with the objectives of human sustainability.
The second part focuses exclusively on exploring the technologies and design strategies of the vertical farming concept. This aim is facilitated through the illustration of three design projects, each of which represents a distinct variant of the vertical farming concept. In order to ground the largely conceptual notion of vertical farming within a real-world economic context the thesis includes a thorough cost-analysis of a simplified fourth design. The thesis concludes by addressing the vertical farm’s potential to transform urban resource metabolism from its existing linear dependence on the external environment to a more self-contained, cyclical resource flow reminiscent of that exhibited by natural ecosystems.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:WATERLOO/oai:uwspace.uwaterloo.ca:10012/6291 |
| Date | 31 May 2011 |
| Creators | Graff, Gordon James |
| Source Sets | University of Waterloo Electronic Theses Repository |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
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