Architecture & Building Technology
Our perspective
Indoor food cultivation represents a promising new application for smart and high-performance buildings. While substantial knowledge exists on energy-efficient building design in residential and commercial sectors, this expertise has yet to be effectively translated into the agro-industry domain. Harnessing this untapped potential could pave the way for innovative and sustainable indoor food production, revolutionizing the way we approach agriculture in urban and peri-urban environments.
Driving energy consumption low enough to make an economic difference is a huge technical challenge. It won't happen just by adopting slightly more efficient light fixtures or heat pumps. Radically efficient buildings and systems would need to compound their effects to reach the goal. The use case of agriculture in high latitudes provides design freedom, but also adds challenges, making this an interdisciplinary puzzle.
Non-Residential Passive Building Design
Source: Urban Organic Yield
HVAC for Crop-Growing Environments
Source: Open Lighting Product Directory
Adaptive Lighting & Shading
Grower-Centric Building Management Systems
Big challenges
Optimizing use of sunlight and free heating/cooling
Range of building sizes from a common pattern
Design pattern applicable in much of Canada
Intensive, space-efficient cultivation
Multiple crops, multiple growers
Underexploited resources
Thermal energy storage
The excesses and wild swings of Canada's climate
Synergy with other building types - waste heat & CO2