Let’s Get Vertical
Are “living buildings” a step to agriculture in the skies?
By Paul Constant
Vertical farming reads like an idea from a 1950s science fiction novel: dedicate the top six or ten stories of a skyscraper to agriculture, use the building’s own redistributed greywater to fertilize the crops, and then transform the biomass waste from the farm into pellet fuel that, in turn, powers the building. Besides being carbon neutral and self-sustaining once it gets up and running, vertical farming’s other implications — less actual land needed for farms, less fuel needed to transport food — are far-reaching and inspiring. Last month, a story on the possibilities of vertical farming in New York magazine set the eco-blogosphere on fire — not bad for a concept that some architects claim is at least fifteen years away.
Clearly, the very idea of vertical farming scratches an itch in the imagination of a lot of green-leaning thinkers. But is it even possible? “Most of the technology already exists,” says Cory Stoerker, a designer at Seattle firm NBBJ. “Living buildings are right around the corner, but none of these buildings will do all of the things (that vertical farms do) all at once.” Today’s buildings are getting greener from the roof down: Chicago leads the nation in green roof projects, incorporating rooftop gardens into the design of new and preexisting structures. And many green designers, such as organic ARCHITECT in San Francisco or Rana Creek in Los Angeles, consider sustainability as integral to the idea of a building as doors or windows.
The median step between the energy-wasting skyscrapers of yesterday and the vertical farms of tomorrow seems to be the “living building” — a sustainable building that interacts with its ecosystem in a positive, non-invasive way. At “Living Future ’07,” a recent architectural conference in Seattle, hundreds of area architects gathered to discuss buildings that would “harvest all their own energy and water” and “function as living batteries.” The standout conceptual work of the conference was a project dubbed “The Center for Urban Architecture,” planned for the heart of Seattle. The giant multistory glass structure includes a café in the base that would utilize edible plants growing on each level. While it wasn’t quite vertical farming, it was certainly breathtaking — and a sign of exciting changes to come.
What Counts
10,000 Number of sheets of copy paper the average US office worker goes through per year. (Save paper by reading documents online instead of printing; if you must print, recycle old paper by printing on both sides of the page).
2.5 Pounds of metal and plastic kept out of landfills for each recycled toner cartridge.
$1 Billion Dollars worth of electricity wasted each year by office computers (turn off your computer and power strip at night).
$0.03 Cents coffee farmers earn for each $3 latte (buy fair-trade for your office kitchen, parties and events).
22.75 Pounds of waste generated annually by each person who buys one cup of coffee per day in a disposable container (use a ceramic mug instead).
100 Hours the average American spends commuting to work each year (that’s more than two weeks — 80 hours — of vacation time).
27 Percentage of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. caused by transportation (try to carpool, take mass transit or bike to work).
7 Number of homes that could be powered each year by the average office elevator’s energy usage (save energy and burn calories by taking the stairs).
32 Percentage of employed adults who claim they know what their company’s environmental policy is.
Sources: SierraClub.org, Black Gold, IdealBite.com, US Census Bureau, EPA, Adecco survey (2007)
Worth Repeating
“There is a line in the Hindu scriptures: ‘Let good knowledge come to us from all sides.’ There is no follow-up that adds, ‘And let us pay royalties for it.’” — Bombay-born writer Suketu Mehta objecting to the 150 yoga-related copyrights, 134 patents on yoga accessories and 2,315 yoga trademarks that have been issued by the US Patent Office (NY Times, 5/7)
“Our whole goal of sustainability means using as little energy as we have to. Shipping bottles of water from Italy doesn’t make sense.” — Mike Kossa-Rienzi, general manager of San Francisco’s Chez Panisse restaurant where imported water (but not wine) has been dropped from the menu (SF Chronicle, 3/21)
“War is young men killing other young men they do not know, on the orders of old men who know one another too well.” — German volunteer Erwin Kowalke who has unearthed remains of 20,000 fallen WWII soldiers (LA Times, 5/2)
“In just seven months, more than 93,000 people worldwide have joined us in calling on Starbucks to sign this agreement. The eyes of Africa will be on this agreement, which could even set a precedent for further deals beyond Ethiopia in the future.” — Phil Bloomer, director of campaigns for OXFAM, discussing Starbucks’ concession to stop blocking the nation of Ethiopia’s attempts to trademark its signature coffee beans in the US — a major victory for the 15 million Ethiopians who depend on coffee for their livelihood. (Guardian Unlimited, 5/3)
