Farming Moves to the Roof, written by Roger Schickedantz, highlights the benefits that companies are having with the implementation of rooftop greenhouses. These greenhouses are built to provide the right amount of sunshine, lighting, ventilation, heating and cooling; while also having the ability to grow produce near its source which increases the delivery of nutrients to the consumer.
Schickedantz discusses the process of developing these rooftop greenhouses and how they have had great community-supported successes. In New York City, companies such as Brooklyn Grange, Bright Farms and Gotham Greens, have created businesses to grow food for use by local restaurants and groceries. William McDonough has worked closely with Gotham Greens to build the successful Method Manufacturing Facility in Chicago. The state-of-the-art Method facility showcases the company’s dedication to sustainability with the first LEED® Platinum manufacturing facility in its industry. Method is the world’s largest rooftop farm which supports the community, economy as well as sustainability toward a circular economy.
Hydroponics technology is the driving force that allows the food production approach to flourish. Pesticide free growing is the rule of thumb for most hydroponic growers. Architects and teams have found out the functional requirements as well as the demands of conventional buildings to create the successful rooftops. Having designed and implemented many already, architects and designers can move forward creating more sustainable rooftop greenhouses to help this economy in the future.
Farming Moves to the Roof originally appeared in the September 2015 issue of Canadian Property Management: GTA & Beyond. Learn more on reminetwork.com.
