Simeng Xie, Pedro Martinez-Vazquez, Charalampos Baniotopoulos
{"title":"Life cycle assessment of an urban vertical farm benchmark from construction to dismantling and recycling","authors":"Simeng Xie, Pedro Martinez-Vazquez, Charalampos Baniotopoulos","doi":"10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.113729","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban Vertical Farming helps mitigate problems associated with limited crop growth due to unstable land and climate conditions. It is expected that, under suitable control, such as soilless technology, environmental control systems, automated management, and other core working principles, food crops can be grown continuously without being affected by seasonal variations. However, the amount of energy required to create optimum cultivation conditions can lead to high operating costs (especially in Europe) and other environmental impacts. In this study, we discuss those issues in relation to the construction, operation and management of an urban vertical farm, via life cycle analyses. The study is conducted with SimaPro, considering scenarios that combine the supply of building materials, building design life and transportation distance of the products, while exploring ways to reduce carbon emissions through wind energy harvesting. The results obtained indicate that the investigated urban vertical farm yields a GWP of 5.43 kg CO<sub>2</sub> eq per kilogram of lettuce under the current grid structure, which is 9–14 times higher than that of traditional open field farming. However, the main reason for the exponential increase in GWP is the power consumption of artificial lighting and HVAC systems. Among these, 3.61 % of life-cycle carbon emissions can be saved by recycling waste lettuce at the use and production phase. The dismantling and recycling phase can recover 4.06 % of the life-cycle carbon emissions by recycling materials. Furthermore, the study results indicated that the clean energy produced by wind turbines can reduce carbon emissions by up to 2.39 %.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9273,"journal":{"name":"Building and Environment","volume":"286 ","pages":"Article 113729"},"PeriodicalIF":7.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Building and Environment","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132325011990","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CONSTRUCTION & BUILDING TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Urban Vertical Farming helps mitigate problems associated with limited crop growth due to unstable land and climate conditions. It is expected that, under suitable control, such as soilless technology, environmental control systems, automated management, and other core working principles, food crops can be grown continuously without being affected by seasonal variations. However, the amount of energy required to create optimum cultivation conditions can lead to high operating costs (especially in Europe) and other environmental impacts. In this study, we discuss those issues in relation to the construction, operation and management of an urban vertical farm, via life cycle analyses. The study is conducted with SimaPro, considering scenarios that combine the supply of building materials, building design life and transportation distance of the products, while exploring ways to reduce carbon emissions through wind energy harvesting. The results obtained indicate that the investigated urban vertical farm yields a GWP of 5.43 kg CO2 eq per kilogram of lettuce under the current grid structure, which is 9–14 times higher than that of traditional open field farming. However, the main reason for the exponential increase in GWP is the power consumption of artificial lighting and HVAC systems. Among these, 3.61 % of life-cycle carbon emissions can be saved by recycling waste lettuce at the use and production phase. The dismantling and recycling phase can recover 4.06 % of the life-cycle carbon emissions by recycling materials. Furthermore, the study results indicated that the clean energy produced by wind turbines can reduce carbon emissions by up to 2.39 %.
城市垂直农业有助于缓解由于土地和气候条件不稳定而导致作物生长受限的问题。期望在适当的控制下,如无土技术、环境控制系统、自动化管理等核心工作原理,粮食作物可以不受季节变化的影响而连续种植。然而,创造最佳栽培条件所需的大量能源可能导致高运营成本(特别是在欧洲)和其他环境影响。在本研究中,我们通过生命周期分析来讨论与城市垂直农场建设、运营和管理相关的问题。该研究是与SimaPro合作进行的,考虑了结合建筑材料供应、建筑设计寿命和产品运输距离的场景,同时探索了通过风能收集减少碳排放的方法。结果表明,在当前网格结构下,城市垂直农场每公斤生菜的GWP为5.43 kg CO2当量,是传统露天农场的9-14倍。然而,全球潜能值指数增长的主要原因是人工照明和暖通空调系统的电力消耗。其中,废弃生菜在使用和生产阶段的回收利用可节省3.61%的生命周期碳排放。拆解回收阶段可回收4.06%的全生命周期碳排放。此外,研究结果表明,风力发电机产生的清洁能源可减少高达2.39%的碳排放。
期刊介绍:
Building and Environment, an international journal, is dedicated to publishing original research papers, comprehensive review articles, editorials, and short communications in the fields of building science, urban physics, and human interaction with the indoor and outdoor built environment. The journal emphasizes innovative technologies and knowledge verified through measurement and analysis. It covers environmental performance across various spatial scales, from cities and communities to buildings and systems, fostering collaborative, multi-disciplinary research with broader significance.