Vertical farming is one of the most innovative solutions for lowering the amount of energy, space, and water needed to grow food, but Valcent Products has taken the practice to a whole new level with their revolutionary VertiCrop technology. By applying Henry Ford’s super-efficient assembly line concept to vertical hydroponic farming, the Vancouver-based firm can produce the same amount of produce on a standard sized residential lot that most farmers would be able to grow on a 16-acre plot. Their stacked, mechanized, produce-laden plastic trays are already a hot commodity, with orders coming in from every corner of the globe. Step in for a closer look at how this technology is completely changing the way we grow food.

Read the rest of VertiCrop Processes 10,000 Plants Every 3 Days Using Vertical Hydroponic Farming

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Post tags: eco design, energy issues, green design, Henry Ford, hydroponics, small footprint, space issues, sustainable design, Urban design, Urban Farming, Valcent, Valcent Products, vertical farming, VertiCrop, water issues

RCDF Studio‘s LOFT is a finalist entry in LOFT LONDON FARM TOWER 2011 competition, a design contest based on the concept of the vertical farm. Their LOFT is a 550,000-square-foot building near London City Hall & Tower Bridge, which integrates “ecosystems” interspersing residential, hydroponics, aqua-ponics, bee sanctuaries & livestock housing with a vertical park, theaters, classrooms, markets and restaurants. The mixed-use building also includes rainwater collection, gray water filtration systems, onsite waste-matter treatment center, Thames River-powered water turbines and wind turbines. The entire building program is inter-connected via “vines” that effectively transport nutrient rich water for growing, soiled water for filtration, clean water for consumption, and electrical power through their multi-tubular cores.

+ RCDF Studio

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Post tags: aqua-ponics, bee sanctuaries, design contest, gray water filtration system, green mixed-use building, hydroponics, LOFT LONDON FARM TOWER 2011, onsite waste-matter treatment center, rainwater collection, RCDF LOFT, RCDF Studio, Thames River-powered water turbines, vertical farm, vertical park, wind turbines

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Post tags: "living wall", biodynamic felt, Cape Town, eco design, green design, hydroponics, Patrick Blanc, South Africa, succulents, sustainable design, Tractor Outdoor, vertical garden

These solar light trees from Milan designer Omar Huerta are not just a unique installation of solar-powered street lights. They grow actual plants on their branches, using a hydroponic system that pulls water up the trunk just like a real tree. The result is beautiful by day or night, as the trees themselves light up green when the sun goes down.

Read the rest of Omar Huerta’s Solar Light Tree Concept Grows Real Plants

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Post tags: alternative energy, hydroponic solar tree, hydroponics, Omar Huerta Light Tree, renewable energy, Solar Power, solar tree, Urban Farming

Multidisciplinary design firm Except recently unveiled its Polydome concept for meeting the world’s skyrocketing agricultural demands. Using advanced greenhouse technology, meticulously planned crop groupings and absolutely no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, the system can produce an abundant 10-15 lbs per square foot of  vegetables, fish, and even honey. If grown atop rooftops, this bounty of food could even provide the majority of New York City’s food supply.

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Post tags: advanced greenhouse technology, agriculture, alternative agriculture, brightfarms, closed greenhouse, companion planting, crop cluster, crop clusters, crop rotation, crops, dutch, eco design, except, food supply, greenhouse, hydroponics, new york city, plants, polyculture, polydome, rooftop agriculture, sustainable design, three sisters, urban agriculture, zero waste

Pesticides. Genetic-modification. Mistreated animals. It could just about kill anyone’s appetite to hear about all the horrible news about food production. Fortunately, the emerging food revolution focuses on both health and re-establishing the connection between people and the food they eat (making it harder to abuse our food sources). Designers are both leading and answering this shift in interest. Philips Design has begun an investigation called ‘Food Probe’ that looks at current social trends and how this may affect the way that people will eat in the future — and how this will manifest in design. Their investigation includes three parts: a self-contained farm for the kitchen, a nutrition farm and a high-tech cooking device.

Read the rest of Philips Design’s ‘Food Probe’ Promotes Healthy Eating With 3 Concepts

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Post tags: aquaculture, aquaponics, city farms, food production, food systems, futuristic food systems, healthy eating, hydroponics, nutrition, urban agriculture, urban gardening

Recently Chetwood Architects unveiled a stunning proposal for a futuristic London Bridge that sprouts a towering vertical farm in the midst of the Thames river. The bridge’s solar-powered spires are crowned with wind turbines and house a self-sufficent organic farm and commercial center that takes advantage of renewable energy generation, efficient use of water, solar heating, and natural ventilation.

Read the rest of Futuristic London Bridge Sprouts Solar Powered Vertical Farm

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Post tags: bridge, bridge design, Design Competition, hydroponics, london bridge, londong, rainwater, solar, vertical farm, Wind Power

Sometimes ‘it’s not easy being green’, and a little help is needed to make our living space or office cubicle greener and cleaner without much maintenance. Enter the ‘techno-organic’ Grobal planter, a super-stylish self-watering planter that is a foolproof way to grow plants and flowers without day-to-day watering or green-thumb know-how. Invented by Treg Bradley and designed with the high-gloss biomorphism of superstar Karim Rashid, Grobal is ideal for cultivating house plants, flowers, herbs, orchids, and succulents. Let the internal ‘grow chamber’ do the work, and you can sit back and nurture yourself and your plants in self-sufficient, eco-style.

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Post tags: DIY horticulture, green design home accessory, green home gardening, green your home, Grobal, hi tech plants, home ecology, house plants, hydroponics, interiors gardening, Karim Rashid, self watering pot, self-watering plant, self-watering planter, tech plants

Anyone who’s ever been to Florida has probably visited Walt Disney World, and if you have – you’ve hopefully visited EPCOT center, which is by far the most interesting part of the behemoth theme park that covers Orlando, FL. EPCOT stands for “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow” and was originally intended to be a futuristic model community based on utopian modernist ideas of communal living, no cars and no private ownership. Much of the design of the park is lifted straight from Buckminster Fuller’s ideas and drawings, including the massive geodesic sphere which now houses theme park rides. Sounds like it would be right up Inhabitat’s alley, right?

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Post tags: EPCOT agriculture, EPCOT Center Sustainable Farming Initiative, EPCOT farming, genetic engineering, genetically modified crops, hydroponics, Living With the Land, Mickey Mouse shaped pumpkins, MICKEY MOUSE SUSTAINABLE FARMING?, Mickey pumpkins, Walt Disney World Farming

Anyone who’s ever been to Florida has probably visited Walt Disney World, and if you have – you’ve hopefully visited EPCOT center, which is by far the most interesting part of the behemoth theme park that covers Orlando, FL. EPCOT stands for “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow” and was originally intended to be a futuristic model community based on utopian modernist ideas of communal living, no cars and no private ownership. Much of the design of the park is lifted straight from Buckminster Fuller’s ideas and drawings, including the massive geodesic sphere which now houses theme park rides. Sounds like it would be right up Inhabitat’s alley, right?

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Post tags: EPCOT agriculture, EPCOT Center Sustainable Farming Initiative, EPCOT farming, genetic engineering, genetically modified crops, hydroponics, Living With the Land, Mickey Mouse shaped pumpkins, MICKEY MOUSE SUSTAINABLE FARMING?, Mickey pumpkins, Walt Disney World Farming