Urban Agriculture

By simultaneously studying the systems that mange water, food, and energy generation we can optimize their performance holistically, resulting in greater yields, reduced waste, and healthier environments and diets alike. Developing an integrated model of these systems can also help achieve reduction of emissions for transportation, decrease consumption of water and energy for food production, and provide a fresher, more abundant food supply on shorter demand. In this project we compare the performance and environmental impact of a synthetically powered hydroponic farming module to more conventional daylit farms in order to develop a water efficiency modeling tool which can be incorporated into existing platforms for urban energy modeling like UMI. The objective is to create tools to enable planners and other users to home in on energy and water usage to understand how the systems can be optimized for maximum efficiency and sustainability.