O’Brian, C.(2023, July 11) Empty Office Buildings Are Being Turned Into Vertical Farms. Retrieved August 21, 2023, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/empty -office-buildings-are-being-turned-into-vertical-farms-180982502/
During the pandemic, the vast majority of work transitioned to being entirely online. But even as the pandemic has ended the number of people working remotely has remained extremely high. This has led to lots of office space going basically unused. Many empty office buildings have been repurposed into vertical farms in order to not have all the space go to waste. They provide efficient and reliable food sources and provide economic opportunities.
Repurposing unused office space is an environmental solution to the challenges of urban cities. Verticle farming can use less energy and water more effectively, and with totally manipulatable conditions the yields are often far superior to traditional farming. The conservation of energy and water is one benefit but another is the massive amounts of land it saves. Traditional farming requires very large areas of land while vertical farming is much more compact. The land that would no longer be devoted to farming could be utilized in a number of ways including using it for renewable energy. This means that vertical farming could actually produce energy because the land it saves could power the vertical farm and there could still produce a surplus of energy. Another benefit is that with the empty office spaces getting put to good use it could encourage businesses to keep work remote which as was seen during the pandemic also reduces emissions because lots of emissions are produced as a result of people’s daily commutes to work which would be eliminated if they continued to work remotely.
I agree with your analysis. Using this office space for vertical farming is a very interesting idea. I wonder how this could change post-pandemic with more people going to work, but also how we could still use vertical farming and make it more permanent in our food production. Good job.
Thanks for your comment. With office building use increasing it is likely that designated verticle farming buildings would have to be constructed which could increase costs.
This is a great win-win solution. Not only does it provide a more sustainable farming agricultural approach, it also decreases emissions from people commuting to and from work. Will converting to vertical farming require a lot of energy? And it is expensive to maintain?
Thanks for your comment. It does require a fair bit of energy, but this is largely offset by making use of the land that would be taken up by a traditional farm to produce clean energy. Verticle farming can be more expensive in some cases, but it usually also produces better crops.
I agree with you that converting empty office spaces into vertical farms is a smart way to address urban challenges and benefit the environment. It saves resources and land, reduces emissions, and could even generate additional energy. What difficulties do you foresee in making vertical farming in converted offices more common, like finding money and making sure everyone can benefit from it?
Thanks for your comment. I think one of the biggest challenges could be resistance from traditional farmers and public opinion. People are generally very suspicious of changes in their food, such as with GMOs, so they would have to be convinced it was safe.
I agree with you. Utilizing this office space for farming is an interesting thought. makes me think about how this could change post-pandemic with additional individuals going to work, additionally the way in which we might in any case involve vertical farming and make it more long-lasting in our food creation.
Thanks for your comment. It will definitely be interesting to see how the end of the pandemic influences things. I think it is worthwhile to implement it more permanently.