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Building-integrated rooftop greenhouses: An energy and environmental assessment in the mediterranean context

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  • Nadal, Ana
  • Llorach-Massana, Pere
  • Cuerva, Eva
  • López-Capel, Elisa
  • Montero, Juan Ignacio
  • Josa, Alejandro
  • Rieradevall, Joan
  • Royapoor, Mohammad

Abstract

A sustainable and secure food supply within a low-carbon and resilient infrastructure is encapsulated in several of The United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals. The integration of urban agriculture in buildings can offer improved efficiencies; in recognition of this, the first south European example of a fully integrated rooftop greenhouse (iRTG) was designed and incorporated into the ICTA-ICP building by the Autonomous University of Barcelona. This design seeks to interchange heat, CO2 and rainwater between the building and its rooftop greenhouse. Average air temperatures for 2015 in the iRTG were 16.5°C (winter) and 25.79°C (summer), making the iRTG an ideal growing environment. Using detailed thermophysical fabric properties, 2015 site-specific weather data, exact control strategies and dynamic soil temperatures, the iRTG was modelled in EnergyPlus to assess the performance of an equivalent ‘freestanding’ greenhouse. The validated result shows that the thermal interchange between the iRTG and the ICTA-ICP building has considerable moderating effects on the iRTG’s indoor climate; since average hourly temperatures in an equivalent freestanding greenhouse would have been 4.1°C colder in winter and 4.4°C warmer in summer under the 2015 climatic conditions. The simulation results demonstrate that the iRTG case study recycled 43.78MWh of thermal energy (or 341.93kWh/m2/yr) from the main building in 2015. Assuming 100% energy conversion efficiency, compared to freestanding greenhouses heated with oil, gas or biomass systems, the iRTG delivered an equivalent carbon savings of 113.8, 82.4 or 5.5kg CO2(eq)/m2/yr, respectively, and economic savings of 19.63, 15.88 or 17.33 €/m2/yr, respectively. Under similar climatic conditions, this symbiosis between buildings and urban agriculture makes an iRTG an efficient resource-management model and supports the promotion of a new typology or concept of buildings with a nexus or symbiosis between energy efficiency and food production.

Suggested Citation

  • Nadal, Ana & Llorach-Massana, Pere & Cuerva, Eva & López-Capel, Elisa & Montero, Juan Ignacio & Josa, Alejandro & Rieradevall, Joan & Royapoor, Mohammad, 2017. "Building-integrated rooftop greenhouses: An energy and environmental assessment in the mediterranean context," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 338-351.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:187:y:2017:i:c:p:338-351
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.11.051
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    2. Muñoz-Liesa, Joan & Royapoor, Mohammad & López-Capel, Elisa & Cuerva, Eva & Rufí-Salís, Martí & Gassó-Domingo, Santiago & Josa, Alejandro, 2020. "Quantifying energy symbiosis of building-integrated agriculture in a mediterranean rooftop greenhouse," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 696-709.
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    9. Mireia Ercilla-Montserrat & David Sanjuan-Delmás & Esther Sanyé-Mengual & Laura Calvet-Mir & Karla Banderas & Joan Rieradevall & Xavier Gabarrell, 2019. "Analysis of the consumer’s perception of urban food products from a soilless system in rooftop greenhouses: a case study from the Mediterranean area of Barcelona (Spain)," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(3), pages 375-393, September.
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    13. La Notte, Luca & Giordano, Lorena & Calabrò, Emanuele & Bedini, Roberto & Colla, Giuseppe & Puglisi, Giovanni & Reale, Andrea, 2020. "Hybrid and organic photovoltaics for greenhouse applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    14. Il-Seok Choi & Akhtar Hussain & Van-Hai Bui & Hak-Man Kim, 2018. "A Multi-Agent System-Based Approach for Optimal Operation of Building Microgrids with Rooftop Greenhouse," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-24, July.
    15. Esther Sanyé-Mengual & Kathrin Specht & Erofili Grapsa & Francesco Orsini & Giorgio Gianquinto, 2019. "How Can Innovation in Urban Agriculture Contribute to Sustainability? A Characterization and Evaluation Study from Five Western European Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-31, August.
    16. Musammat Shahinara Begum & Sujit Kumar Bala & A.K.M. Saiful Islam & Debjit Roy, 2021. "Environmental and Social Dynamics of Urban Rooftop Agriculture (URTA) and Their Impacts on Microclimate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-26, August.
    17. Eun-Jung Choi & Doyun Lee & Sang-Min Lee, 2024. "Impact of Building Integrated Rooftop Greenhouse (BiRTG) on Heating and Cooling Energy Load: A Study Based on a Container with Rooftop Greenhouse," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-18, August.
    18. Drottberger, Annie & Zhang, Yizhi & Yong, Jean Wan Hong & Dubois, Marie-Claude, 2023. "Urban farming with rooftop greenhouses: A systematic literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
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    20. Ayambire, Raphael Anammasiya & Amponsah, Owusu & Peprah, Charles & Takyi, Stephen Appiah, 2019. "A review of practices for sustaining urban and peri-urban agriculture: Implications for land use planning in rapidly urbanising Ghanaian cities," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 260-277.
    21. de Rubeis, Tullio & Nardi, Iole & Ambrosini, Dario & Paoletti, Domenica, 2018. "Is a self-sufficient building energy efficient? Lesson learned from a case study in Mediterranean climate," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 131-145.

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