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.
Unlike conventional monoculture greenhouses that produce only one crop,
Polydome is a polyculture system with over 50 different crops growing at once interspersed among livestock and insects. This diversified system
connects waste, water and energy flows enabling food production to be fully
zero-waste.
Although the Polydome system uses recent advances in greenhouse technology such as
integrated solar photovoltaics, Except’s greatest success was in designing optimal “
crop clusters.” These are groups of plants, such as the
Three Sisters, that use space, light and nutrients together in a way that maximizes productivity. The clusters are interchangeable, like
Lego blocks, with many possible combinations that can be chosen to meet local food demand.
Depending on the plants and clusters chosen, Polydome systems can be entirely
zero-waste. Inedible plant waste is reused as mulch, compost, and fish feed, while animal waste is used as natural fertilizer. Furthermore, mushroom cultivation, chickens and composing provide the high levels of
carbon dioxide that plants thrive on, rather than generators or fossil fuel combustion.
To further maximize productivity, the system also uses stacked
hydroponic crops. High profit crops such as strawberries and lettuces are suspended above soil crops, quickly growing in a hydroponic solution. This solution is loaded with nutrients from the wastewater of the Polydome’s
fish aquaculture system.
Except suggests that their advanced greenhouse design could be coupled with restaurants, supermarkets and other food vendors. But as
BrightFarms has demonstrated, a greenhouse like this could be planted atop any building, brightening the prospects of this concept reaching fruition.
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