Happy Farmers Technical Report: Implementation of zero-acreage farming (ZFarming) with hydroponics in SIT@Punggol by leveraging otherwise vacant rooftops spaces

1. Introduction

This proposal has been developed in response to the request for proposals on developing engineering solutions for a sustainability problem.

With finite resources, “new approaches are needed to reduce urban footprints and make cities sustainable”, which leads to the rise of zero-acreage farming (ZFarming). ZFarming is an urban farming production “characterised by the non-use of land or acreage” to bring food to the cities sustainably as it reduces transportation carbon footprint while factoring resource scarcity (Thomaiser et al., 2015). Localised ZFarming examples in land constraint Singapore include Comcrop and Citiponics (Lim, 2019). Both merged ZFarming with hydroponics to grow food in a sustainable manner through vertical farming (The Straits Times, 2016). Elder generations or even volunteers help to tend the crop, stimulating community involvement through such educational scheme on farming (Teh, 2019). In order to make better use of the vacant spaces of rooftops, ZFarming can be implemented onto the rooftops. For example, currently SIT@Dover does not have any buildings with any implementation on the rooftops, therefore leaving plenty of spaces vacant.

According to data from The World Bank (n.d.), the land scarce nation Singapore has achieved 100% urbanisation since 1960. Meanwhile since 1961, the percentage of agricultural land in Singapore has decreased significantly with respect to local land area to the current level of less than 10% as seen in Appendix B. On the other hand, in accordance to Urban Redevelopment Agency (URA) (2015), 35% of land used in Singapore is purposed for housing, industry and commerce and community, institution and recreational facilities, illustrated in Table 1.

Table 1: Singapore land use distribution 2010 and 2030 projected distribution (Urban Redevelopment Agency, 2015)

 

Out of the 35% of land used, large availability of vacant spaces can be unlocked for utilisation. Based on common sight in sub-urban areas of Singapore (high-rise residential, industry and commerce and community, institution and recreational facilities) with the aid of Google Map’s satellite image (2019), most of the rooftops within Jurong West Street 75 alone have readily available vacant spaces as seen in Figure 1. 

Figure 1: Satellite imagery of Jurong West Street 75 (Google Map, 2019)

With such trend, even the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) is targeting "to unlock more spaces to grow food locally, including underutilised or alternative spaces like vacant state buildings, rooftops and the deep sea”. Implementation of ZFarming will also help in expanding local agri-food sector to tackle food security amidst land scarcity issues while achieving Environment and Water Resources Ministry (MEWR) “30 by 30” goal by increasing local produce from less than 10% to 30% by 2030 (Mahmud, 2019).

With reference to the model of SIT@Punggol in Appendix C, Happy Farmer Pte Ltd would like the SIT@Punggol planning committee to adopt the idea to include ZFarming with hydroponics as part of their construction plan to utilise vacant spaces in the rooftops of SIT@Punggol’s buildings while playing a part in expanding the local food security. As an institute, SIT can be used as the platform to push for the awareness of ZFarming, since SIT’s mission is “to nurture and develop individuals who build on their interests and talents to impact society in meaningful ways”. It will be impactful to the Singapore as a whole while SIT will be recognised as a one stop location for local urban farmers to research on urban farming, while working alongside with the government agencies to initiate their 30 by 30 goal through institutional platform. 

2. Problem Statement

As seen in the model of SIT@Punggol, buildings’ vacant spaces such as rooftops are not fully utilised. Implementation of ZFarming on the said rooftop can maximise space usage, setting as a model institute to play a part in achieving the nation’s 30 by 30 goal while expanding the local food security.

3. Purpose Statement

Happy Farmers Pte Ltd would like to propose to the SIT@Punggol planning committee to look into the application of ZFarming technique to fully utilise otherwise vacant rooftop spaces. The proposal is suggesting that SIT will be the pioneer institute to demonstrate sustainable living within the land constraint Singapore while in line with SFA’s push for the local second food basket - local sources for food security.

4. Proposed Solution

Based on the example of the model display of SIT@Punggol, implementing ZFarming can potentially reduce the amount of vacant spaces in the campus. “A growing number of urban farming projects are being started in and on existing urban buildings, using rooftop spaces or abandoned buildings. This includes soil-based or hydroponic open rooftop farms, rooftop greenhouses as well as indoor farming” (Susanne, 2013). ZFarming would maximise the vacant spaces as well as rooftop areas of the urban buildings. Rooftop areas of institutions such as National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University as well SIT are vacant with little to no implementations. This is seen in their campus on site, where rooftops are mainly vacant. Therefore, it would be a viable idea to manifest and develop ZFarming on urban buildings such as the new campus of SIT@Punggol, to ensure that such spaces could be used for farming or educational purposes. 

ZFarming complemented with the technique of hydroponics will be introduced to SIT@Punggol. Hydroponics is “the technique of growing plants without soil by using mineral nutrients solution in a water solvent” (Woodford, 2019). This provides a more direct and efficient method of feeding plants with nutrients with the option of being pesticide-free. If housed on rooftops or even in a controlled environment (greenhouse), it is feasible and easy to control. 

In order to implement ZFarming in SIT@Punggol, certain steps have to be taken. First, the time frame to implement this idea in SIT@Punggol would take up to twelve months, with consideration of venue, resources and manpower. Considering that farming would take time before seeing the product, twelve months would be a considerable timeline.

Second, identify current local ZFarming projects. As mentioned in the introduction, Comcrop and Citiponics would enable us to pinpoint effective methods to carry out ZFarming.

Third, understanding the suitability of ZFarming as it varies in different forms and sizes. By reviewing and planning before the implementation of the farm, it helps to understand the different strategies and points for implementing ZFarms. Next, review the technology to be used for the farm. With reference to Citiponics, it is “using a technology called the Aqua Organic System, the farm produces vegetables that are free of pesticides, and its water and energy-saving methods prevent mosquito breeding” (Lim, 2019). Different types of technologies could be implement depending on the climate and surroundings.

Last, implementation. Before implementing, manpower and support is required from the planning committee. By already identifying what type of projects and crops to be used, while reviewing the suitability of certain techniques and location, we can therefore proceed to implement ZFarming.

5. Benefits

Our aim is for SIT@Punggol committee team to adopt the proposal as there is no food garden located at vacant spaces. This idea coincides with SIT@Punggol’s forged identity of ‘Campus-in-a-Park’. Based on SIT@Punggol’s write up at SIT@Dover’s reception, the team understands that the planning committee had included green spaces at car parks’ roofs and other plant rooms. Those green roofs not only help to brighten up the institute, but also act as outdoor event spaces. With ZFarming, it can serve the same purpose as those designed green roofs for SIT@Punggol with additional benefits such as food production, education purpose and recognition - the pioneer institute to house ZFarming.

5.1. Maximising agriculture land spaces

The proposed solution of ZFarming with hydroponics can help to minimise land space usage as the plants are planted closely side by side while being vertically stacked in the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe. Furthermore, the plants are soaked in nutrients rich water (Max, 2017). This means that crops planted do not the need for topsoil layer on earth to rest, compared to conventional farming techniques.

5.2. Easy maintenance

Since the plants are soaked in nutrients rich water, the crops will be free from soil-borne diseases and have sufficient nutrients intake without the need for huge amount of fertilisers (Max, 2017).

5.3. Learning platform

ZFarming is a great platform for all walks of life to gather to share their passion for urban farming. This is also in line with the purpose of Punggol Digital District, to be inclusive for academia, industrial and community. Residents and students will have the opportunity to share and learn new knowledge on urban farming, and utilise the skills gained to create their own mini gardens at home.

5.4. Interaction opportunity

ZFarming can rekindle the kampong spirit where the community come together to work in unison. By being active, proactive and with an open heart, students and residents around the neighbourhood can come together to plant and harvest food crops (Chia, 2018). Punggol residents who help out in the process are able to bring home food crops as part of the incentives for their efforts in facilitating the farm.

5.5. Recognition

SIT will also be recognised as the pioneer institute to partner with the government agencies to initiate the widespread of the nation’s effort in the 30 by 30 goal on their campus ground. The initiative also allows SIT@Punggol to be a one stop location for interested urban farmers to learn and conduct their research on the topic.

5.6. Food production

With ZFarming, it can minimally relieve the demand for imported food supply during emergency situations such as natural disaster disrupting overseas supply.  Harvested food crops can be supplied to one of the canteens in the institute. The cohort of SIT will then be able to consume freshly harvested vegetables while reducing carbon footprint.

6. Evaluation

The feasibility of ZFarming on SIT@Punggol campus is doable as it is in line with the campus identity to be a “Campus-in-a-Park” with the purpose to use it to serve as a community park that provides interaction, recreation and rejuvenation. Since the planning committee already has assigned green roofs as part of the masterplan, adopting it to ZFarming instead fulfils the requirement and also help in pushing SFA’s 30 by 30 goal. To aid in the yielding of the crops, SIT can engage the local community (Punggol residents) to be involved, also fulfils the vision of being interclusive. The residents not only gain knowledge and awareness on ZFarming, but also get to bring home freshly local harvested crop for their consumption.

The success of the programme will rely on the selection of crops suitable to thrive in the local climate. With the success of local ZFarms such as ComCrop and Citiponics, we can gain insights from them with regards for crop selection such as ghost pepper and sweet basil.  

However, ZFarming has some limitation. Ponding issues will occur on rooftop due to tropical climate in Singapore. Wet and dry areas of the roof along with acid rain left from evaporating rain, would cause damage on roof surface (BCA, n.d.). In order to prevent this, installation of drainage can redirect the water accumulated on the roof to prevent water stagnation and mosquitoes breeding (Coddington, 2018).

According to Regulation 45(1) of the Building Control Regulations 2003, no building shall be subjected to extra loading besides the design loads and non-compliance is an offence. The proprietor has to hire Professional Engineer (PE) to ensure that safety requirement have been met. 

From the satellite view of SIT@Punggol (see Figure 2), the institute is currently not undergoing any construction work. SIT planning committee can consult with design engineers to install drainage system and factor in the additional load to ensure that safety requirements are met.

Figure 2: Satellite view of SIT@Punggol (Tan R. , 2015)

7. Methodology

In order to make a study on the possibility of zero-acreage farming, different sources were used in order to research deeper into the topic. To better understand the design of SIT@Punggol, the team visited the display model and write up located at the reception of SIT@Dover as shown in Appendix C. Through the primary research, we understand that campus wants to forge the identity of “Campus-in-a-Park”. 

Journal articles, news articles and websites were also used to make further secondary research with regards to ZFarming and hydroponics to support this technical report. ZFarming case studies, feasibility and trends were researched on. Secondary sources from local news platform such as The Strait Times and TODAY, and agencies’ websites like AVA and Building Construction Authority (BCA) were used to gain insights of Singapore food supplies and ZFarming. As for figures, they were sourced personally to Google Map and Blogspot.

8. Conclusion

In conclusion, ZFarming complemented with hydroponics would utilise otherwise vacant space, which would be an issue that local agencies such as SFA and URA are looking to tap on. ZFarming can also achieve SIT@Punggol’s identity of being “Campus-in-a-Park”, by creating community park where it allows interaction, recreation and rejuvenation. With ZFarming, it can engage the SIT’s cohort and Punggol residents to take part in the farming process by putting their green fingers to work. SIT could take the opportunity to be the first campus to integrate ZFarming to their infrastructure, showing sustainable urban living with the benefit of freshly harvested crops. This could also bring in collaborative opportunities with agencies as well as local urban farm interest groups, as the campus can be used as a research ground on ZFarming in Singapore. The adaptation of ZFarming will also be in line with SFA’s 30 by 30 goal, aiding in pushing for the awareness of local food security is a part of the national security.

Analytical/Critical Reflection

In my opinion, I feel that CVE1281 has helped me gain knowledge on how to effectively deliver public speeches with the various techniques taught (Garr Reynold’s, assertion-evidence approach, Monroe etc.). In the past, I would data dump which bored my audience. I have learnt from my mock oral presentation, that I should take note to make my future slides highlighting on images instead. Not only that, the techniques taught helped significantly in boosting the way I present (usually a concern of mine). In the future, I will use storytelling and other techniques to help in engaging my audience for future presentation be it in SIT or at work.

As for the project, for a team to function efficiently, it is crucial that any information and assignment relayed and disseminated are clear so that each team member understands their respective roles in the team. Members need to keep a lookout for other members who may seem to be unaware of the situation, clarifying and simplifying with them to ensure that they understand their contribution towards the team. This will help greatly in the whole report writing process as ideas will have a smoother flow and transition. While from the mock oral presentation, I understand that tables should be converted to infographic or pie chart to make it easier and more impactful for the audience to understand the data.

Being an audience of the Presentation Showcase, amongst the teams (Graviton Blades, Energy Savers and Night Owls) I had watched presenting, I felt that Energy Savers had the best presentation that day. Nurul had a great introduction with a short story to get the audience into thinking about how little action makes an impact as a whole. The transition to the next speaker, Lu Sheng, where he introduced the solution was smooth. He was confident and convincing with his tone and grasp on the topic of Human Monitoring Interface (HMI). The team’s presentation also utilised simplified animation to get their idea across and some fun facts to keep the audience engaged.



*Edited on 10th April 2019
*Commented on Jayce's, Dom's & Syah's

Reflection - The Mapletree Challenge: Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum

On 20th March 2019, Wednesday night, The Mapletree Challenge: Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum, was held in SIT@Dover's Auditorium. Guest speakers included Mr Shamir Rahim, Founder and CEO of VersaFleet, Mr Zach Wilson, Managing Director of AlfaTech, Ms Nancy Ling, Director and Co-Founder of ECO U Pte Ltd and Mr Eugene Wong, Founder and Managing Director of Sirius Venture Capital (SVC).

Mr Shamir started off with a background on his family business of supply chain logistics that serves Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, where the problem of inefficiency was highlighted as the planning was still done manually. With Mr Shamir’s background on software engineering, he then took the initiative to come out with scripts to automate the planning process, which was reduced from hours to seconds. This not only benefit the staff in terms of work-life balance but also to the company as resources are better managed. This however in my opinion, might be a bane to employees as the company see it as an opportunity to lay off some staffs as it has better allocation of its resources. So, cooperates need to weight the importance and value of innovation with respect to employees' rights.

Another notable insight mentioned by Mr Zach on how cooperates use poor economics model to price sustainability, where they see the on-hand cost is more than conventional means but do not value what sustainability can reap in the long run. This is something I totally agree on as most cooperates focus on short-term goals of gaining maximum profitability, but fail to see the importance of cost-savings can eventually lead to profitability and sustaining the business in the long-run. Which Mr Zach explained why economics in general do not adopt sustainable means, and the need for champion in the cooperate with the finance resources to push forward the importance of sustainability to the company and also the planet in general.

All in all, it has been a great exposure for us students to think about utilising innovation in entrepreneurship. It is well noted that riding the initial wave (being the pioneer) is pivotal to a start-up, as it leeches on to the concept of novelty while being the trendsetter for subsequent companies wanting to ride on the success. While monetary gain is important, sustaining a business is more about finding a balance in that while achieving company values.



*Commented on Dom's, Wei Wen's & Baizurah's posts

Technical Report Draft #1B

Introduction

This proposal has been developed in response to the request for proposals on developing engineering solutions for a sustainability problem.

Globally, urbanisation is at the expense of agricultural land. According to The World Bank (n.d.), there was a sharp decrease of the world’s agricultural land with respect to the percentage of land area from 1991 to 1992 as seen in Figure 1. With finite resources, “new approaches are needed to reduce urban footprints and make cities sustainable”, which leads to the rise of zero-acreage farming (ZFarming) (Thomaiser et al., 2015). ZFarming is an urban farming production “characterised by the non-use of land or acreage”. In land scarce nation, Singapore, ZFarming can help to tackle both land scarcity and food security issues as in line with Singapore Food Agency’s goal to expand the local agri-food sector (Teh, 2019). 

Figure 1: World’s percentage of agricultural land based on percentage land area (The World Bank, n.d.)

According to data from The World Bank (n.d.), Singapore has achieved 100% urbanisation since 1960. Meanwhile since 1961, the percentage of agricultural land in Singapore has decreased significantly with respect to local land area as seen in Figure 2. Singapore has little farming land with local farm such as Kok Fah and Oh’s Farms, data from 2015 shows only 6.6 km2 land size out of the total 719.1 km2 land space are allocated for agricultural usage, accounting for less than 1% (Data.gov.sg, 2015). Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) reported that local agriculture farms supply 13% of all the vegetables consumed locally, while the rest are imported, an indication that Singapore relies heavily on imported food supplies. This means that Singapore might not be ready to provide local food supplies in case of emergency situation such as food diseases outbreak, overseas suppliers to cut off Singapore’s food supplies and neighbouring countries political changes (AVA, 2019). In order to tackle those emergency situation local government agencies are looking into the integration of farming to “spaces around high-rise public housing” (TODAY, 2017). In accordance to Urban Redevelopment Agency (URA), 35% of land used in Singapore is for the purpose of housing, industry and commerce and community, institution and recreational facilities, illustrated in Table 1. The Environment and Water Resources Ministry (MEWR) also plans by 2030 to increase local produce from less than 10% to 30%. To achieve the “30 by 30” goal, the AVA “has been looking to unlock more spaces to grow food locally, including underutilised or alternative spaces like vacant state buildings, rooftops and the deep sea” (Haziq, 2019).

Figure 2: Singapore’s percentage of agricultural land based on percentage land area (The World Bank, n.d.)

Table 1: Singapore land use distribution 2010 and 2030 projected distribution (Urban Redevelopment Agency, 2015)

Vacant spaces in institutes such as SIT@Punggol can be utilised for ZFarming. If SIT becomes the pioneer campus to partner with the government agencies to initiate the widespread the nation’s effort in the 30 by 30 goal, then SIT@Punggol will be a one stop location or research base for urban farmers in singapore to research on urban farming. (Value for SIT.) We would like the SIT@Punggol planning community to adopt this idea as part of their construction plan to make a part in achieving green spaces in Singapore. 

Problem Statement

Vacant spaces such as rooftops of SIT@Punggol’s buildings are not fully utilised. It is important to integrate zero-acreage food gardens in the vacant rooftops of SIT@Punggol to maximise space usage.

Purpose Statement

The team would like to propose to the SIT@Punggol planning committee to look into the application of zero-acreage farming techniques to fully utilise otherwise vacant rooftop spaces. The proposal is suggesting that SIT will be the pioneer institute to demonstrate sustainable living within the land constraint Singapore, in line with Singapore Food Agency's push for the local second food basket - local sources for food security. 

Proposed Solution

In order to solve the problem, the idea of implementing zero-acreage farming will be able to tackle the current problem which is rooftops being vacant. For example, currently, SIT@Dover does not have any buildings with any implementation on the rooftops. “A growing number of urban farming projects are being started in and on existing urban buildings, using rooftop spaces or abandoned buildings. This includes soil-based or hydroponic open rooftop farms, rooftop greenhouses as well as indoor farming.” (Susanne, 2013) Such innovation would maximise the vacant spaces as well as rooftop areas of the urban buildings. This includes rooftop greenhouses, indoor farming as well as hydroponics. Zero-acreage farming could also illustrate and demonstrate the modern farming techniques and develop an educational scheme or knowledge of protecting Singapore’s food security by developing the local food source. Rooftop areas of many different institutions such as National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University as well Singapore Institute of Technology are normally vacant with little to no implementations. This is seen in their campus, where rooftops are mainly empty spaces. Therefore, it would be a viable idea to manifest and develop zero-acreage farming on urban buildings such as the new campus of SIT@Punggol to ensure that such spaces could be used for farming for food crops or even educational purposes. 

In Singapore, there are examples of zero-acreage farming. One such example is Comcrop, a local urban rooftop aquaponics farm. “Located on the rooftop of SCAPE, a shopping centre in the heart of Orchard Road, the farm now provides fresh produce to establishments that include the Shangri-La and Raffles hotels.” (The Straits Time, 2016) ComCrop makes use of vertical farming in order to develop the food crops in a sustainable manner. There are many various crops such as basil or even peppermint that are being developed and such farming activities are tended to the elder generations or even volunteers.

Besides the idea of implementing zero-acreage farming in and on urban buildings, zero-acreage farming could be complemented with the concept of hydroponics. Hydroponics is the method of growing plants without soil by using mineral nutrients solution in a water solvent. Growing plants without soil is known as hydroponics. (Chris, 2019)This provides a more direct and efficient method of feeding plants with nutrients. There are many benefits of hydroponics, such as producing no weeds, not requiring huge number of fertilisers which would add to cost, no soil-borne diseases as well as nutrients are well distributed to the plants. Such hydroponics can be considered on rooftops, or even in a controlled environment which is feasible and easy to control. The product is also pesticide-free, which is beneficial for consumption.

The time frame to implement this idea in SIT@Punggol would take up to twelve months, with consideration of venue, resources and manpower. Considering that farming would take time before seeing the product, twelve months would be a considerable timeline.

However, it is important to consider whether such implementation of zero-acreage farming would be feasible in educational institutes or urban developments in Singapore. With the benefits of producing crops for food security as well as being an educational scheme for the institute, it is viable to set up such zero-acreage farming on the rooftops as well as vacant spaces in SIT@Punggol. Most urban spaces are usually vacant, and it would be beneficial to.

In order to implement zero-acreage farming on SIT@Dover, certain steps have to be taken. First, identify zero-acreage farming projects which are currently existing. In the context of Singapore, there is Comcrop as well as Citiponics. Identify the type of crops that are suitable for Singapore’s climate. 

Second, reviewing the suitability of the farms. ZFarms vary in different forms and sizes. By reviewing and planning before the implementation of the farm, it helps to understand the different strategies and points for implementing ZFarms. Next, review the technology to be used for the farm. With reference to Citiponics, it is “using a technology called the Aqua Organic System, the farm produces vegetables that are free of pesticides, and its water- and energy-saving methods prevent mosquito breeding.” (Janice, 2019).  Different types of technology could be used depending on the type of farm as well as the air atmosphere.

Last, implementation of the farm onto rooftops of buildings or vacant spaces. Before implementing, manpower and support is required from the planning committee. By already identifying what type of projects and crops to be used, while reviewing the suitability of certain techniques and location, we can therefore proceed to create the ZFarms.

Benefits

ZFarming brings both social and ecological benefits by opening opportunities for stakeholders in resource savings, repurposing and improve aesthetics of buildings (Specht et al., 2015). Through ZFarming in SIT @ Punggol, it is able to achieve green and sustainable cities and buildings. This helps to improve institute’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) green mark score by a few marks. BCA Green Mark Scheme encourages construction industry to build more environment-friendly buildings while promoting sustainability in Singapore (BCA, 2017).

Social benefits include educating students and public about planting, improving buildings aesthetics, community food security and quality (Specht et al., 2015). It is a platform for all walks of life to gather to plant and harvest food crops as ZFarming recreates the kampong spirit where the community do things in unison. By being active, proactive and with open heart, students and residents around the neighbourhood can come together to gather to plant and harvest food crops (Chia, 2018).

SIT will also be recognised as the pioneer institute to partner with the government agencies to initiate the widespread the nation’s effort in the 30 by 30 goal on their campus ground. The initiative also allows SIT@Punggol to be a one stop location or research base for urban farmers in singapore.

Our aim is for SIT@Punggol committee team to adopt the proposal. This idea is coincide with SIT@Punggol’s identity to be a ‘campus in a park’. Based on SIT @ Punggol’s model and description at SIT@DOVER main entrance, we know that the planning committee included campus green as part of their design. Their design was to create green spaces at roof of the carparks and other plant rooms. It not only can help to brighten up the institute, it can also become an outdoor event space for community events or varsity games.

Even though the plan has included green spaces which consists of vertical walls filled with lush greenery to create a sky garden at development’s southern corners and creeper screens planted at all gable and walls, there are no green spaces located at vacant spaces for farming.

Evaluation

The feasibility of ZFarming on SIT@Punggol campus is doable as it is in line with the campus identity to be a “Campus-in-a-Park” with the purpose to use it to serve as a community park that provides interaction, recreation and rejuvenation. Since the planning community already has assigned green roofs as part of the masterplan, adopting it to ZFarming instead fulfils the requirement and also help in pushing SFA’s 30 by 30 goal. To aid in the yielding of the crops, SIT can engage the local community (punggol residents) to be involved in the ZFarming, also fulfils the vision of being interactive. The residents not only gain knowledge and awareness on ZFarming, but also get to bring home freshly local harvested crop for their consumption.

The success of the programme will rely on the selection of crops suitable to thrive in the local climate. With the success of local ZFarms such as ComCrop and Citiponics, we can gain insights from them with regards for crop selection.

Flooding issue may occur at the rooftop if there are no proper drainage system implemented. However, SIT@Punggol is a development in progress, drainage system can be implemented in the blue print.

Methods/Procedures

In order to make a study on the possibility of zero-acreage farming, different sources were used in order to research deeper into the topic. Internet resources and books were used to make a further research with regards to farming.  There are two components towards the research, secondary and primary. Primary sources were government datas, published books and even research datas. Secondary sources, for example, were news articles, journal articles, Building Construction Authority and Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore. Authorities approval as it is building, BCA is the relevant authority. AVA is the authority that pushes food security in Singapore.  In order to identify the possibility of setting up the farm, interviews were conducted to the student population to gather opinions. By gathering the feedbacks, we are able to improve on different aspects of the zero-acreage farming and how beneficial it would be to them. News articles and journal articles were referred to for gaining insights of zero-acreage farming. Through these articles, we are able to find out about various established zero-acreage farming projects where we could gain insights and implement such kind of projects onto SIT@Punggol. Not only such articles, books and government datas were considered in order to make a deeper understanding of the topic. We researched on Zfarming trends, feasibility, case studies of Zfarming and local base on Zfarming. Resources such as local news platform Todayonline and The Straits Times were used.

Conclusion

The large potential to utilise otherwise vacant space for ZFarming is something even the local agencies such as SFA and URA are looking to tap on. SIT can take the opportunity to be the first campus to integrate Zfarming to their infrastructure, showing that vacant spaces can be fully utilised with the benefits of freshly harvested crops. This can also bring in collaborative opportunities with agencies as well as local urban farm interest groups, as the campus can be used as a research ground on ZFarming in Singapore. The adaptation will also be in line with SFA’s 30 by 30 goal, aiding in pushing for the awareness of local food security is apart of the national security. The identity, “Campus-in-a-Park” that also serves as a community park that provides interaction, recreation and rejuvenation, SIT wishes to identify can also be fulfil through the engagement of local resident to take part in the farming process.

Technical Report Draft #1

Introduction

The rooftops of educational institutes in Singapore can be usually seen with vacant spaces. Such spaces can otherwise be fully utilised for human activities such as zero-acreage farming in the land constraint nation. The Little Red Dot constantly seeks for a myriad of methods to fully utilising land spaces, either by means of high rise structures, land reclamations, to even underground superstructures. However, limitations of each solutions restrict the extent of land expansion in Singapore. This is where planning ahead and the maximising land utilisation play important part to manage land space in Singapore. One such example is utilising otherwise vacant spaces such as rooftops.

Even though Singapore is land constraint, there are quite a few vacant places such as former school compounds and rooftop of highrise buildings. Our team would like to introduce zero-acreage farming to be built on these vacant spaces. Singapore is heavily dependant on imported food resources. According to AVA, Singapore imports over 90% of food from countries like Indonesia and China. In many parts of the world, food security is emerging as a serious threat. By implementing zero-acreage farming, we are potentially trying to reduce a threat and also be able to maximize the use of vacant spaces available on rooftops. The main stakeholders for the zero-acreage farming would be the SIT@Punggol’s planning committee. Through this implementation, we can bring across our messages to various students, staff as well as members of public.

Problem Statement

Vacant spaces such as rooftops of SIT@Punggol’s buildings are not fully utilised. Therefore, it is important to integrate zero-acreage food gardens in the vacant rooftops of SIT@Punggol, maximising space usage.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this report is to act on the letter of authorisation set out to develop and rationalise a plausible sustainable solution for an identified issue in Singapore to benefit her citizens. The team would like to propose to the SIT@Punggol planning committee to look into the application of zero-acreage farming techniques to fully utilise otherwise vacant rooftop spaces. The proposal hopes for SIT to be the pioneer institute to demonstrate sustainable living within the land constraint Singapore, in line with Singapore Food Agency's push for the local second food basket - local sources for food security.

Blog Post #2 (Annotated Summary)

Bibliography

He, Z., Asutosh, A., & Hu, W. (27 November, 2018). Implementing Vertical Farming at University Scale to Promote Sustainable Communities: A Feasibility Analysis. Sustainability, 10(12), p. 4429. doi:10.3390/su10124429

This article focuses on the analysis of the feasibility of vertical farming application at university scale to promote sustainable communities. It rationalises the needs for vertical farming due to urbanisation, reduction in cultivable land, food security, climate change, energy crisis, water and supply chain logistics. It also provides background knowledge on the various types of vertical farming such as aquaponics, hydroponics and aeroponics, as well as the advantages. The authors made several case studies from various countries’ existing vertical farms. The feasibility is broken down through the breakeven based on their calculated space area allocation for the analysis as well as their surveyed top crops based on Huazhong University of Science and Technology’s demand. The benefits of implementation in the university are also discussed.

(150 words)

Summary_reader response Draft #3

In the article "What Happened to Green Concrete?", Majcher (2015) stated despite the existence of green concrete and its benefits, the application was uncommon as it failed to garner industry’s support. The technology also did not advance over the years. She mentioned that Novacem, the forefront of green cement in 2010, ended in 2012 due to poor investment for its green concrete technology. Calera another company, changed its focus to commercialise its green concrete technology with fibre to make boards for toilet usage, a more lucrative process.

Majcher cited that CarbonCure, on the other hand, sold green cement that had been utilised by approximately 20 projects in the 2 years since it had started. The technology only helped decrease carbon footprint by 5% but more if the carbon was self-captured by the plant. The production could not be in-situ at the project site but was still under development. She also reported that Solidia Technologies' green concrete was stronger and crack resistant but had not advanced since 2008 even with supports from big companies like Lafarge. 

Majcher wrote how Nanoengineering and fly ash inclusion could help to reduce "material environmental footprint". In 2014, MIT's Concrete Sustainability Hub published that nanoengineered concrete could resist fracturing better and reduce cement usage. Meanwhile, CeraTech found that replacing Portland cement with 95% fly ash not only reduced carbon emission (since it cured under chemical reaction) and water by half but landfill usage too.

While Majcher listed the development of various companies’ technologies and their means of carbon emission reduction, she failed to elaborate on what are the underlying factors that hindered the industry players from utilising the technologies.

One factor that prevents utilisation is the effective cost of green concrete. Majcher reported on green concretes’ environmental benefits but failed to mention that technically the effective cost is lesser than concrete. In the article by Williams (2018), he quoted Shahsavari, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and of materials science and nanoengineering, that "environmental benefits" are neutralised with the requirement for costly "sodium-based activators" for substituting Portland cement with fly ash. An article by Baggaley (2018), quoted Dr Franz-Josef Ulm, faculty director of the Concrete Sustainability Hub at MIT, where he had reservation for graphene (a nano-engineered material) due to its cost citing ‘it was more of a "concept material"'. These explain the industry’s hesitance in utilising costlier green concrete, as cost-effectiveness is crucial in sustaining a business.

The broad application of green concrete would also be dependent on the technical benefits. Majcher listed down how some of the technologies resulted in durability, fracture resistance and strengthening. However, she neglected other compromised concrete factors like creep, shrinkage and flexural strength. Based on the journal by Chhipa, Jain and Ram (2018), it mentioned that green concrete has decreased flexure strength and high creep and shrinkage. These suggest the limitation of green concrete application as it is not flexible for usage like earthquakes prone areas. High deformations resulted from the creep and shrinkage suggested restriction of application to less intensive load situation. The limited technical benefits of green concrete lead to restricted application results in the favour of concrete.

Another factor that prevents utilisation is the lack of knowledge on the plausible negative effects green concrete brings. In Majcher’s article, nanoengineered green concrete was reported to reduce cement usage without compromising strength. However, according to Baggaley (2018), she quoted Dr Rackel San Nicolas, “a civil engineer at the University of Melbourne in Australia and an expert on advanced construction materials”, research is still on to rule if there are “any health or environmental risks” result from the tiny graphene particles. The requirement of more assessment on green concrete’s adversity explains the uncommon application of green concrete technologies.

In conclusion, Majcher should also include the underlying reasons why the industry was not pushing for the use of green concrete, allowing readers to gain insights based on perspectives from both consumers and suppliers of green concrete.

References

Baggaley, K. (3 May, 2018). 'Green' concrete could be game-changer for construction industry. Retrieved 1 February, 2019, from MACH: https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/new-green-concrete-could-be-game-changer-construction-industry-ncna870371

Chhipa, N., Divyank, J., & Jeeya, R. (2018). A Review Paper on Green Concrete. International Journal of Engineering Research, 7(Special 4), 563-565. Retrieved from http://ijer.in/publication/v7/173.pdf

Majcher, K. (19 March, 2015). What Happened to Green Concrete? Retrieved 24 January, 2018, from MIT Technology Review: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/535646/what-happened-to-green-concrete/

Williams, M. (18 June, 2018). Cementless fly ash binder makes concrete ‘green’. Retrieved 1 February, 2019, from Rice University News & Media: http://news.rice.edu/2018/06/18/cementless-fly-ash-binder-makes-concrete-green-2/


*edited on 6th April 2019