A team of agriculture researchers at Boston University came up with a new idea while looking for ways to make urban environments more sustainable. As cities become denser, people need more resources, and climate change worsens, buildings will likely serve multiple purposes. It turned out that the parts of the buildings where the exhaust outlets are perfect for such places.Talking about the purpose of the experiment, study leader Buckley said: “We wanted to test whether there was an untapped resource inside buildings that could be used to get plants to grow on rooftop farms.” said.
Rather than releasing this CO2 uncontrollably into the environment, the researchers considered diverting their building’s exhaust into an experimental roof garden. There were spinach and corn planted in the garden created at the top of the building, which was nicknamed the BIG GRO. Although both are common edible plants, maize photosynthesizes requiring less CO2 than spinach, so maize and spinach were chosen for the experiment.
Plants exposed to building exhaust grew faster
The plants were placed near the exhaust vents with large fans directing the exhaust towards them. The team also installed an additional control system that includes both vegetables that receive no exhaust air but are similarly ventilated.
Plants exposed to the building’s exhaust grew four times faster than plants placed near a control fan, and there is now tangible reason to believe that rooftop farms like BIG GRO could benefit from the buildings’ normally wasted exhaust.
Study leader Dr. Sarabeth Buckley said in a statement, “We hope this can lead to the further development of this system and its eventual application in roof gardens and farms. For building energy conservation, carbon sequestration, climate mitigation, urban heat reduction, local food production, community building opportunities and aesthetics and They can provide numerous environmental and social benefits, including mental health benefits.” said.
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