A bit out of my typical scope...

... but AMAZING and from my hometown.



This, if I may be so bold, is a small step towards my idea of utopia. In my utopia, cities still exist and prosper but they co-exist, intertwined, with natural processes. Small EVs everywhere, lots of quiet, clean public transportation, and flora coating everything. In this mindset, I present to you the "Off-Grid Vertical Farm," a small slice of my own personal heaven.

Fully self-sufficient building: in energy and water.
-> 31,000 sq ft rooftop water rainwater collection
-> Recycling of gray water (including an ability to handle some of the surrounding area's waste water up to "20 times its own discharge potential")
-> 34,000+ sq ft of solar PV cells with hydrogen gas backup

Agricultural features include
->Fields for growing veggies and grains, greenhouses, rooftop gardens and even a chicken farm.
->Local produced food is critical for changing energy patterns as "40 percent of an individual's ecological footprint is generated by the embodied energy in food."

318 apartments (studio, 1 & 2 bedroom units)

Restaurant & Cafe (The "Greenhouse" using building grown food.

"Off-grid" means you are fully energy self-sufficient. This building creates its own energy through the solar cells attached to it.

Keep in mind that, while it is doubtful you will see this erected in downtown Seattle (pleasepleaseplease), this is not pie-in-the-sky Jetsons stuff, this is real. This building can be built right now. There are no technological barriers, the materials are not from another planet, and it would not cost the US defense budget to construct. Besides the obvious aesthetic benefits, the plants would do well in a high-CO2 environment like the center of a city. Environmental concerns addressed through solar cells, CO2 processing and water collection, living space addressed by real estate incorporated into the structure, economic benefits bolstered by job created in the farm and retail space... what is not to like?

More info here.