Until recently, rooftop greenhouses have been an external addition to building structures. The ICTA-ICP building hosts the first building-integrated rooftop greenhouse, also called RTG-Lab. The integrated nature of this structure enables the exchange of energy, water and CO2 flows between the building and the rooftop greenhouse.

Fertilecity I studies the technical and environmental feasibility of rooftop greenhouses as new food product systems for Mediterranean urban areas. To do so, the project applies multidisciplinary methods to the initial implementation and operation of the RTG-Lab, such as life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, building energy modeling and rainwater harvesting models. The RTG-Lab is expected to generate environmental, social and economic benefits thanks to:

• a more efficient production system that reduces energy consumption in the food production and transport
• the development of local economies
• the creation of more efficient and comfortable buildings

• Study how to improve the sustainability of urban systems through the use of rooftop greenhouses to reduce water, energy and CO2 consumption.

• Analyze the rainwater harvesting area and it possible use for irrigation of crops.

• Analyze energy savings resulting from the flow exchange with buildings (for heat and/or cold).

• Analyze the use of residual CO2 from building as a source to enrich agricultural production, to optimize production yield.

• Quantify the reduction of the carbon footprint of horticultural products produced in urban rooftop greenhouses, based on the minimization of transport and the benefits of trade flows with the building.

• Develop a model to quantify sustainability (environmental, economic and social) of rooftop greenhouses.

• Integrate multidisciplinary tools (environmental, agronomic, economic, social and territorial) for the evaluation of new agro-urban food production systems.

• Analyze the application ofindustrial ecology concepts in urban systems through synergies (exchange flows) between systems from the primary sector (vegetable production) and the tertiary sector (buildings).

• Develop innovative research in a rooftop greenhouse integrated with a building (ICTA-ICP, finished in December 2013) applicable to new buildings or for the rehabilitation of existing buildings that do not require intensive structural reinforcement.

The project holds an interdisciplinary team with expertise on the areas of environmental impact accounting, urban water cycle, flows characterization and economic assessment with experience on fields of energy assessment, energy efficiency, architecture and sustainability assessment.

The project team is composed by researchers from the group Sostenipra (2014 SGR1412) from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). The project also counts on the external advice of the Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentària (IRTA), who contribute with its expertise on agronomy and greenhouse technologies.

Project director:

• Dr. Joan Rieradevall (UAB-ICTA)

Senior researchers:

• Dr. Xavier Gabarrell (UAB-ICTA)
• Dra. Gara Villalba (UAB-ICTA)
• Dra. Maria Rosa Rovira (UAB-ICTA)
• Dr. Alejandro Josa (UPC)
• Dra. Eva Cuerva (UPC)
• Dr. Oriol Pons (UPC)
• Dr. Pere Muñoz (IRTA)
• Dr. Juan Igancio Montero (IRTA)

Junior researchers:

• MSc. Pere Llorach-Massana (UAB-ICTA)
• MSc. David Sanjuan-Delmàs (UAB-ICTA)
• MSc. Ana Nadal (UAB-ICTA)
• MSc. Mireia Ercilla (UAB-ICTA)
• MSc. Carla Planas (UPC)
• MSc. Anna Petit Boix (UAB-ICTA)
• MSc. Jorge Sierra (Inèdit)
• MSc. Ana María Manríquez-Altamirano (UAB-ICTA)
• MSc. Perla Zambrano (UAB-ICTA)

Partners:

• Dr. Jordi Oliver-Solà (UAB-ICTA – Inèdit)
• Dr. Javier Peña (ELISAVA)
• Dr. Esther Sanyé-Mengual (Università di Bologna)
• MSc. Roger Tudó (ETSAV)

• T1 – Operation system
• T2/T3/T4/T5/T6 – Technical and Environmental characterization of the system
• T7 – Environmental impact analysis
• T8 – Socio-economic and sustainability assessments
• T9 – Global system approach and perspective
• T10 – Dissemination, knowledge transfer and exploitation