Urban Barns and VerAvenir

McGill Publication on Urban Barns

Research and Industry: “NASA technology” hits the grocery stores

April 2013

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Imagine being able to get fresh produce in your local grocery store within 45 minutes of harvest, all coming from a large warehouse-like building just minutes away. Inside the building are stacks of moving units of growing produce illuminated by specially formulated combinations of LED lights designed to provide the resources needed to accelerate plant growth and improve nutritional value. Sound like science fiction? Well, this technology is just around the corner.

“Cubic Farming,” a patented technology developed by Urban Barns, is set to revolutionize indoor agriculture. Rather than using conventional flat growing surfaces (greenhouse or field), this technology uses the entire cubic space of a building, hence its name. Cubic farming allows the production of affordable vegetables in a secure and controlled environment. The system can be set up anywhere, so proximity to consumers reduces transportation costs. Produce can be supplied on demand.

Cubic agriculture is defined as the use of a modular growing apparatus that can be stacked vertically or horizontally. Each module is identical, meaning that plants can be grown in any climate-controlled building, regardless of shape, floor plan, or ceiling height. Cubic agriculture has been developed with the increased focus on urban farming initiatives to supply food in large cities. Governments are worried about sustainability of the food supply, as current farming methods are resource-intensive. Cubic agriculture has been raised as an additional solution to issues of agriculture sustainability and food safety, food security and traceability together with a reduction to current high carbon emission levels.

Evan Meikleham, Urban Barns

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Bioresource Engineering professor Mark Lefsrud is the lead researcher on this project. “We will be testing combinations of LED lights to give plants exactly what they need to grow,” says Lefsrud. “In a controlled environment, we can easily adjust light, airflow and water to achieve optimum results for each species grown. We can also subject plants to the right amount of stress they need to improve their nutritional value. We will also be looking at energy reduction, carbon footprint, nutrient recycling, minimal water usage and recyclable product packaging, leading to a sustainable urban agriculture model.”

The idea of food production in an urban agricultural environment has been proposed by a number of companies but the technology already developed by Urban Barns, coupled with McGill food production research and engineering knowledge, will allow the cubic agriculture system to reach the next level of sustainable food production.

Both photos courtesy Urban Barns.

Published in December 2018 Issue of Focus on MacDonald

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Concordia Publication on VerAvenir

Sowing the seeds of an award-winning business

April 22, 2013

Two Concordia students, James Bambara and Justin Moody-Corbett, who are seeking to launch a new company called VerAvenir, have clinched first place in the technological innovations category of the entrepreneurship competition, Concours québécois en entrepreneuriat (Quebec Entrepreneurship Competition).