IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i18p8319-d1751024.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Innovation in Vertical Farming: A Model-Based Energy Assessment and Performance Comparison of Adaptive Versus Standard Systems

Author

Listed:
  • Antonio De Donno

    (Department of Mechanical, Energy, Management and Transport Engineering (DIME), Polytechnic School, University of Genoa, Via all’Opera Pia 15/A, 16145 Genoa, Italy)

  • Luca Antonio Tagliafico

    (Department of Mechanical, Energy, Management and Transport Engineering (DIME), Polytechnic School, University of Genoa, Via all’Opera Pia 15/A, 16145 Genoa, Italy)

  • Patrizia Bagnerini

    (Department of Mechanical, Energy, Management and Transport Engineering (DIME), Polytechnic School, University of Genoa, Via all’Opera Pia 15/A, 16145 Genoa, Italy)

Abstract

According to United Nations projections, the global population is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, with 70% residing in urban areas, while arable land availability continues to decline. Vertical farming (VF) offers a promising pathway for sustainable urban food production by utilizing vertical space and controlled environments. Among emerging approaches, the adaptive vertical farm (AVF) introduces movable shelving systems that adjust to plant growth stages, allowing a higher number of cultivation shelves to be accommodated within the same rack height. In this study, we developed a computational model to quantify and compare the energy consumption of AVF and conventional VF systems under industrial-scale conditions. The reference scenario considered 272 multilevel racks, each hosting 8 shelves in the VF and 15 shelves in the AVF, with Lactuca sativa as the test crop. Energy consumption for thermohygrometric control and lighting was estimated under different sowing schedules, with crop growth dynamics simulated using scheduling algorithms. Plant heat loads were calculated through the Penman–Monteith model, enabling a robust estimation of evapotranspiration and its impact on indoor climate control. Simulation results show that the AVF achieves an average 22% reduction in specific energy consumption for climate control compared to the VF, independently of sowing strategies. Moreover, the AVF nearly doubles the number of cultivation shelves within the same footprint, increasing the cultivable surface area by over 400% compared to traditional flat indoor systems. This work provides the first quantitative assessment of AVF energy performance, demonstrating its potential to simultaneously improve land-use efficiency and reduce energy intensity, thereby supporting the sustainable integration of vertical farming in urban food systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio De Donno & Luca Antonio Tagliafico & Patrizia Bagnerini, 2025. "Innovation in Vertical Farming: A Model-Based Energy Assessment and Performance Comparison of Adaptive Versus Standard Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-27, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:18:p:8319-:d:1751024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/18/8319/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/18/8319/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. KC Shasteen & Murat Kacira, 2023. "Predictive Modeling and Computer Vision-Based Decision Support to Optimize Resource Use in Vertical Farms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, May.
    2. Elsoragaby, Suha & Yahya, Azmi & Mahadi, Muhammad Razif & Nawi, Nazmi Mat & Mairghany, Modather, 2019. "Energy utilization in major crop cultivation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 1285-1303.
    3. Arabzadeh, Vahid & Miettinen, Panu & Kotilainen, Titta & Herranen, Pasi & Karakoc, Alp & Kummu, Matti & Rautkari, Lauri, 2023. "Urban vertical farming with a large wind power share and optimised electricity costs," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    4. Okochi, Godwine Swere & Yao, Ye, 2016. "A review of recent developments and technological advancements of variable-air-volume (VAV) air-conditioning systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 784-817.
    5. Cossu, Marco & Tiloca, Maria Teresa & Cossu, Andrea & Deligios, Paola A. & Pala, Tore & Ledda, Luigi, 2023. "Increasing the agricultural sustainability of closed agrivoltaic systems with the integration of vertical farming: A case study on baby-leaf lettuce," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 344(C).
    6. Constantinos A. Balaras & Elena G. Dascalaki & Ioanna Psarra & Tomasz Cholewa, 2022. "Primary Energy Factors for Electricity Production in Europe," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Jiarui Liu & Azusa Oita & Kentaro Hayashi & Kazuyo Matsubae, 2022. "Sustainability of Vertical Farming in Comparison with Conventional Farming: A Case Study in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Footprint," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-18, January.
    8. Jost Buscher & Julija Bakunowitsch & Kathrin Specht, 2023. "Transformative Potential of Vertical Farming—An Urban Planning Investigation Using Multi-Level Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-19, November.
    9. Diana H. Wall & Uffe N. Nielsen & Johan Six, 2015. "Soil biodiversity and human health," Nature, Nature, vol. 528(7580), pages 69-76, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hong-Seok Mun & Eddiemar Baguio Lagua & Seong-Ki Hong & Sang-Bum Ryu & Md Sharifuzzaman & Md Kamrul Hasan & Young-Hwa Kim & Chul-Ju Yang, 2025. "Energy-Efficient Technologies and Strategies for Feasible and Sustainable Plant Factory Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-38, April.
    2. Behzad Rismanchi & Juan Mahecha Zambrano & Bryan Saxby & Ross Tuck & Mark Stenning, 2019. "Control Strategies in Multi-Zone Air Conditioning Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-14, January.
    3. Elham Bolandnazar & Hassan Sadrnia & Abbas Rohani & Francesco Marinello & Morteza Taki, 2023. "Application of Artificial Intelligence for Modeling the Internal Environment Condition of Polyethylene Greenhouses," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-16, August.
    4. Rafael Herrera-Limones & Ángel Luis León-Rodríguez & Álvaro López-Escamilla, 2019. "Solar Decathlon Latin America and Caribbean: Comfort and the Balance between Passive and Active Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-17, June.
    5. Zhimin Zhang & Xifeng Liu & Xiaona Zhao & Zihao Gao & Yaoyu Li & Xiongwei He & Xinping Fan & Lingzhi Li & Wuping Zhang, 2025. "Fusion of LSTM-Based Vertical-Gradient Prediction and 3D Kriging for Greenhouse Temperature Field Reconstruction," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-19, October.
    6. Pereira, J. & Gomes, M. Glória, 2025. "Lighting strategies in vertical urban farming for enhancement of plant productivity and energy consumption," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PD).
    7. Rosaria E.C. Amaral & Joel Brito & Matt Buckman & Elicia Drake & Esther Ilatova & Paige Rice & Carlos Sabbagh & Sergei Voronkin & Yewande S. Abraham, 2020. "Waste Management and Operational Energy for Sustainable Buildings: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-21, July.
    8. Ji, Zhengsen & Li, Wanying & Niu, Dongxiao, 2024. "Optimal investment decision of agrivoltaic coupling energy storage project based on distributed linguistic trust and hybrid evaluation method," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 353(PA).
    9. Kaya, Asli & Erturk, Hakan & Yalcin, Refet Ali, 2024. "Energy efficiency of solar illuminated vertical farms with different illumination strategies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    10. Stanisław Bielski & Renata Marks-Bielska & Paweł Wiśniewski, 2022. "Investigation of Energy and Economic Balance and GHG Emissions in the Production of Different Cultivars of Buckwheat ( Fagopyrum esculentum Moench): A Case Study in Northeastern Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-24, December.
    11. Plaas, Elke & Meyer-Wolfarth, Friederike & Banse, Martin & Bengtsson, Jan & Bergmann, Holger & Faber, Jack & Potthoff, Martin & Runge, Tania & Schrader, Stefan & Taylor, Astrid, 2019. "Towards valuation of biodiversity in agricultural soils: A case for earthworms," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 291-300.
    12. Miqdad Aziz & Kushsairy Kadir & Haziq Kamarul Azman & Kanendra Vijyakumar, 2023. "Optimization of Air Handler Controllers for Comfort Level in Smart Buildings Using Nature Inspired Algorithm," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-32, December.
    13. Nina Szczepanik-Scislo & Jacek Schnotale, 2020. "An Air Terminal Device with a Changing Geometry to Improve Indoor Air Quality for VAV Ventilation Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-20, September.
    14. Yusra Hasan & William David Lubitz, 2024. "A Sustainable Agri-Photovoltaic Greenhouse for Lettuce Production in Qatar," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-22, October.
    15. Arabzadeh, Vahid & Frank, Raphaël, 2024. "Creating a renewable energy-powered energy system: Extreme scenarios and novel solutions for large-scale renewable power integration," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 374(C).
    16. Failla, Sabina & Ingrao, Carlo & Arcidiacono, Claudia, 2020. "Energy consumption of rainfed durum wheat cultivation in a Mediterranean area using three different soil management systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    17. Huang, Zhenyu & Yan, Ziyan & Tan, Minghong & Xu, Xiaofan & Yang, Xue, 2024. "Impact of cropland spatial shift on carbon footprint of agricultural inputs for grain production in China, 1990–2018," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    18. Chen Fan & Yongzhan Chen & Qinxi Dong & Jing Wei & Meng Zou, 2023. "Deformation Characteristics of Combined Heavy Metals-Contaminated Soil Treated with nZVI through the Modified Slurry Consolidation Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-18, December.
    19. Clinton Carbutt & Kevin Kirkman, 2022. "Ecological Grassland Restoration—A South African Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-25, April.
    20. Elizabeth M. Bach & Kelly S. Ramirez & Tandra D. Fraser & Diana H. Wall, 2020. "Soil Biodiversity Integrates Solutions for a Sustainable Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:18:p:8319-:d:1751024. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.