Chapter 21 Aquaponics in the Built Environment
21.7 Conclusions
There is an array of criteria that contribute to the performance of each farm and their number grows with the number of disciplines involved in this the interdisciplinary field of aquaponics. Of note is an earlier study that has provided a definition of aquaponics and a classification of the types of aquaponics based on size and system (Palm et al. 2018). Many criteria for the analysis of the enclosure type identified in this study stem from immediate farm context — local climate, the quality of the built environment context, energy sourcing practices, costs, market, and local regulatory frameworks.
· Aquaponics Food Production Systems21.6 Integrated Urban Aquaponics
When deliberately designed with respect to environmental impact, aquaponic farms can become part of a resource-efficient urban food system. No aquaponic farm operates in isolation since when crops are harvested and reach the farm gate, they enter a larger socioeconomic food network as fish and produce is distributed to customers. At this stage, the performance of aquaponic farms is no longer confined to the growing system and envelope — economics, marketing, education, and social outreach are also involved.
· Aquaponics Food Production Systems21.5 Impact Assessment as a Design Framework
The growth of aquaponics and generalized claims that aquaponics is more sustainable than other forms of food production has stimulated discussion and research into how sustainable these systems actually are. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is one key quantification method that can be used to analyze sustainability in both agriculture and the built environments by evaluating environmental impacts of products throughout their lifespan. For a building, an LCA can be divided into two types of impact — embodied impact which includes material extraction, manufacture, construction, demolition and disposal/reuse of said materials, and operational impact which refers to building systems maintenance (Simonen 2014).
· Aquaponics Food Production Systems21.4 Assessing Enclosure Typologies and Possible Applications
The actual performance of aquaponic farms depends on many case-specific factors. Some preliminary conclusions about enclosure typologies’ advantages, challenges, and possible applications can be drawn from the comparison of a relatively small set of case studies. An empirical study of a more significant number of existing case studies will be needed to establish a correlation between enclosure type, geographic location, and commercial success. Medium-tech greenhouses offer a commercially-feasible option for aquaponic operations only in temperate climates with mild winters and moderate summers, due to their limited environmental control capability.
· Aquaponics Food Production Systems21.3 Enclosure Typologies and Case Studies of Commercial Farms
This further investigation focuses on defining aquaponic classification criteria at the enclosure level to complement existing system-level definitions. The enclosure types discussed here work with different construction systems, levels of technological control, passive climate control strategies, and energy sources to achieve an appropriate indoor climate. The best application of each enclosure typology depends primarily on the size of operation, geographic location, local climate, targeted fish and crop species, required parameters of the systems it houses, and the budget.
· Aquaponics Food Production Systems21.2 Classification of Controlled Environment Aquaponics
The term aquaponics is used to describe a wide range of different systems and operations, greatly varying in size, technology level, enclosure type, main purpose, and geographic context (Junge et al. 2017). The first version of the classification criteria for aquaponic farms included stakeholder objectives, tank volume, and parameters describing aquaculture and hydroponic system components (Maucieri img src=“https://cdn.farmhub.ag/thumbnails/c7770dc3-ea11-4f37-94b9-64f54d9a1d1e.jpg" style=“zoom:48%;” / Fig. 21.3 Classification criteria for identifying aquaponic farm types et al.
· Aquaponics Food Production Systems21.1 Introduction
Aquaponics has been recognized as one of “ten technologies which could change our lives” by merit of its potential to revolutionize how we feed growing urban populations (Van Woensel et al. 2015). This soilless recirculating growing system has stimulated increasing academic research over the last few years and inspired interest in members of the public as documented by a high ratio of Google to Google Scholar search results in 2016 (Junge et al.
· Aquaponics Food Production Systems