“Agro-Housing” A Residential Greenhouse

February 5, 2008

As a solution to this problem, the work of the Israeli architecture firm Knafo-Klimor won the Steel Association’s prize in the international competition for sustainable living. The Israeli design “Agro-Housing” was chosen to serve as a model for the prototype for the city of Huan in China. The design offers a modern apartment building that combines a high-rise building with a greenhouse or family plot, where residents can grow their vegetables near their apartment. The combination answers the need that arises when people leave their villages for the city in order to find work, and their difficulty in sustaining themselves and assimilating into urban life.

The residential greenhouse offers an agricultural system with available technology and an advanced drip irrigation system. Architect David Knafo explained that any person can grow his own vegetables. “He has to plant the seeds, and that is all. The irrigation is automatic, the greenhouse is sealed against insects, and there is no need for pesticide, and the windows provide the light and heat necessary for growth.”

The innovative design provides all the energy needs of the house and protects the environment. The house is heated and cooled with solar energy, and the water is drawn with a geothermic system that uses available ground water. The irrigation system of the greenhouse uses recycled gray water collected from the apartments and rainwater from the roofs. The area of the greenhouse is 10 square meters [108 square feet] for each apartment, enough land to grow a family’s vegetables, yet generally space-saving, since the building is a vertical multi-story structure. The space saves public commercial space and the [proximity] reduces the need to transport goods. It also provides work close to home by selling the surplus products.

Excerpts from an article by Ynetnews.com

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