Abstract
When compared to traditional field production, controlled environment agriculture (CEA) such as greenhouses and indoor vertical farms (VF) have sustainability benefits such as reduced land use, less product transportation to consumers, improved resource and land-use efficiencies, food safety, and local food availability. Despite its potential as an environmentally beneficial complement to conventional farming, CEA has numerous issues that limits its adoption and viability as a sustainable option. This review summarizes the literature on key areas of sustainability in CEA, such as (1) sustainability challenges, (2) technologies identified to address sustainability in CEA, (3) quantification and reporting of sustainability in CEA, and (4) gaps and opportunities in addressing CEA sustainability. To filter the available literature from the databases including Web of Science, this scoping review employed a combination of the keywords “sustainability,” “controlled environment agriculture,” “urban farm,” “vertical farm,” and “indoor farm.” According to the review, main obstacles in CEA were high electricity use, geographical location-related tradeoffs, and an unfavorable public perception of CEA in comparison to field production. These issues are now being addressed by optimized lighting and sensor technology, models, decision support tools to reduce electricity use, and marketing tactics to educate people about the benefits of CEA. This scoping review offers two critical areas to focus sustainability improvement efforts: lowering electrical demand and using circular techniques for organic waste and wastewater reuse in CEA to increase water, nutrient, and energy use efficiency and recovery. In addition, it discusses the techniques and approaches to sustainability assessment in CEA, particularly within the research and application contexts. This scoping review, thus, outlines strategies for enhancing sustainability in CEA, highlighting the importance of integrating circular economy principles and advanced technologies to optimize resource use, and advocates for ongoing research and education to shift public perceptions toward the sustainable potential of CEA.
Graphical abstract
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
2021 Global CEA Census Report (2021) Agritecture. https://www.waybeyond.io/cea-census-download?submissionGuid=69924166-cefa-40f3-b4ff-5c94f691afc4. Accessed 27 Oct 2020
Al-Chalabi M (2015) Vertical farming: skyscraper sustainability? Sustain Cities Soc 18:74–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2015.06.003
Al-Kodmany K (2018) The vertical farm: a review of developments and implications for the vertical city. Buildings 8(2):24. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings8020024
Allaby M, MacDonald G, Turner S (2021) Growing pains: small-scale farmer responses to an urban rooftop farming and online marketplace enterprise in Montreal, Canada. Agric Hum Values 38(3):677–692. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10173-y
Amos CC et al (2018) A scoping review of roof harvested rainwater usage in urban agriculture: Australia and Kenya in focus. J Clean Prod 202:174–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.08.108
Ampatzidis Y, De Bellis L, Luvisi A (2017) iPathology: robotic applications and management of plants and plant diseases. Sustainability 9(6):1010. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9061010
Appolloni E et al (2021) The global rise of urban rooftop agriculture: a review of worldwide cases. J Clean Prod 296:126556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126556
Arabzadeh V et al (2023) Urban vertical farming with a large wind power share and optimised electricity costs. Appl Energy 331:120416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.120416
Avgoustaki DD (2019) Optimization of photoperiod and quality assessment of basil plants grown in a small-scale indoor cultivation system for reduction of energy demand. Energies 12(20):3980–3980. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12203980
Avgoustaki D, Xydis G (2020) Indoor vertical farming in the urban nexus context: business growth and resource savings. Sustainability 12(5):1965. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051965
Avgoustaki D, Xydis G (2021) Energy cost reduction by shifting electricity demand in indoor vertical farms with artificial lighting. Biosyst Eng 211:219–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2021.09.006
Azzaretti C, Schimelpfenig G (2022) Perspective: benchmarking opportunities can contribute to circular food systems in controlled environment agriculture. Appl Eng Agric 38(3):535–538. https://doi.org/10.13031/aea.14888
Benis K, Ferrao P (2018) Commercial farming within the urban built environment—taking stock of an evolving field in northern countries. Glob Food Secur 17:30–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2018.03.005
Bergstrand K, Asp H, Hultberg M (2020) Utilizing anaerobic digestates as nutrient solutions in hydroponic production systems. Sustainability 12(23):10076. https://doi.org/10.3390/su122310076
Besthorn FH (2013) Vertical farming: social work and sustainable urban agriculture in an age of global food crises. Austral Social Work 66(2):187–203
Biancone P et al (2022) Using bibliometric analysis to map innovative business models for vertical farm entrepreneurs. Br Food J 124(7):2239–2261. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-08-2021-0904
Blom T et al (2022) The embodied carbon emissions of lettuce production in vertical farming, greenhouse horticulture, and open-field farming in the Netherlands. J Clean Prod 377:134443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.134443
Boyer D, Ramaswami A (2017) What is the contribution of city-scale actions to the overall food system’s environmental impacts?: assessing water, greenhouse gas, and land impacts of future urban food scenarios. Environ Sci Technol 51(20):12035–12045. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b03176
Broad GM (2020) Know your indoor farmer: square roots, techno-local food, and transparency as publicity. Am Behav Sci 64(11):1588–1606. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764220945349
Broad G, Marschall W, Ezzeddine M (2021) Perceptions of high-tech controlled environment agriculture among local food consumers: using interviews to explore sense-making and connections to good food. Agric Human Values. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-021-10261-7
Brundtland GH (1987) Our common future—call for action. Environ Conserv 14(4):291–294. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892900016805
Brunori G et al (2016) Are local food chains more sustainable than global food chains? Considerations for assessment. Sustainability 8(5):449. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8050449
Buehler D, Junge R (2016) Global trends and current status of commercial urban rooftop farming. Sustainability 8(11):1108. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8111108
Bunge AC et al (2022) A systematic scoping review of the sustainability of vertical farming, plant-based alternatives, food delivery services and blockchain in food systems. Nat Food 3(11):933–941. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00622-8
Carolan M (2022) Just-in-case transitions and the pursuit of resilient food systems: enumerative politics and what it means to make care count. Agric Hum Values. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10401-7
Chance E et al (2018) The plant—an experiment in urban food sustainability. Environ Prog Sustain Energy 37(1):82–90. https://doi.org/10.1002/ep.12712
Cifuentes-Torres L et al (2021) Hydroponics with wastewater: a review of trends and opportunities. Water Environ J 35(1):166–180. https://doi.org/10.1111/wej.12617
Cohen AR et al (2022) Dynamically controlled environment agriculture: integrating machine learning and mechanistic and physiological models for sustainable food cultivation. ACS ES&T Eng 2(1):3–19. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestengg.1c00269
Cossu M et al (2023) Increasing the agricultural sustainability of closed agrivoltaic systems with the integration of vertical farming: a case study on baby-leaf lettuce. Appl Energy 344:121278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.121278
Covidence (2023) Veritas Health Innovation, Melbourne, Australia. www.covidence.org
Cowan N et al (2022) CEA systems: the means to achieve future food security and environmental sustainability? Front Sustain Food Syst 6:891256. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.891256
de Anda J, Shear H (2017) Potential of vertical hydroponic agriculture in Mexico. Sustainability 9(1):140. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9010140
De Oliveira F, Ferson S, Dyer R (2021) A collaborative decision support system framework for vertical farming business developments. Int J Decis Support Syst Technol 13(1):34–66. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJDSST.2021010103
Didenko N et al (2021) An economic model of sustainable development in the Russian Arctic: the idea of building vertical farms. Agronomy 11(9):1863–1863. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11091863
Diehl J et al (2020) Feeding cities: Singapore’s approach to land use planning for urban agriculture. Glob Food Secur 26:100377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100377
Dsouza A et al (2021) A conceptual framework for incorporation of composting in closed-loop urban controlled environment agriculture. Sustainability 13(5):2471. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052471
Eigenbrod C, Gruda N (2015) Urban vegetable for food security in cities. A review. Agron Sustain Dev 35(2):483–498
Engler N, Krarti M (2021) Review of energy efficiency in controlled environment agriculture. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 141:110786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.110786
Ercilla-Montserrat M et al (2018) A study on air quality and heavy metals content of urban food produced in a Mediterranean city (Barcelona). J Clean Prod 195:385–395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.05.183
Esmaili M et al (2021) Assessment of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to predict production and water productivity of lettuce in response to different light intensities and CO2 concentrations. Agric Water Manag 258:107201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2021.107201
FAO (2022) Tracking progress on food and agriculture-related SDG indicators 2022. FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc1403en
Farooq M et al (2022) Internet of things in greenhouse agriculture: a survey on enabling technologies, applications, and protocols. IEEE Access 10:53374–53397. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3166634
Fitzner M et al (2021) Utilization of regional natural brines for the indoor cultivation of Salicornia europaea. Sustainability 13(21):12105. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132112105
Folta KM (2019) Breeding new varieties for controlled environments. Plant Biol 21:6–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/plb.12914
Gadhesaria G et al (2020) Thermal analysis and experimental validation of environmental condition inside greenhouse in tropical wet and dry climate. Sustainability 12(19):8171. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198171
Germer J et al (2011) Skyfarming an ecological innovation to enhance global food security. J Consumer Protect Food Saf 6(2):237–251. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00003-011-0691-6
Glaros A et al (2022) Horizon scanning and review of the impact of five food and food production models for the global food system in 2050. Trends Food Sci Technol 119:550–564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2021.11.013
Goldstein B et al (2016a) Testing the environmental performance of urban agriculture as a food supply in northern climates. J Clean Prod 135:984–994. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.07.004
Goldstein B et al (2016b) Urban versus conventional agriculture, taxonomy of resource profiles: a review. Agron Sustain Dev 36(1):9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-015-0348-4
Gómez C et al (2019) Controlled environment food production for urban agriculture. HortScience 54(9):1448–1458. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14073-19
Gordon-Smith H (2021) Vertical farming is headed for the “trough of disillusionment.” Here’s why that’s a good thing’. Ag Funder News. https://agfundernews.com/vertical-farming-is-headed-for-the-trough-of-disillusionment-heres-why-thats-a-good-thing
Gwynn-Jones D et al (2018) Can the optimisation of pop-up agriculture in remote communities help feed the world? Glob Food Secur 18:35–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2018.07.003
Haijie D et al (2018) Responses of sweet basil to different daily light integrals in photosynthesis, morphology, yield, and nutritional quality. HortScience 53(4):496–503. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI12785-17
Hardman M, Clark A, Sherriff G (2022) Mainstreaming urban agriculture: opportunities and barriers to upscaling city farming. Agronomy 12(3):601. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12030601
Harris Z, Kountouris Y (2020) Vertical farming as a game changer for BECCS technology deployment. Sustainability 12(19):8193. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198193
Hosseinifarhangi M et al (2019) Technology-driven transition in urban food production practices: a case study of Shanghai. Sustainability 11(21):6070. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11216070
Jurkenbeck K, Heumann A, Spiller A (2019) Sustainability matters: consumer acceptance of different vertical farming systems. Sustainability 11(15):4052. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154052
Kaur G, Upadhyaya P, Chawla P (2023) Comparative analysis of IoT-based controlled environment and uncontrolled environment plant growth monitoring system for hydroponic indoor vertical farm. Environ Res 222:115313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.115313
Khan R, Ahmed V (2017) Building information modelling and vertical farming data integration to manage facilities and processes. Facilities 35(13–14):710–724. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-03-2016-0026
Kozai T, Japan Plant Factory Association (2019) Towards sustainable plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) for achieving SDGs. Int J Agric Biol Eng 12(5):28–37. https://doi.org/10.25165/j.ijabe.20191205.5177
Ledesma G, Nikolic J, Pons-Valladares O (2020) Bottom-up model for the sustainability assessment of rooftop-farming technologies potential in schools in Quito Ecuador. J Clean Prod 274:122993. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122993
Lefers RM et al (2019) Hollow fibre membrane-based liquid desiccant humidity control for controlled environment agriculture. Biosys Eng 183:47–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2019.04.010
Lefers R, Tester M, Lauersen K (2020) Emerging technologies to enable sustainable controlled environment agriculture in the extreme environments of Middle East-North Africa coastal regions. Front Plant Sci 11:801. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00801
Li L et al (2020) A decision support framework for the design and operation of sustainable urban farming systems. J Clean Prod 268:121928. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121928
Lin A, Gomez-Maqueo A (2023) Strengthening food security through alternative carbohydrates in the city-state of Singapore. Front Sustain Food Syst 7:987402. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.987402
Luvisi A (2016) Electronic identification technology for agriculture, plant, and food. A review. Agron Sustain Dev 36(1):13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-016-0352-3
Marini M, Caro D, Thomsen M (2023) Investigating local policy instruments for different types of urban agriculture in four European cities: a case study analysis on the use and effectiveness of the applied policy instruments. Land Use Policy 131:106695. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.106695
Marston J (2022) Vertical farming startup Fifth Season shuts down. Ag Funder News. https://agfundernews.com/robotic-vertical-farming-startup-fifth-season-shuts-down#:~:text=US%20vertical%20farming%20startup%20Fifth,closed%20its%20doors%20last%20Friday
Martin M, Molin E (2019) Environmental assessment of an urban vertical hydroponic farming system in Sweden. Sustainability 11(15):124. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154124
Martin M, Poulikidou S, Molin E (2019) Exploring the environmental performance of urban symbiosis for vertical hydroponic farming. Sustainability 11(23):6724. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236724
Martin M, Weidner T, Gullstrom C (2022) Estimating the potential of building integration and regional synergies to improve the environmental performance of urban vertical farming. Front Sustain Food Syst 6:849304. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.849304
McCartney L, Lefsrud M (2018) Protected agriculture in extreme environments: a review of controlled environment agriculture in tropical, arid, polar, and urban locations. Appl Eng Agric 34(2):455–473. https://doi.org/10.13031/aea.12590
McClements D et al (2021) Building a resilient, sustainable, and healthier food supply through innovation and technology. Annu Rev Food Sci Technol 12(2021):1–28. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-food-092220-030824
Milestad R, Carlsson-Kanyama A, Schaffer C (2020) The Hogdalen urban farm: a real case assessment of sustainability attributes. Food Secur 12(6):1461–1475. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-020-01045-8
Modarelli G et al (2023) Hydroponic and aquaponic floating raft systems elicit differential growth and quality responses to consecutive cuts of basil crop. Plants 12(6):1355. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12061355
Montero JI et al (2017) Productivity of a building-integrated roof top greenhouse in a Mediterranean climate. Agric Syst 158:14–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2017.08.002
Muller A et al (2017) Can soil-less crop production be a sustainable option for soil conservation and future agriculture? Land Use Policy 69:102–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.09.014
Nadal A et al (2017) Urban planning and agriculture. Methodology for assessing rooftop greenhouse potential of non-residential areas using airborne sensors. Sci Total Environ 601:493–507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.03.214
Nadal A et al (2018) Rooftop greenhouses in educational centers: a sustainability assessment of urban agriculture in compact cities. Sci Total Environ 626:1319–1331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.191
Ning S, Xydis G (2023) PEST analysis of the future Chinese vertical farming market: environmental sustainability and energy savings. Aims Agric Food 8(2):496–512. https://doi.org/10.3934/agrfood.2023026
O’Hara S, Toussaint EC (2021) Food access in crisis: food security and COVID-19. Ecol Econ 180:106859. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106859
Ojo M, Zahid A (2022) Deep learning in controlled environment agriculture: a review of recent advancements, challenges and prospects. Sensors 22(20):7965. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22207965
Opitz I et al (2016) Toward sustainability: novelties, areas of learning and innovation in urban agriculture. Sustainability 8(4):356. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8040356
Orsini F et al (2020) Sustainable use of resources in plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs). Eur J Hortic Sci 85(5):297–309. https://doi.org/10.17660/eJHS.2020/85.5.1
Parkes M, Tovar J et al (2022a) Life cycle assessment of a prospective technology for building-integrated production of broccoli microgreens. Atmosphere 13(8):1317. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13081317
Parkes M, Azevedo D et al (2022b) Narratives and benefits of agricultural technology in urban buildings: a review. Atmosphere 13(8):1250. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13081250
Parkes M et al (2023) An experimental Portuguese social-enterprise project in urban agriculture: a case study on the influence of the interaction of stakeholder roles on sustainable governance. Sustainability 15(4):3817. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043817
Pennisi G et al (2019) Modelling environmental burdens of indoor-grown vegetables and herbs as affected by red and blue LED lighting. Sustainability 11(15):4063. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154063
Pesch H, Louw L (2023) Evaluating the economic feasibility of plant factory scenarios that produce biomass for biorefining processes. Sustainability 15(2):1324. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021324
Peters A (2023) The vertical farming bubble is finally popping. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/90824702/vertical-farming-failing-profitable-appharvest-aerofarms-bowery
Petrovics D, Giezen M (2021) Planning for sustainable urban food systems: an analysis of the up-scaling potential of vertical farming. J Environ Plan Manage 65:785–808. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2021.1903404
Preite L, Solari F, Vignali G (2023) Technologies to optimize the water consumption in agriculture: a systematic review. Sustainability 15(7):5975. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075975
Purvis B, Mao Y, Robinson D (2019) Three pillars of sustainability: in search of conceptual origins. Sustain Sci 14(3):681–695. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-018-0627-5
Quantius D et al (2014) Initial design of laboratories for sustainable habitation. Acta Astronaut 94(2):541–562. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2013.09.006
Rehman N (2022) Vertical farms with integrated solar photovoltaics. J Solar Energy Eng Trans ASME 144(1):011007. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4052055
Riera-Vila I et al (2019) Anaerobically-digested brewery wastewater as a nutrient solution for substrate-based food production. Horticulturae 5(2):43. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae5020043
Rogers M (2017) Organic vegetable crop production in controlled environments using soilless media. Horttechnology 27(2):166–170. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH03352-16
Rufí-Salís M et al (2020) Recirculating water and nutrients in urban agriculture: an opportunity towards environmental sustainability and water use efficiency? J Clean Prod 261:121213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121213
Sandison F, Yeluripati J, Stewart D (2022) Does green vertical farming offer a sustainable alternative to conventional methods of production?: A case study from Scotland. Food Energy Secur. https://doi.org/10.1002/fes3.438
Sanjuan-Delmás D et al (2018) Environmental assessment of an integrated rooftop greenhouse for food production in cities. J Clean Prod 177:326–337
Sanye-Mengual E et al (2020) Ecosystem services of urban agriculture: perceptions of project leaders, stakeholders and the general public. Sustainability 12(24):10446. https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410446
Seguin R (2023) Indoor Ag-Con: failing forward—lessons learned. Vertical Farm Daily. https://www.verticalfarmdaily.com/article/9507724/indoor-ag-con-failing-forward-lessons-learned/
Shah F, Wu W (2019) Soil and crop management strategies to ensure higher crop productivity within sustainable environments. Sustainability 11(5):1485. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051485
Siegner A, Sowerwine J, Acey C (2018) Does urban agriculture improve food security? Examining the nexus of food access and distribution of urban produced foods in the United States: a systematic review. Sustainability 10(9):2988. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10092988
Simos N, Jordan S (2021) 5 Mistakes vertical farms make. Agrictecture. https://www.agritecture.com/blog/2021/7/15/8-mistakes-vertical-farms-make
Simpson C (2019) Updating the building code to include indoor farming operations. J Food Law Policy 15(2):1–21
Sipos L et al (2021) Optimization of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) production in LED light environments—a review. Sci Hortic 289:110486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2021.110486
Spalholz H, Perkins-Veazie P, Hernandez R (2020) Impact of sun-simulated white light and varied blue:red spectrums on the growth, morphology, development, and phytochemical content of green-and red-leaf lettuce at different growth stages. Sci Hortic 264:109195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2020.109195
Specht K et al (2014) Urban agriculture of the future: an overview of sustainability aspects of food production in and on buildings. Agric Hum Values 31(1):33–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-013-9448-4
Specht K et al (2019) How will we eat and produce in the cities of the future? From edible insects to vertical farming—a study on the perception and acceptability of new approaches. Sustainability 11(16):4315. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164315
State of Indoor Farming 2017 (2017) Artemis. https://artemisag.com/state-of-indoor-farming-new-2017/
State of Indoor Farming 2020 (2020) Artemis. https://artemisag.com/state-of-indoor-farming-2020/
Stein E (2021) The transformative environmental effects large-scale indoor farming may have on air, water, and soil. Air Soil Water Res 14:117862212199581. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178622121995819
Stutte GW et al (2023) Controlled environment agriculture design standards (CEADS): purpose, development, and implementation. 2023 Omaha, Nebraska July 9–12, 2023. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. https://doi.org/10.13031/aim.202300135
Tarr S, de Souza S, Lopez R (2023) Influence of day and night temperature and radiation intensity on growth, quality, and economics of indoor green butterhead and red oakleaf lettuce production. Sustainability 15(1):829. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010829
Thomaier S et al (2015) Farming in and on urban buildings: present practice and specific novelties of Zero-Acreage Farming (ZFarming). Renewable Agric Food Syst 30(1):43–54. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170514000143
Toboso-Chavero S et al (2019) Towards productive cities: environmental assessment of the food-energy-water nexus of the urban roof mosaic. J Ind Ecol 23(4):767–780. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12829
Tolga AC, Basar M, Kahraman C (2020) Hydroponic system evaluation in urban farming via fuzzy EDAS and TODIM methods. J Intell Fuzzy Syst 39(5):6325–6337. https://doi.org/10.3233/JIFS-189100
Torres Pineda I et al (2020) Environmental impact of fresh tomato production in an urban rooftop greenhouse in a humid continental climate in South Korea. Sustainability 12(21):9029. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12219029
Tricco AC et al (2018) PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR): checklist and explanation. Ann Intern Med 169(7):467–473. https://doi.org/10.7326/M18-0850
Urban Farming Assessment Act of 2012 (2021) Utah Constitution article XIII, Section 2-3. le.utah.gov/documents/code_const.htm
van Delden S et al (2021) Current status and future challenges in implementing and upscaling vertical farming systems. Nat Food 2(12):944–956. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00402-w
Van Ginkel S, Igou T, Chen Y (2017) Energy, water and nutrient impacts of California-grown vegetables compared to controlled environmental agriculture systems in Atlanta, GA. Resour Conserv Recycling 122:319–325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.03.003
Van Tuijl E, Hospers G-J, Van Den Berg L (2018) Opportunities and challenges of urban agriculture for sustainable city development. Eur Spatial Res Policy 25(2):5–22. https://doi.org/10.18778/1231-1952.25.2.01
Vatistas C, Avgoustaki D, Bartzanas T (2022) A systematic literature review on controlled-environment agriculture: how vertical farms and greenhouses can influence the sustainability and footprint of urban microclimate with local food production. Atmosphere 13(8):1258. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13081258
Vermeulen ACJ et al (2020) What horticulture and space exploration can learn from each other: the Mission to Mars initiative in the Netherlands. Acta Astronaut 177:421–424
Vu D et al (2022) Optimizing optical fiber daylighting system for indoor agriculture applications. Sol Energy 247:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2022.10.015
Wang L, Iddio E, Ewers B (2021) Introductory overview: evapotranspiration (ET) models for controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Comput Electron Agric 190:106447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2021.106447
Wang X et al (2023) Sustainable production systems of urban agriculture in the future: a case study on the investigation and development countermeasures of the plant factory and vertical farm in China. Front Sustain Food Syst 7:973341. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.973341
Weidner T, Yang A (2020) The potential of urban agriculture in combination with organic waste valorization: assessment of resource flows and emissions for two European cities. J Clean Prod 244:118490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118490
Weidner T, Yang A, Hamm MW (2019) Consolidating the current knowledge on urban agriculture in productive urban food systems: learnings, gaps and outlook. J Clean Prod 209:1637–1655. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.11.004
Weidner T, Yang A, Hamm MW (2021) Energy optimisation of plant factories and greenhouses for different climatic conditions. Energy Convers Manage 243:114336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2021.114336
What happened with vertical farming and how can we fix it? (2023) Vertical Farm Daily. https://www.verticalfarmdaily.com/article/9506521/what-happened-with-vertical-farming-and-how-can-we-fix-it/
Xi L et al (2021) Novel materials for urban farming. Adv Mater. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202105009
Yoshida S, Yagi H (2021) Long-term development of urban agriculture: resilience and sustainability of farmers facing the Covid-19 pandemic in Japan. Sustainability 13(8):1–23. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084316
Yuyao K et al (2019) Spectral quality of light can affect energy consumption and energy-use efficiency of electrical lighting in indoor lettuce farming. HortScience 54(5):865–872. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI13834-18
Zhang H, Asutosh A, Hu W (2018) Implementing vertical farming at university scale to promote sustainable communities: a feasibility analysis. Sustainability 10(12):4429. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124429
Zhen H et al (2020) Environmental and economic life cycle assessment of alternative greenhouse vegetable production farms in peri-urban Beijing, China. J Clean Prod 269:122380
Zhou H, Specht K, Kirby C (2022) Consumers’ and stakeholders’ acceptance of indoor agritecture in Shanghai (China). Sustainability 14(5):2771. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052771
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Jean Pompeo for creating the graphical abstract. Support for this project is provided in part by USDA-NIFA-HATCH Awards numbers FLA-ABE-006356: FLA-ABE-006128: FLA-ABE-006161: FLA-ABE-005995; NSF-CBET-1805512; USDA-NIFA-2023-69012-39038.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
DC: methodology, data curation, analysis, writing, revision, original draft preparation, and visualization. LL: methodology, data curation, original draft preparation, analysis, writing, visualization. ZB: Conceptualization, software tools, review & editing, revision, supervision. YZ: Investigation, review, editing. AM-R: Conceptualization, investigation, review & editing. MC: Investigation, review & editing.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Coon, D., Lindow, L., Boz, Z. et al. Reporting and practices of sustainability in controlled environment agriculture: a scoping review. Environ Syst Decis (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-024-09964-z
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10669-024-09964-z