Climate controls and LED lights programmed to deliver the wavelengths of light that plants prefer create optimum growing conditions. Methane generated from restaurant or crop waste can supply energy and heat for vertical farms.
As a balanced mini-ecosystem, the vertical farm has many advantages. A vertically farmed acre can produce the equivalent of 4 to 6 soil-based acres, depending on the crop (for strawberries, 1 vertical farm acre produces the same amount as 30 outdoor acres). Plants can be grown year-round, unaffected by weather conditions such as droughts, floods or pests. Vertically farmed food is safe from contamination (for example, from e-coli or radiation), and is grown sustainably and organically without the use of fertilizer, pesticides or herbicides.