Plantagon International is a Swedish company founded by Hans Hassle and indigenous Amerindian populations of Onondaga Nation in January 2008. Plantagon is world leader in innovation in the sector of urban agriculture. Its activity is to develop solutions to meet the growing demand of local food, grown in the city.
Plantagon thus creates a new model of sustainable agriculture.
PLANTAGON: innovative buildings to produce food in the heart of the cities
4. Environment
Construction
Context
Objectives
- Satisfy the growing demand for local food and be economically viable
- Educate the new generation and integrate agriculture into the city
- Have a positive environmental impact
APPROACH
The Plantagon approach is totally new.
Buildings are built within cities and mega-cities to shelter cultivable areas and be able to feed the growing demand for food by local production.
The production model is based on a virtuous circle consisting of creating more with less and reuse waste products. Selected cultures are resistant and minimize the need for arable land, water, energy and pesticides. The impact on the environment is thus very low and transportation costs are also minimized because products are delivered directly to consumers in the city.
The first Plantagon greenhouse is installed in Sweden (Linköping) in 2012. The building is constructed vertically transport patented propellers that represent the greatest innovation of the process. In this building operated in a closed circle, the production capacity is 500 tonnes of food a year. The investment necessitated 30 million€ for the building and € 400,000 for the land.
The project relied on partnerships with companies such as SWECO or SAAB, but also with Chinese universities to improve R&D and promote awareness of younger generations of change of food model.
Best practice spotted by the World Forum for a Responsible Economy 2014.
CONTRIBUTION TO COMPANY PERFORMANCE
- 1st greenhouse in Sweden: investment 30 million EUR and EUR 400 000 euros/field, 500 tonnes of food per year
- Awards and recognition: SACC New York-Deloitte Green Award for eco-innovation in the food chain; European CEO of the year in 2012; Red Herring Top 100 Global Award
Benefits
- Reduction of necessary agricultural land surfaces; Reduction and reuse of waste; Reducing the carbon footprint of food transport
- Education of the younger generation to the consumption of local products
- Workforce
- NC
- Turnover
- NC
- Country
- Sweden
Contact
Owe Pettersson, COO at Plantagon Int. AB