The IBTS (“Integrated Biotectural System")-

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

is a biotectural, urban development project suited for hot

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

s. It was part of the Egyptian strategy for the afforestation of desert lands from 2011 until spring of 2015, when geopolitical changes like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Sinai Province in Egypt forced the project to a halt. The project begun in spring 2007 as an academic study in urban development and

desert greening Desert greening is the process of man-made reclamation of deserts for ecological reasons (biodiversity), farming and forestry, but also for reclamation of natural water systems and other ecological systems that support life. The term "desert gre ...

. It was further developed by N. Berdellé and D. Voelker as a private project until 2011. Afterwards LivingDesert Group including Prof. Abdel Ghany El Gindy and Dr. Mosaad Kotb from the Central Laboratory for Agricultural Climate in Egypt, Forestry Scientist Hany El-Kateb, Agroecologist Wil van Eijsden and

Permaculture Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking. It applies these principle ...

ist Sepp Holzer was created to introduce the finished project in Egypt. The IBTS Greenhouse, together with the programme for the afforestation of desert lands in Egypt, became part of relocation strategies. These play a role in Egypt as urbanization of the Nile Delta is a problem for the agricultural sector and because of infrastructural problems like traffic congestion in Cairo. The IBTS features sea-water farming but inside a large greenhouse. All of the evaporated water can thus be harvested. The generation of liquid water from the atmosphere inside the IBTS requires large amounts of cooling power. This is done with the incoming sea-water. Thus the cooling requirement and the cooling power are always balanced. The IBTS relies on a new quality of

systems integration System integration is defined in engineering as the process of bringing together the component sub-systems into one system (an aggregation of subsystems cooperating so that the system is able to deliver the overarching functionality) and ensuring ...

including architectural, technological and natural elements. It combines food production and residence, as well as

desalination Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in Soil salinity control, soil desalination, which is an issue f ...

sea water Seawater, or salt water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approx ...

, or

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...

. A CAE demonstration project using real weather-, soil and economic conditions proved feasibility under hyperarid conditions. The relevance of the IBTS is its capacity for water Desalination with an efficiency of 0.45kwh per cubic metre of distillate. This is because operational cost for Desalination utilities far outweigh initial building cost over time. Also because the energy requirement for Desalination plants reach up into the GigaWatt region. The dependence on large amounts of fossil energy leaves water provision from industrial plants insecure. Through the high efficiency, Desalination has become financially and ecologically viable for large scale agriculture, forestry and

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

. Another point of relevance is the creation of a bio-diverse landscape and many jobs instead of smoking chimneys and factories along the valuable waterfront. Particular relevance also lies in the applicability inland, also that would exclude the high Desalination capacity. The building has its roots in construction engineering and construction physics in contrast to

food production The food industry is a complex, global network of diverse businesses that supplies most of the food consumed by the world's population. The food industry today has become highly diversified, with manufacturing ranging from small, traditional, ...

as it is for most greenhouses. It is fundamentally different from the

seawater greenhouse A seawater greenhouse is a greenhouse structure that enables the growth of crops and the production of fresh water in arid regions which constitute about one third of the earth's land area. This in response to the global water scarcity and peak ...

s. It differs for its performance in desalination. Alternative desalination-technologies, air-to-water utilities and desalination-greenhouses in testing, require a multiple of the energy for fresh-water production. The significance of the term Integration lies within the efficiency that

can achieve, by imitation of natural systems, especially closed cycles. The establishment of closed watercycles being the most crucial of all, because of the increasing severity of the Global

Water crisis Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is wher ...

particularly in hot

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

s. The industrial-scale desalination is bound to hot climates because it requires high amounts of solar thermal power. It has turned out to be suitable in mitigation of the sinking of

water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...

s in agricultural areas of the

MENA region MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...

and beyond. In future versions the IBTS can be deployed in cold climates using extra heat energy sources like compact fusion, or

small modular reactor Small modular reactors (SMRs) are a proposed class of nuclear fission reactors, smaller than conventional nuclear reactors, which can be built in one location (such as a factory), then shipped, commissioned, and operated at a separate site. The ...

Charging the watercycle

The IBTS can be charged by oceanwater, which is turned to fresh-water by evaporation. This is the primary type because it is important. Oceanwater is unlimited and the IBTS can thus produce excess water for sale. At the beginning of the salt-water charging lies the seawater-farming operation inside the IBTS Greenhouse. This only requires little amounts of sea-water. Most of the water flows through the food-production system and is then processed in the full-desalination utility. But the IBTS can also be charged by a continuous inflow of organic matter for the workers, animals and later residents. The organic matter, which is food and drink first, is regained through waste treatment. The waste-water treatment is part of the ordinary water-cycle. The organic matter is partly infiltrated underground into the root zones of the plants and partly processed in

septic tank A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater (sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatme ...

s and then applied as topsoil in the forestry. This concept has been implemented inside residential homes (a famous type is called earth ship) many times before. In general it is possible to built the IBTS as solids- and liquids waste treatment site for a nearby settlements, hotels, or city. The water-cycle can also be charged by a single rain-event, which do occur in the desert and can be counted on. Lastly it is possible to charge the water cycle by pumping of saline- or contaminated groundwater and to some extent by atmospheric water-generation. The volume of water inside the water-cycle does not matter as it is a quasi closed cycle. Even the evaporation from the soil and exhaled moisture from people are captured under the roof. Losses occur due to export of food and in case of a leak in the roof. Leaks would occur frequently under normal conditions. The Skyroof is maintained with a special refurbishment- and replacement system that can deal with strong winds, hail and birds landing on the thin foil.

Charging the nutrient cycle

The nutrient cycle is connected to the watercycle. Charging it mainly means the practice of building up

soil fertility Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.

and

soil organic matter Soil organic matter (SOM) is the organic matter component of soil, consisting of plant and animal detritus at various stages of decomposition, cells and tissues of soil microbes, and substances that soil microbes synthesize. SOM provides numerous b ...

. This can entail import of

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...

through

organic waste Biodegradable waste includes any organic matter in waste which can be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, methane or simple organic molecules by micro-organisms and other living things by composting, aerobic digestion, anaerobic digesti ...

, but mainly by biowaste from the production of food inside the IBTS. In sea-water systems the biomass is created from salt-tolerant plants called

halophytes A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs and seashores. Th ...

. Biomass yields of up to 52 tons per hectare and year have been recorded. Moreover, the biomass generation of roots are important for

Carbon sequestration Carbon sequestration is the process of storing carbon in a carbon pool. Carbon dioxide () is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological, chemical, and physical processes. These changes can be accelerated through changes in land ...

. This is up to 35t/ha*y extra. A third source of biomass are external seawater farms, which do not require the pricy space under the roof of the IBTS. These can be on land or in sea. Most noteworthy are

seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of '' Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...

farms. Just as the nutrient cycle has to be charged with biomass there is an option to charge the atmosphere inside the IBTS, or seaweed water-ponds, with . This would increase the biomass yield. This process has certain limits. One is the availability of

trace element __NOTOC__ A trace element, also called minor element, is a chemical element whose concentration (or other measure of amount) is very low (a "trace amount"). They are classified into two groups: essential and non-essential. Essential trace elements ...

like phosphorus required by any organism. As the best source for the charging with additional would be industrial waste this is another way in which the IBTS can function as waste treatment site.

Performance

The energy of operation is 0.45 kWh per

cubic metre The cubic metre (in Commonwealth English and international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or cubic meter (in American English) is the unit of volume in the International System of Units (SI). Its symbol is m ...

distilled water Distilled water is water that has been boiled into vapor and condensed back into liquid in a separate container. Impurities in the original water that do not boil below or near the boiling point of water remain in the original container. Thus, di ...

in the full-scale version. This performance is more than 10 times lower than the records set by desalination plants in Dubai and Perth according to official numbers given by the respective authorities. The IBTS is based on a modular concept, with a core size of 1 hectare. This is the minimum size for the construction and for

self-sufficiency Self-sustainability and self-sufficiency are overlapping states of being in which a person or organization needs little or no help from, or interaction with, others. Self-sufficiency entails the self being enough (to fulfill needs), and a self-s ...

, but the circular, architectural modules can be built 10 hectare large, or more. Each module is based on sub-modules allowing for immediate commencement of operation and generation of profit (like a re-afforestation site generating profit in its early stages). Best efficiency and full capacity can be provided with a superstructure approximately 100 modules large. 10 km² have the capacity of an industrial desalination plant, which is 0,5 million cubic meters of water per day. Since the first version of the IBTS the atmospheric water generation has evolved through a series of hygrothermal models and can now be operated at 0.45 kwh/m³ according to the developer. The IBTS works with natural processes in closed cycles, hosted in a building. Therefore, it never hits natural, or physical limitations for growth like the desalination technology in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

already has because of brine discharge and temperature rise.Dr. Christophe-Tourenq, "Conservation of Coral Reefs in the Persian Gulf"

Primary energy

IBTS is operated with electrical and thermal energy produced from

windpower Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically, w ...

and

concentrated solar power Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated when ...

, on-site (in a proprietary process). This means that the energy requirement and the use of

primary energy Primary energy (PE) is an energy form found in nature that has not been subjected to any human engineered conversion process. It is energy contained in raw fuels, and other forms of energy, including waste, received as input to a system. Pr ...

can be considered the same, which is not the case for common desalination plants. Common desalination plants are dependent on power-plants using fossil fuels. Accounting for energy-loss during the

energy transformation Energy transformation, also known as energy conversion, is the process of changing energy from one form to another. In physics, energy is a quantity that provides the capacity to perform work or moving, (e.g. Lifting an object) or provides heat. ...

in the power-plant, common desalination plants use 2-3 times more energy than stated in the usual performance data. These are common factors for energy-conversion losses for the combustion engines used in the desalination industry. Taking this into account the IBTS uses less than 5% of the current efficiency world-record, which is about 3.5kWh/m³ plus ca. 1.0kWh/m³ for seawater pumping and other factors not accounted for. This is multiplied with the efficiency of primary energy use. Together 9-14 kWh/m³. The term of

should be combined with

energy quality Energy quality is a measure of the ease with which a form of energy can be converted to useful work or to another form of energy: i.e. its content of thermodynamic free energy. A high quality form of energy has a high content of thermodynamic fr ...

for realistic understanding. Energy quality in context of desalination shows a new picture for the overall efficiency not only of the physical process of desalination, but the overall economic efficiency of the IBTS using proprietary renewable energy.

Design Points

The maximum of 500m³ of freshwater production per day and hectare, multiplies to 0.5 million m³ on 1000 ha, equaling the output of the largest industrial desalination power plants in the world. It is reached by heat-recovery from the hot fresh-water. This recovered energy is used to heat the brine leaving the Mariculture in the IBTS doubling the daily evaporation of 100m³ and generating salt for sale. The recovered energy is also used to preheat incoming salt-water for the Mariculture. The chosen breed of fish needs warm water and that warm water also increases the natural evaporation inside the Greenhouse. The Design points arose out of the computational engineering of the physical model as well as the financial plan in an iterative process.

Economic implications

Because of the independence of primary energy- and material resources, the efficiency of water production and the scalable, modular design the IBTS Greenhouse is sustainable. A strategic, national

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

project like the IBTS allows for the successful energy-transition into a sustainable economy. This can be understood by a comparison of GDP growth, the generation of real values and a weighted GDP. An example for the infrastructure services of the IBTS Greenhouse is water purification. Wastewater is percolated into the ground and provides water and nutrients for the growth of trees. This is not so easy with food crops for hygienic reasons. Thus the IBTS provides sewage treatment in countries, or areas that lack treatment plants The IBTS Greenhouse is an open concept compatible with most other technologies and practices for water- energy- and food production. It is plugin-ready for upcoming technologies like nuclear power from compact fusion, the

traveling wave reactor A traveling-wave reactor (TWR) is a proposed type of nuclear fission reactor that can convert fertile material into usable fuel through nuclear transmutation, in tandem with the burnup of fissile material. TWRs differ from other kinds of fast- ...

, or

breeder reactor A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material than it consumes. Breeder reactors achieve this because their neutron economy is high enough to create more fissile fuel than they use, by irradiation of a fertile mate ...

s. When these energy sources become available they can be integrated into existing IBTS infrastructure and generate even more fresh water without

brine Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for br ...

discharge into natural water bodies and the appending environmental problems. For infrastructure developments taking decades for the roll-out and upscaling it is crucial to design in terms of future-readiness, a key engineering principle. The manufacturing process of the IBTS is designed for

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

, which requires more electricity than common construction sites, or manufacturing processes. This platform design is also future ready for more available energy. An example is the large roof of the IBTS, which needs to be observed and cleaned continuously and refurbished several times over the lifecycle of the IBTS. This can only be done by special bots, or drones on the scale that the IBTS was developed for as national desert greening strategy for reclaiming and regreening entire regions.

Examples of other Biotecture

The most famous example is the

Biosphere 2 Biosphere 2 is an American Earth system science research facility located in Oracle, Arizona. Its mission is to serve as a center for research, outreach, teaching, and lifelong learning about Earth, its living systems, and its place in the univers ...

, a research project and demonstration site integrating residential areas into a new type of greenhouse. It was designed to be self-sufficient including food production in an ecosystemic context. Another example for Biotecture, which is foremost a residential home, is an

Earthship An Earthship is a style of architecture developed in the late 20th century to early 21st century by architect Mike Reynolds (architect), Michael Reynolds. Earthships are designed to behave as Passive solar building design, passive solar earth s ...

. Earthships incorporate water-purification and reuse on multiple levels. Since 2010 urban developments labeled Forest Cities, drawing from the IBTS and other pioneer projects have been created. The

Gardens by the Bay The Gardens by the Bay is a nature park spanning in the Central Region of Singapore, adjacent to the Marina Reservoir. The park consists of three waterfront gardens: Bay South Garden (in Marina South), Bay East Garden (in Marina East) and Ba ...

using all of the core design elements of the TSPC Forest City from 2008 like artificial trees with spherical buildings on top is an outstanding example. The Liuzhou Forest City is one of many examples for green architecture, respectively green urban developments of new cities with a lot of green areas, including the facades of buildings. The international efforts to create Forest Cities are another level of implication. China is going forward with the introduction of several hundred designated Forest Cities. One of the latest examples is Shenzhen

References

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External links

Systems with Integrated Water Desalination for Arid areas based on Solar Energy''
by M.Thameur. Chaibi
of a Solar Desalination Module integrated in a Greenhouse Roof on Light Transmission and Crop Growth''
by M.Thameur. Chaibi Water desalination Drinking water Greenhouses Water technology Water conservation