C-RAU inaugurates SERR'URE, a promising new greenhouse for local production

On Tuesday, December 20, 2022, the SERR'URE project partners discovered the new low-energy urban greenhouse built on the roof of the TERRA research center in the presence of Rector Anne-Sophie Nyssen.

This ceremony marked a joint and official recognition of ULiège and the public authorities for the mission of this project: to improve urban agriculture. Indeed, in addition to the intervention of the Rector, who showed her support for SERR'URE, the Urban Agriculture Research Center could count on the presence of Mr. Benoît Dispa, Mayor of Gembloux and Mr. Gilles Foret, alderman in charge of the Ecological Transition of the City of Liege.

With its multiple interests in the urban agriculture sector, SERR'URE is part of several programs. On the one hand, it is part of the many projects of the WASABI platform, which is dedicated to urban agriculture and biodiversitý research. It also joins GROOF (Greenhouse to Reduce_CO2 on RooFs), set up by the INTERREG NWE fund to reduce_CO2 emissions in the construction and agriculture sectors.

Whether it is in its structure or in its production, this greenhouse will be able to provide solutions for urban agriculture. The composition of the greenhouse has been designed so that the TERRA center can support the weight of the greenhouse (maximum 400 Kg per^m2) and avoid that it degrades the waterproofing of the roof. If necessary, SERR'URE could be removed and recycled without damaging the rest of the building.

For its energy consumption, the greenhouse will recover waste heat from the building to maintain an adequate temperature for the crops. The research team is also testing photovoltaic panels that do not interfere with plant growth. For the moment SERR'URE is "on the podium at the 2nd place of the less polluting greenhouses on a scale of 4. And this without being coupled with the lost energy of TERRA" explains Prof. Haïssam Jijakli, coordinator of the WASABI platform and of the Centre de Recherches en Agriculture Urbaine. He also plans to reach the first place by making the greenhouse emission neutral once the installation is finalized.

In terms of production, the hydroponic systems set up already allow the study of the growth of temperate crops such as lettuce, basil and also high value-added plants that can produce molecules for the medical, paramedical and phytopharmaceutical sectors.

By combining its architecture and its varied production, the Urban Agriculture Research Center provides a solution to be able to easily cultivate in every city thanks to new greenhouses that will be able to recover the heat produced by buildings, take advantage of the energy of photovoltaic panels without impacting the growth of the plants and avoid transport by producing locally.