<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="MARGIN: 4px 4px 1px; FONT: 10pt Tahoma"><div><div id="page"><div class="pagewrapper"><div class="contentbody"><div class="bodywrapper"><div class="col_640"><div id="story0"><div class="story_content" id="storypage"><div class="clear"><a></a></div> <div class="para14" id="story_content"> <div class="para18" id="storycontent"> <div class="imagesize460" id="imageBox"> <div class="wrapper_0_10_0_0"> <div class="clear"><font size="2">Lufa Farms’ rooftop greenhouse will start planting in January and its first harvest will be ready six weeks later.</font></div> <div class="clear"><font size="2"><strong>Photograph by: Handout, Architect's concept</strong></font></div></div></div><p>If all goes well, urban locavores will have a year-round source of non-GMO, pesticide-and-herbicide-free produce by early 2011. </p><p>Lufa Farms, a Montreal company, plans to unveil the world's first commercial-scale rooftop greenhouse atop of a two-storey office building near Marche Centrale. </p><p>The nearly $2-million, 31,000 square-foot project should be completed before the end of the year and is expected to be ready for planting in January. </p><p>But it won't be alone in its field for long. New York Citybased Gotham Greens intends to open a 15,000 square-foot rooftop greenhouse in Brooklyn in 2011. </p><p>Lufa Farms co-founder Kurt Lynn said the company wants to shorten the distance between the people who grow food and the people who buy it. He said some of the produce found in Quebec supermarkets travels more than 1,500 kilometres after being harvested. </p><p>"In our view, that is the cause of most of the problems with food today," he said, consumers are often limited to vegetables and fruits that can withstand weeks of travel and processing without spoiling. </p><p>"You end up with tomatoes that don't taste like tomatoes." </p><p>Lynn said that because his firm intends to ship produce within 24 hours of harvesting, he has the option of selecting more fragile -and often tastier -varieties of produce. </p><p>To that end, Lufa Farms has been working with McGill University plant science and nutrition professors to help choose the tastiest and most nutritious strains to plant. </p><p>The produce will not be certified organic, but it will be pesticide and herbicide-free and it will not be genetically modified, Lynn said. </p><p>He said the firm will use hydroponic farming techniques to create an optimal growing environment. </p><p>"You give (the plants) what they want -and they love it," he said, explaining that a tomato plant in the greenhouse could reach 12 to 15 feet in height. </p><p>Targeted customers are the general public and restaurants. </p><p>Customers will be able to buy produce "baskets" on the company's website, which will be delivered to group drop off points or will be available for pickup. (Farms that participate in Quebec's popular Equiterre program also use a basket delivery system.) </p><p>Owen Rose, head of the board of Montreal's Urban Ecology Centre -an organization that promotes green roofs -said "the idea is great." </p><p>Rose said a rooftop greenhouse accomplishes many things -the promotion of urban agriculture, the provision of food security and it is good for the local economy. Moreover, it puts "green and leafy vegetables in the forefront" making them "even trendy" and encourages people to be aware of and to eat vegetables. </p><p>He said the greenhouse could be a good marketing tool for Montreal restaurant owners trying to demonstrate local responsibility. They could promote certain dishes as having "grown in Montreal" ingredients. </p><p>Lufa Farms worked with Montreal's GKC Architects to find the right roof, design the greenhouse and modify the building slightly. The two-storey building is owned by Fonds de Placement Immobilier BTB, which has signed a long-term lease. </p><p>Lynn said a rooftop greenhouse can save a building 20 to 25 per cent of energy costs per year due to its cooling and insulating impact. It also absorbs carbon dioxide, he added. </p><p>Lufa Farms was founded almost four years ago by Lynn, 60, and Mohamed Hage, 27, both of whom had already founded successful companies. Lynn founded the national chain of hearing aid clinics called ListenUP! Canada; Hage was a founder of Montreal-based technology firm Cypra Media. </p><p>Dr. Howard Resh, an internationally-known hydroponics researcher, is the company's chief horticulturist. </p><p>The company will initially have a staff of 10 running the greenhouse operations, Lynn said. </p><p>The privately owned firm's founders used mostly personal money to start up the company, but had some government grants for certain parts of the construction, he said. </p><p>Lynn said he is confident that there is a strong market for his company's year-round produce. </p><p>"The timing for this thing is about perfect," he said. "There is a lot of interest in 'green' (projects) and there concern about the urban environment." </p><p>He said the company expects to break even next year. </p><p>If the prototype greenhouse works, Lufa Farms wants to build more -and bigger -rooftop greenhouses in Montreal. Lynn said the type of produce grown can be modified according to the neighbourhood. For example, a greenhouse near Chinatown could grow custom crops for residents of that particular neighbourhood. </p><p>Lufa Farms is scheduled to start planting in January; the first harvest is expected six weeks later. </p><p>The company's website, <a href="http://www.lufa.com/" target="_blank">www.lufa.com</a>,will launch on Nov. 2.</p> <div class="copyright">© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette</div> <script type="text/javascript"> // load up cookied story font size getStoryFontSize(); </script> <div class="clear"> </div></div></div> <div class="hide_me" id="story_photo_content"> <div id="storyphoto"> <div class="col_620"> <div id="imageBox"> <div class="clear"><a href="http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Commercial+rooftop+garden+world+first/3737649/story.html">http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Commercial+rooftop+garden+world+first/3737649/story.html</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><!-- SiteCatalyst code version: H.17. 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