A Novel Planning Model for Approaching a Zero-Food and Zero-Waste Community

Green building codes normally consider selfsufficiency of energy and water. Their highest aspiration is to build zero carbon buildings (ZCB) or zero energy buildings (ZEB). However, a zero-energy building is not sustainable, as it does not take into account the self-sufficiency of food and waste. This paper puts forward a novel planning model to approach a zero-food and zero-(organic) waste community (ZFW community), paving the way to achieve a truly sustainable community with four-zeros on energy, water, food, and waste. It considers a community of 40-ha land accommodating 10,000 persons. If 8-ha farmland is additionally provided, then it can achieve 100% self-sufficiency in fertilizer (organic waste) and 40% self-sufficiency in vegetables. It does not only save carbon dioxide emission due to transportation of food and waste, but it also helps reduce 40% of the landfill space.