Fabbrica dell'Aria - Accademia del caffè espresso, Florence

At the Accademia del Caffè, FdA has a different guise, a new look: the greenhouse placed at the heart of the working environment of the Academy immediately seemed the best way to integrate the presence of coffee plants, Bananas and other species with the functionality of the FdA, underlining the innovative character of this new combination of elements, first of its kind. In the Academy, the coffee plantation in the greenhouse, which reproduces the habitat and the microclimate of tropical areas, participates in the installation of the Air Factory, and therefore it is the coffee plants themselves that purify the indoor air. The 4 coffee plants present in the greenhouse were transplanted into tanks equipped with Stomata technology, allowing the air to diffuse better within the substrate, coming into contact with the root system and the complex system of microorganisms, the main contributors to the degradation of the target pollutants.Thanks to Stomata, the air to be purified spreads inside the substrate, where the joint action of microorganisms and plant roots leads to the absorption and degradation of pollutants. A further stage of filtration is given by the leaves, which absorb the pollutants still present, and degrade them and convert them into other compounds useful for plants. The sensors, positioned respectively near the air inlet duct and at the outlet of an aspirator, allow monitoring of the system’s performance and the main environmental parameters.