OUR PROJECT

SEUM is repurposing a shipping container into a growth chamber heated by solar thermal energy. The interior of the container will be retrofitted with insulation and cladding, and a flat-plate solar thermal collector will be installed with an integrated heat distribution system designed by the chapter. Over the winter season, we will use purpose-built testing equipment to assess the performance of the growth chamber.

The growth chamber is located at the Sustainability in Action Facility (SiAF) on the University of Manitoba Fort Garry campus and serves as grounds for cooperation between student groups and members of faculty.

OUR PROJECT SO FAR

The SEUM team has been hard at work to get our project started. After initial meetings with mentors and leaders at the SiAF, SEUM developed a project charter, timeline and bill of materials. We have created an experimental testing plan to guide the monitoring of our growth chamber. To prepare for monitoring, we designed, fabricated and tested an Arduino based temperature probe with logging capabilities.

We have started to retrofit the shipping container as well! We are in the process of removing existing interior cladding and assessing the current state of the container. In the coming weeks we plan to push forward with finishing the retrofits and installing the collector!