Earth Sheltered Greenhouse

The Earth Sheltered Greenhouse is a marriage between the root cellar and the standard greenhouse. In our climate, the standard greenhouse with glass or plastic on all sides really does not make sense, since a large portion of the energy from the sun, coming in the south side, leaks out the north side. By building the back wall into a hillside, with a concrete wall to collect sun energy, and using earth for insulation and as a direct source of warmth in winter and cooling in summer, we can create a much more efficient and inexpensive way to grow food year round.

 

This project was the result of six years of collaboration that began with an intensive design process undertaken by three students from the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Memorial University in 2016-17.  The resulting design promised to be a game changer in its ability to provide a year-round grow space with minimal cost in heating. So we set out to build one, after a second phase that involved a consultation group that met for ten hours at the MUN Botanical Garden.

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We were lucky to engage twenty-one local stakeholders, each of whom represented a different organization and point of view. These consultants included farmers, educators, a professor of medicine, indigenous leaders and representatives of provincial Agrifoods. In ten hours of consultation, without one instance of bullshit politics, these wonderful advisors generated 270 recommendations. If you would like a copy of the consultation report, click here.

 

Our test version was built on a hillside at the O’Brien Farm on Mt. Scio in St. John’s, where it can be used to demonstrate the capacity to grow healthy food year-round in a challenging northern climate. We began the construction phase, in partnership with the O’Brien Farm Foundation, with additional support from Memorial University and a growing list of local businesses and contractors, in 2021. The building was completed by the Farm in 2019-2020 and currently doubles as a pump house for well water to support the Incubator Farms operating in the surrounding area, and is used for storage and seed starting in the Spring.

 

HERE is an article published in the MUN Gazette, describing the partnership at work behind this project.