NU - Green Wall

Green Wall is almost ready to BUILD!!

This quarter marked a major design shift to a drip irrigation based system as opposed to a hydroponics based system. We made this decision largely to make our system more resilient to the extreme conditions faced in the winter. While this new design will make our system more robust, the switch has also led to its fair share of challenges such as rethinking the plumbing to still create a circular water flow with this new approach and increasing the structural integrity to support this increased weight of the new grow beds.

The new design still consists of grow beds stacked vertically on top of each other. To support the drip irrigation system and allow for additional storage, these grow beds will primarily be comprised of soil as opposed to our previous design of planter pods. To aid in reconstructability, the middle grow beds are designed to be identical.

This design has also incorporated some creative new design ideas. For instance, we will be covering the grow beds in panels of moss, which will naturally help insulate our system while adding an easy to maintain, year round source of green to the wall. This not only provides aesthetic benefits but also increases the wall’s ability to absorb carbon.

As we finish up our designs and start to order materials we will be getting to the shop. This quarter we will continue to narrow down our build location with the hopes of building right by Ford! This location will show off our Green Wall to all of campus and everyone driving down Sheridan.

Stop by our Green Wall meeting times to get involved! We meet Sundays at 4 PM and Tuesdays at 7 PM at Ford G201.