Imagine a place where everyone comes together to plant, grow, and learn about their food – well, that’s Cultivate Cochrane for you!
Frankie-Lou Nelligan, the super passionate program facilitator for the group, exclaims, “It’s such a joy to get the community buzzing about our vision!”
Their dream?
A community-driven passive solar greenhouse-cum-educational center where anyone and everyone can learn about and grow their food.
They’re testing and learning the big concepts with their smaller “Passive Solar Roller.”
What is the “Solar Roller?”
It’s a tricked-out greenhouse on wheels.
Like the large community hub they are planning, the “Passive Solar Roller” uses passive solar design to demonstrate a sustainable way to extend the growing season in Cochrane’s challenging climate.
Built on a trailer, the solar roller greenhouse can travel around the community to showcase its design and provide hands-on programming on food growing, nutrition, and resiliency.
Why passive solar?
Cultivate Cochrane believes, “Growing food in southern Alberta is challenging due to our short frost-free window, cold nights, and risk of snow, hail and high wind. We do, however, have abundant sunshine.”
Passive solar is a way of designing a greenhouse so that its heating and cooling is largely done using the free and perpetual energy of the sun.
In the winter, passive solar greenhouse design captures the heat from sunshine, preventing extreme buffering temperature swings.
Now, let’s talk techie!
Their solar roller has some cool stuff features like:
- Kitted Out: It’s not your garden variety greenhouse. It’s got dedicated solar panels, super-insulated floor and walls, and even a rain barrel. Wind turbine? They’re adding that soon.
- Stayin’ Warm: A funky green metal covering material is used. The result? Absorb sunlight by day to keep plants cool and release heat by night to keep plants warm.
- The Climate Battery: At about 27°C, this gadget channels warm, humid air from the peak of the greenhouse to the cooler soil below and back out again – clever, right?
Cultivate Cochrane says that the solar roller’s structure and chosen materials “demonstrate the principles of passive solar greenhouse function while being durable, road-worthy, and conducive to programming.”
The Big Dream
Cultivate Cochrane already has big plans for its next steps, building a large passive solar community greenhouse hub.
This past winter, engineering students at the University of Calgary modelled the energy systems for the community-scale greenhouse hub.
It’s hard work. “The team put in long hours tackling heat loss calculations, solar angles, sizing of photovoltaics to meet electricity needs, and more,” the group posted in a statement.
It was a win-win: the students practiced their skills on a real-world project that was impactful, and Cultivate Cochrane obtained valuable modelling to inform the design of the large-scale passive solar greenhouse.
They are dreaming bigger than building a community greenhouse hub, Nelligan adds, “We aim to bring people, young and old, together” to learn how to grow food.
Nelligan stressed the importance of a supportive community to the Cochrane Times: “It’s all about folks who see this vision and want to roll up their sleeves and dive in!”
Want to dig deeper into Cultivate Cochrane’s mission?
Plant yourself at www.cultivatecochrane.com! 🌍🍅🥦
And if you are looking for even more learning about gardening, tiny homes, bee-keeping, permaculture, and resilient living, be sure to check out the Cochrane Permaculture Tour on September 23!
