Root Cellar Construction - July 2019
The Deep Roots Food Hub is building a community root cellar in West Carleton where local, small-scale farmers can rent space to store their crops. This will provide farmers with a sustainable, energy-efficient and time-tested storage solution opening up year round sales opportunities.
Lack of off-season storage restricts local farmers to planting crops that are distributed immediately upon harvest. The community root cellar may be the first of its kind in Canada to address this significant obstacle to food security. By incorporating a flexible modular design able to store various crops under optimum storage conditions year round the root cellar is a heritage solution to a modern agricultural problem. Building a sustainable, low cost storage facility not only opens new markets for small-scale farmers but will also provide West Carleton residents access to previously unavailable local produce during the winter months.
A root cellar was a common piece of infrastructure a century ago and was a critical component in the food storage chain before the advent of modern refrigeration. It is a simple insulated structure providing isolation between the harsh external elements and the constant temperature provided by the geothermal properties of the earth. Using this free geothermal energy means that no electrical heating or cooling is required and there are minimal moving parts to maintain leading to very low operational costs.
The construction of the root cellar will employ modern materials to improve upon this time-tested concept. The main chamber will be formed by using a common steel building structure. The steel structure is modular which allows for future expansion of the root cellar by simply adding sections to achieve the desired length. An eight-inch layer of spray foam insulation with fireproof and waterproof membrane is applied to the inside of the steel. The perimeter of the concrete footing is insulated reducing the transfer of frost to the inner wall of the root cellar. The root cellar will be off grid, will be solar powered, and microcomputers will be used to remotely monitor temperature and humidity conditions and control fans and dampers for air movement. With more accurate control of temperature and humidity than is possible in a traditional root cellar, produce should last longer and be of higher quality.
The project is designed to be a Proof of Concept. The root cellar is divided into a food storage chamber 25’ (W) X 24’ (L) or 600 square feet, while the total area is 24’ (W) X 37’ (L), or 888 square feet. It is estimated that the storage area will store up to 60,000lbs (approximately 27,000kgs) of produce.
Lack of off-season storage restricts local farmers to planting crops that are distributed immediately upon harvest. The community root cellar may be the first of its kind in Canada to address this significant obstacle to food security. By incorporating a flexible modular design able to store various crops under optimum storage conditions year round the root cellar is a heritage solution to a modern agricultural problem. Building a sustainable, low cost storage facility not only opens new markets for small-scale farmers but will also provide West Carleton residents access to previously unavailable local produce during the winter months.
A root cellar was a common piece of infrastructure a century ago and was a critical component in the food storage chain before the advent of modern refrigeration. It is a simple insulated structure providing isolation between the harsh external elements and the constant temperature provided by the geothermal properties of the earth. Using this free geothermal energy means that no electrical heating or cooling is required and there are minimal moving parts to maintain leading to very low operational costs.
The construction of the root cellar will employ modern materials to improve upon this time-tested concept. The main chamber will be formed by using a common steel building structure. The steel structure is modular which allows for future expansion of the root cellar by simply adding sections to achieve the desired length. An eight-inch layer of spray foam insulation with fireproof and waterproof membrane is applied to the inside of the steel. The perimeter of the concrete footing is insulated reducing the transfer of frost to the inner wall of the root cellar. The root cellar will be off grid, will be solar powered, and microcomputers will be used to remotely monitor temperature and humidity conditions and control fans and dampers for air movement. With more accurate control of temperature and humidity than is possible in a traditional root cellar, produce should last longer and be of higher quality.
The project is designed to be a Proof of Concept. The root cellar is divided into a food storage chamber 25’ (W) X 24’ (L) or 600 square feet, while the total area is 24’ (W) X 37’ (L), or 888 square feet. It is estimated that the storage area will store up to 60,000lbs (approximately 27,000kgs) of produce.