We have now concluded our team’s involvement in Ray Cam’s Home Grown Wall project. Our team has provided Ray Cam with a vertical garden design which they can now use to manufacture gardens for their community. The gardens will allow families and individuals to grow their own vegetables which will save them money by allowing them to spend less on groceries. Also by allowing people to grow food locally, the Home Grown Wall project cuts greenhouse gas emissions that would result from having to transport food into Vancouver from other locations. Ray Cam also hopes to eventually expand the scope of the project so that the gardens will be available for the general public to purchase. The proceeds from these gardens would go to Ray Cam to help fund many of the projects run through their Community Centre.

Over the duration of the project, our team developed a greater understanding of project planning and implementation. At the early stages of the term, we had various ideas of how to progress with the design of the vertical gardens yet we were unable to implement any of these ideas because we had done very little planning beforehand. We quickly realized that if we were going to be able to complete the project on time we would need to begin scheduling our work and completing tasks in a specific order. We began holding weekly meetings in which we decided upon what tasks would need to be completed by the following week. By focusing on specific aspects of the project separately, we were able to focus our attention on details that may otherwise have been overlooked.

This CBEL project allowed each member of our team to learn how to work on a large-scale project within a team setting. Most of us had very little project-based experience at the beginning of the term which provided us with an opportunity to expand our skills and knowledge. Though we were presented with challenges throughout the project, we quickly were able to find solutions to these problems by addressing them to the whole team so that everyone could provide some input on how to solve them. Our team went through a maturation process as the project progressed and by the conclusion of the term, our entire team felt that we had developed new skillsets both as individuals and as a team. We hope now to take what we have learned through the Home Grown Wall project and to apply it to all aspects of our lives, both professionally and personally. This project was a great opportunity for us all and an experience that we will value for years to come.

Our team’s poster for the Civil 202 Poster Presentation on March 31st, 2014.

Implementing the project plan that out team developed earlier in the term was perhaps the most important aspect of the entire project. It was essential that the team met all deadlines in order to be able to complete the design before the end of the term. With the project now concluding, it is necessary to now analyze the effectiveness of our project implementation plan.

The objective of our team was to develop a vertical garden design that Ray-Cam would be able to use to manufacture these gardens for families and individuals in the community. From this objective, our team developed a project implementation plan in order to be able to complete the project within the UBC academic term. The plan consisted of designing individual aspects of the garden at separate stages with consultation from Ray-Cam. By completing the design in stages, our team was able to finalize specific details of the gardens with which we could then develop the design further. Our team met weekly to discuss design ideas as well as to change any previous design aspects based on feedback we received from Ray-Cam.

The final design will be delivered to Ray-Cam later this week. Once they receive it, they will be able to manufacture the gardens and distribute them throughout the community. Based on the objectives that were outlined by our team at the beginning of the term, the outcomes of the project should be looked at as a success.

Drawing of each component of the final design with proper dimensions.

As with any design process, there have been some successes and some challenges within the team-based project dynamic. One of the best attributes our team was able to exhibit over the course of the term was our ability to work effectively as a team. We divided the work load fairly amongst one another so that no one felt overwhelmed by the project and that everyone was able to manage their individual responsibilities well. It was because of the team’s ability to work well with one another that the project was able to be completed on schedule.

Perhaps the biggest challenge our team faced during the course of the project was being able to communicate our ideas to Ray-Cam. Ray-Cam is actively involved in dozens of initiatives within their community and thus the Home Grown Wall project was not their only priority. Our team learned that we needed to give Ray-Cam much more notice to schedule meetings so that they would be able to find a time within their schedule that would allow them to meet with us. We often only asked to schedule a meeting 3 to 5 days in advance which was often not enough notice. From this experience, our team learned how to conduct ourselves when interacting with a client on a project.

With a basic design decided upon, our team is now focused on creating a final design which we will then be able to give to Ray Cam. From this design, Ray Cam will have everything they need to be able to manufacture the vertical gardens and distribute them throughout their community. In order for the final design to be completed our team will need to finalize several key details about the project. These details were discussed in the previous blog post and are summarized with their completion dates below:

March 14^th: Design the base of the garden (Including possible wheels attached to the base)

March 21^st: Design the connections that will be used to fasten the different sections of the garden in place

March 17^th-21^st: Meet with Ray Cam to finalize the design parameters listed above

March 31^st–April 4^th: Have a final design completed as well as setup instructions so that Ray Cam will be able to easily assemble the gardens (i.e. Project Completion)

*Notice that all of these tasks are being completed with consultation from every team member. As a result, no one person is in charge of completing any aspect of the design individually.

Up until this point, our team has visited the Ray Cam Community Centre twice. The first visit was to get an introduction to the project by being able to see firsthand what the vertical gardens would be used for. We saw the Food Wall Demonstration, a large scale vertical garden that our current project was created from. We were able to see some of the community that the gardens would be distributed in and some of the design parameters that would need to be considered as a result. From this site visit, we were able to begin the brainstorming stage of the project.

Once we created several different design options, we visited with Ray Cam again to get their input on our preliminary designs and to decide upon one design that we would move forward with. This meeting is what lead to the trapezoid design being picked as our final option. We are now currently working on some of the details of the design in the hopes of having the project be completed in the next couple of weeks.

The basic grid design and shape of the vertical garden.

Since our team’s involvement in the project will be concluding in the coming weeks, it is necessary to begin reflecting upon the success of our team and the effectiveness we had on the project. Our original goal was to complete a final design of the vertical garden that Ray Cam could use to manufacture and distribute to the community. If we are able to accomplish this task then the project as a whole would have to be looked at as a success. We are on pace to meeting this goal but there is still plenty of work that needs to be done. If our team continues to communicate well and work hard on the design then we will have no trouble finishing our design and completing the project.

Now that the team is well over a month into the project, progress has been made in the design of the vertical gardens. Our team has been meeting frequently to discuss and consider different design aspects in order to be able to finalize one idea. The first stage was to come up with a basic geometric shape for the exterior structure. Basic rectangles, cylindrical, and pyramidal shapes were all considered by our team. We narrowed down our choices to three main shapes that would optimize the performance of the vertical gardens without using excessive amounts of materials. These shapes were a rectangle, a triangle, and a slanted trapezoid.

A computer draft of what the three designs would look like.

The other important consideration was a proper irrigation system. Our team planned on using plastic pipes that would be inserted into the interior of the garden that would allow water to be poured down them. The pipes would have a series of holes in them that would allow the water to seep out of the pipes and into the surrounding soil, evenly distributing the water throughout the entire garden. We would implement this system in the rectangular and triangular designs however the trapezoid design did not need any irrigation system. The angular orientation of the sides of the trapezoid allow for water to be poured on the exterior of the garden without needing any piping system in its interior.

After brainstorming and drafting our different design options, out team scheduled a meeting with Ray Cam to finalize one design for our team to carry forward. We also used the time to discuss which materials will be used for the construction of the gardens and the design implications these materials will have on the project. After some discussion, it was decided that the trapezoid design would be the best option. This was decided based on the fact that the irrigation system would not be needed for this design. That reduces the material costs and eliminates some of the complications that would result from creating the irrigation system. Now that our team can focus on one design option, we are now able to set up a timeline in order to finish the project before the end of the term.

The goal for the team is to complete a final draft of the vertical garden design that Ray Cam can then use to manufacture a prototype and to eventually produce 100 units for the community. In order to achieve this, our team has set the following deadlines:

March 14^th: Design the base of the garden (Including possible wheels attached to the base)

March 21^st: Design the connections that will be used to fasten the different sections of the garden in place

March 17^th-21^st: Meet with Ray Cam to finalize the design parameters listed above

March 31^st–April 4^th: Have a final design completed as well as setup instructions so that Ray Cam will be able to easily assemble the gardens (i.e. Project Completion)

Our group will be working closely with Ray-Cam Cooperative Community Centre over the course of this CBEL Project. Ray-Cam is a non-profit organization that is based in East Vancouver. Their organization is actively involved in their local community, providing a wide range of programs and services for both families and individuals. Their programs help provide community members with educational, recreational, social, cultural and economic skills and knowledge with the goal of helping them make successful and fulfilling life choices. Ray-Cam is particularly involved with youth in the community, providing many programs specifically for children, teens and young adults. Ray-Cam runs a community centre on E. Hastings St. where many of their projects are initiatives are run out of.  Our CBEL group will be working with Ray-Cam on their Home Grown Wall Project.

The Home Grown Wall Project is an initiative that resulted from the success of Ray-Cam’s Food Wall demonstration in which Ray-Cam was able to successfully grow a large number of vegetables using a vertical garden. For the Home Grown Wall Project, Ray-Cam wants to build one hundred smaller vertical gardens that will be scaled down to be able to fit on balconies and in smaller yards. They will then distribute these gardens to different community members to provide families and individuals with a sustainable and renewable food source. Ray-Cam has invited our group to help design and prototype these wall gardens as a part of our CBEL Project. By the end of this term, our goal is to have completed a final copy of the design and to possibly construct a prototype if time permits.

The major design considerations of these vertical gardens include the cost of the materials, the mobility of the gardens, and the implementation of a proper irrigation system. The cost of the materials must be kept to a minimum otherwise Ray-Cam will be unable to afford to manufacture as many gardens as they want to. The mobility of the gardens is also very important as Ray-Cam wants to be able to distribute the gardens to community members as quickly as possible after manufacturing them. Collapsible frames or placing wheels on the base of the gardens are design options that will subsequently be considered. The most challenging aspect of the design will likely be the irrigation system. A vertical garden format makes it challenging to evenly water and irrigate all of the crops growing on the wall. As a result, our group will need to find a solution that will allow the owners of these gardens to be able to water all of their plants effectively.

In order to achieve all of these goals, our group will need to work well together in order to optimize our time and efficiency. We plan on doing this by meeting weekly to discuss the progress of the project. At these meetings, we determine which phase of the project we are currently working on in relation to accomplishing our goals. At the end of every meeting, we assign each group member tasks that they need to complete before our next weekly meeting. By organizing our team in this manner, each member knows what is expected of him or her and our team as a whole is able to stay focused and on track towards reaching our goals.

This blog’s purpose is to communicate the progress of the design and development of new collapsible vertical gardens as a part of Ray Cam Cooperative Community Centre’s Home Grown Wall project. Ray-Cam is a non-profit organization that encourages people to use their individual strengths to help benefit their community as a whole. Their community centre located on E Hastings St. in Vancouver runs a wide range of projects and programs dedicated to helping improve the quality of life for people living in the area. One such program is the Home Grown Wall project.

The Home Grown Wall project was created due to the success Ray-Cam had with its Food Wall Demonstration, which produced a substantial amount of vegetables that had been grown using vertical gardens that were secured to the side of an exterior wall. Ray-Cam used the harvested food to help contribute to their childcare lunch program as well as providing food to families and other individuals in the community. Because of the success of this demonstration, Ray-Cam has decided to launch the Home Grown Wall project which has the goal of manufacturing one hundred smaller vertical gardens that can be used on balconies and in smaller yards. Ray-Cam then hopes to distribute these smaller gardens to people in the community to provide them with a sustainable food source and to continue to use them to provide for their childcare lunch program.

As a part of this program, Ray-Cam has asked a group of UBC Civil Engineering students to assist in the design and construction of a prototype for these small vertical gardens. As a result, the Home Grown Wall project is one of this year’s Civil 202 CBEL projects. CBEL, or Community-Based Experiential Learning, are community based projects aimed to provide students with hands on experience while providing technical help for non-profit community projects and initiatives. These projects are run as part of the Civil 202 course offered at UBC. Each project has been assigned a team of second year civil engineering students who are to assist with various aspects of the project including data collection and analysis, design, and in some cases construction and development. Throughout the duration of the term, each team of students will be in communication with both the organization they are involved with as well as a UBC Graduate student who will mentor them during the project.

For the Home Grown Wall project, UBC has provided Ray-Cam with a team of 6 students to help with the design and possible construction of a prototype that Ray-Cam will be able to use to help manufacture one hundred vertical gardens. The team members are as follows:

Mandy Tam was born in Vancouver and is in charge of communicating and organizing site visits and meetings with Ray-Cam for this project. She looks forward to working with the community center to provide the Lunch Program at Ray-Cam with fresh vegetables.

Meghan Grant is from Courtenay on Vancouver Island. She will be in charge of communicating with the team’s mentor and organizing and scheduling meetings between the team and the mentor.

Danny Hsieh is from Vancouver. He will be one of the two main people in charge of the design process and ensuring that the designs are completed thoroughly and on time.

Parinaz Shahmoradi is from Iran and she is responsible for the team’s scheduling. She will be keeping track of all important dates and deadlines and is responsible for informing the rest of the group of any upcoming deadlines.

Thomas Van Wermeskerken is from Langley and he is responsible for taking minutes at all team meetings. He is also one of the two main people in charge of the project design.

Thomas Bekenn is from Steveston and he is in charge of completing the team’s blog throughout the term. He will be updating the blog throughout the term with photos from site visits and updates on the progress of the project.

A photo of the student CBEL team.

Hi Guys! My name is Abhishek Shah. Following are my contact details if you wish to reach me.

Email ID: abhishek.shah@alumni.ubc.ca Cell: 604-442-9386

Please add your blogs over on this website. I am still myself experimenting with this, so bare with me! I think you would be okay to add your blogs by replying to this Post.

Best of luck to all of you on the project!