Student Design Competition Brought to Life

During the spring semester of 2017, the Arizona Student Unions hosted a Rooftop Garden Design Competition open to all degree-seeking UA undergraduate and graduate students. Their challenge was to take a hypothetical $50,000 budget and design a cost-effective, productive, and sustainable Rooftop Garden to provide fresh produce for the Campus Pantry. In partnership with the Office of Student Engagement, the Graduate & Professional Student Council, Shamrock Farms, and Coca-Cola, the Student Unions facilitated each stage of the four-month-long competition. From pitch presentations and mentor sessions to prototype design and testing, 90 students participated in 24 teams of 4-5 students each. A panel of nearly 20 mentors and 10 judges from the campus and Tucson community supported the student teams throughout the competition, and the top five teams were invited to give final presentations of their rooftop garden designs. Prizes were awarded to the top three teams, and the winning team’s design was used to help create the Rooftop Greenhouse on the roof of the Student Union Memorial Center building today.

Rooftop Greenhouse Today

The Rooftop Greenhouse opened on the roof of the Student Union Memorial Center building in mid-December 2018. Its mission is to support the Campus Pantry by donating all freshly harvested and sustainably grown produce weekly to help strengthen food security for students on the University of Arizona’s main campus. 

In partnership with the Biosystems Engineering Department, the Student Unions is proud to support the Rooftop Greenhouse operations. As the only rooftop greenhouse at a university in North America, our Rooftop Greenhouse boasts a recirculating hydroponic drip system and Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) technology to grow fruiting vegetables throughout the school year, from August to May, with 30% less water than field crops. It utilizes Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to holistically manage pests and grow clean, pesticide-free produce.

The type of produce grown in the Rooftop Greenhouse can vary from semester to semester, but when you go inside, you will typically see cherry tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, cucumbers, or bell peppers strung from floor to ceiling, almost wall to wall. Crop yields also vary from semester to semester, but we average over 1,000 lbs of produce each semester.

The Student Unions is proud to see this 100% Student Engagement Initiative come full circle: designed by students, managed and operated by students, and all produce given back to students. To experience this unique facility and its sustainable mission, campus faculty, staff, students, and donors can request a tour the Rooftop Greenhouse. Email us at SU-suadmin@email.arizona.edu for more information.