DC Heart is a collaboration between the Business of Humanity Project at the University of Pittsburgh, and the Oasis Food Group of the Homewood Bible Center. G-Tech and Grow Pittsburgh have also been consultants to the project. The ambitious project is a bio-shelter operated by a PV array that will create DC power in order to grow crops for the community in what is now a food desert.
The structure was made of prefabricated panels that were assembled on site. The project is a small piece of a larger plan that the Oasis Food Group is developing in order to tackle job creation, food security, social justice, and revitalization of Homewood, a blighted Pittsburgh neighborhood.
The Business of Humanity Project is using the bio-shelter to understand the DC power aspects of the project. Their ultimate goal is to be able to send a shipping container worth of component pieces that will enable water purification, indoor agriculture, and DC power for impoverished communities around the globe. Empowerment for communities in a box!