Introducing EXO – Modular, Outdoor Plant Growth Chambers

Plant science research depends on controlled environments that provide precision and adaptability. From crop breeding and phytopathology to climate adaptation studies and more, researchers need reliable conditions to produce consistent results.

Traditional indoor plant growth chambers and greenhouses play a key role, but expanding research capacity with these solutions may require indoor space that your current facility does not have. Many institutions are looking for more scalable, flexible alternatives that can support a wider range of applications without major infrastructure changes. In an era of budget cuts and more competition for research dollars, EXO can be a significantly lower cost alternative to a full facility upgrade to house new plant growth chambers or rooms.

EXO Plant Growth Rooms help fill this gap. They offer a modular, research-grade option that delivers lab-quality environmental control in an outdoor-ready design. From long-term plant trials to climate simulations, EXO allows researchers to expand their work beyond traditional lab spaces without sacrificing research quality.

In this article, we’ll explore EXO’s design, its growing role in research, and how institutions are using it today.

Key Takeaways:

• EXO Plant Growth Rooms provide controlled environments for plant research in an outdoor-ready design.

• They offer precise climate control, uniform airflow, and optimized lighting for reliable, repeatable studies.

• Unlike preassembled container farms that operate as stand-alone units, EXO is installed on-site and offers opportunities for full integration with a central workstation - like all of your other plant growth chambers and rooms.

• Multiple configurations support applications like plant breeding, climate simulation, and vertical farming.

• Institutions worldwide are taking advantage of EXO as a cost-effective plant growth room alternative that enables them to expand their research capacity without major infrastructure upgrades.

EXO plant growth chambers are really self-contained, climate-controlled rooms built for outdoor installation. They provide the stable environmental conditions needed for rigorous plant science research while allowing institutions to expand their capacity in a cost-effective way without adding indoor laboratory space.

Unlike pre-assembled container farms, EXO is installed on-site following the same process as traditional plant growth chambers and rooms. This ensures that before you start your research you can rest assured that all environmental systems have followed proper testing protocols and will provide stable, repeatable conditions. These protocols include a period of tuning and continuous operation (“burn-in”) to ensure that the units are performing to specification prior to site acceptance tests and final commissioning.

EXO is available in multiple configurations to serve different applications and needs:

• EXO Research: A high-spec growth room, typically for universities and ag-biotech companies, ideal for plant breeding, phytopathology, and climate simulation

• EXO Lab: A laboratory grade plant containment room with a preparation lobby, running water, and HEPA filtration for ultra-clean research environments

• EXO Farm: Designed for vertical farming, with multi-tier setups, broad-spectrum LED lighting, and precision irrigation controls

• EXO Grow: A streamlined, cost-effective version with lab-grade precision, ideal for small-scale growers and early-stage research

EXO builds on the foundation of EVO, Conviron’s well-established modular growth chamber. By adapting EVO’s proven design and applying it to a purpose-built external structure, EXO retains the same high-precision environmental control while adding the flexibility of an outdoor growth facility.

Key Advantages

Setting up a high-quality plant growth environment isn’t just about controlling factors like light and temperature - it’s about creating a space where research happens without compromise. Too often, scientists have to adapt their experiments to fit the limitations of their growth chambers instead of the other way around.

EXO was designed with features that remove those constraints, giving researchers a controlled environment that adapts to their needs.

Purpose-Built Design

Many container-based grow rooms are retrofitted shipping containers, which come with design limitations like narrow spaces, inadequate airflow, and inconsistent insulation. EXO, on the other hand, is engineered specifically for plant and climate research, ensuring a superior growth environment with:

• High-quality insulation to maintain stable internal conditions.

• Optimized airflow that eliminates micro-climates and ensures even environmental conditions.

• Modular expandability, allowing researchers to customize the space for their specific needs—whether it's tall plant or multi-tiered setups, preparation rooms, different lighting technologies, or novel features like rainfall.

• Header house area that provides extra work space to house electrical and control equipment and for plant and soil preparation prior to moving the plants into the growth environment

EXO’s modular design isn’t one-size-fits-all—it can be configured in multiple lengths, including 20 ft (7.3 m), 24 ft, 30 ft, and 40 ft—or combined into larger multi-room facilities. This allows institutions to scale up or modify research spaces as projects evolve.

Advanced Environmental Control

EXO is equipped with the CMP6060 controller, offering:

• Precision programming of temperature, humidity, CO₂ levels, and lighting.

• Automated alerts and monitoring, ensuring conditions stay within research parameters.

• Seamless integration with Argus Controls, allowing centralized management of multiple growth rooms, smaller growth chambers, and greenhouses

High-Performance LED Lighting

The standard lighting systems for EXO use high efficiency balanced spectrum LEDs and have a number of advantages:

• Broad-spectrum LEDs designed to support a variety of plant species and research conditions.

• Adjustable light intensity up to 1000 µmol/m²/s

• Dimmable LED options, giving researchers full control over light cycles and intensity.

Optimized Airflow for Uniform Growth

Without proper airflow, plants in the same chamber can be exposed to different micro-climates (RH) that affect plant growth negatively through decreased transpiration and photosynthesis. EXO’s optimized airflow design provides:

• A unique horizontal airflow system, directing conditioned air evenly across all plant tiers.

• Filtered fresh air intake, to dilute CO2 concentrations, bring it back to optimal levels and ensuring a stable growing environment.

• Precision dehumidification, preventing mold, mildew, and plant stress caused by humidity fluctuations.

Flexible Applications

EXO is designed for a wide range of scientific and commercial applications, making it an ideal solution for:

• Phytopathology studies, enabling researchers to examine plant diseases in controlled conditions.

• Plant breeding programs, ensuring genetic trials are conducted with precision.

• Climate simulation, allowing researchers to test how plants respond to changing environmental factors.

• Crop resilience research, providing the ability to simulate drought, heat stress, and other real-world challenges.

• Commercial plant production, supporting both research and small-scale commercial agriculture.

EXO in the Field: Real-world Applications

Leading research institutions are using EXO plant growth rooms to conduct pioneering research. Below are a few examples.

British Beet Research

The British Beet Research Organization (BBRO) is using an EXO growth room to study sugar beet and aphid behavior. Since aphids are major disease vectors, BBRO needed a high-volume, controlled environment to cultivate sugar beet under strictly regulated conditions.

• Their multi-tier EXO setup allows researchers to grow more plants in a compact footprint, maximizing research output.

• The uniform airflow system ensures consistent plant growth, eliminating variability that could affect experimental results.

• This facility enables large-scale aphid and disease resistance trials, helping develop healthier, more resilient sugar beet crops.

The National Institute of Agricultural Botany

The National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) originally acquired an EXO growth room for soft fruit research. The EXO's modular flexibility allowed NIAB to later adapt it to wheat research as the Institute’s research needs changed.

• Initially used to study strawberries and other soft fruits, it later transitioned to a two-tier wheat growth room.

• EXO’s adaptable design allowed researchers to reconfigure the space to meet evolving research priorities.

• The facility demonstrates EXO’s ability to support multiple research applications, demonstrating it can grow a variety of crops under controlled conditions.

University of Exeter: Global Meteorological Simulator

One of the most advanced EXO installations is at the University of Exeter, home to the Global Meteorological Simulator (GMS). This facility takes climate simulation to the next level by replicating real-world weather conditions inside a controlled growth room.

• The GMS simulates rainfall, fog, wind speed, and temperature variations, allowing researchers to study how crops respond to changing climate conditions.

• Scientists use the facility to investigate crop disease transmission, plant resilience to extreme weather, and pollinator behavior.

• The EXO system’s advanced environmental controls and automation allow researchers to conduct highly specialized experiments that were not previously possible.

The Future of EXO

Plant science research is constantly evolving, and the tools used to support it need to evolve with it. EXO provides a solution for institutions looking to expand their research capacity in a cost-effective way without major infrastructure changes.

As more plant science departments at universities and research organizations integrate EXO as part of their controlled environment facilities, it won’t replace indoor growth chambers and rooms, but it will complement them—filling gaps, increasing access to controlled environments, and making high-quality plant research more feasible in more places. EXO is currently available in select countries. Contact us to learn more.