A shipping container, comprising: a structural frame defining an interior; a transport refrigeration unit comprising an inlet through which air is drawn from a lower region of the interior, a refrigeration unit configured to cool the air drawn from the lower region of the interior through the inlet and an outlet through which air cooled by the refrigeration unit is exhausted toward an upper region of the interior; and a control system configured to control an exhaustion of the air cooled by the refrigeration unit toward the upper region of the interior to maintain a predefined environmental condition within the interior; wherein the structural frame comprises a floor, a ceiling and sidewalls supporting the ceiling above the floor, the TRU is coupled to or integrated into one of the sidewalls and another one of the sidewalls comprises a sealed door; and the shipping container further comprises: a smart plenum and controllable ducts supportively disposed along the ceiling, wherein the outlet is fluidly communicative with the upper region of the interior by the smart plenum and the controllable ducts; wherein the smart plenum extends across an entire span of the ceiling and comprises a plenum ceiling, the plenum ceiling being disposed below the ceiling to define a space between the ceiling and the plenum ceiling; the controllable ducts are fluidly communicative with the space between the ceiling and the plenum ceiling 310 and the outlet; and the controllable ducts each include a duct element, which is formed to define a flow path for cooled air from the outlet to the smart plenum; characterized in that: the plenum ceiling is provided as an air-porous or air-permeable medium; and the controllable ducts each further include a controllable valve element, which is provided as a valve or a damper and is configured to control an amount of cooled air that is permitted to flow through the duct element. a structural frame defining an interior; a transport refrigeration unit comprising an inlet through which air is drawn from a lower region of the interior, a refrigeration unit configured to cool the air drawn from the lower region of the interior through the inlet and an outlet through which air cooled by the refrigeration unit is exhausted toward an upper region of the interior; and a control system configured to control an exhaustion of the air cooled by the refrigeration unit toward the upper region of the interior to maintain a predefined environmental condition within the interior; wherein the structural frame comprises a floor, a ceiling and sidewalls supporting the ceiling above the floor, the TRU is coupled to or integrated into one of the sidewalls and another one of the sidewalls comprises a sealed door; and the shipping container further comprises: a smart plenum and controllable ducts supportively disposed along the ceiling, wherein the outlet is fluidly communicative with the upper region of the interior by the smart plenum and the controllable ducts; wherein the smart plenum extends across an entire span of the ceiling and comprises a plenum ceiling, the plenum ceiling being disposed below the ceiling to define a space between the ceiling and the plenum ceiling; the controllable ducts are fluidly communicative with the space between the ceiling and the plenum ceiling 310 and the outlet; and the controllable ducts each include a duct element, which is formed to define a flow path for cooled air from the outlet to the smart plenum; a smart plenum and controllable ducts supportively disposed along the ceiling, wherein the outlet is fluidly communicative with the upper region of the interior by the smart plenum and the controllable ducts; wherein the smart plenum extends across an entire span of the ceiling and comprises a plenum ceiling, the plenum ceiling being disposed below the ceiling to define a space between the ceiling and the plenum ceiling; the controllable ducts are fluidly communicative with the space between the ceiling and the plenum ceiling 310 and the outlet; and the controllable ducts each include a duct element, which is formed to define a flow path for cooled air from the outlet to the smart plenum; characterized in that: the plenum ceiling is provided as an air-porous or air-permeable medium; and the controllable ducts each further include a controllable valve element, which is provided as a valve or a damper and is configured to control an amount of cooled air that is permitted to flow through the duct element. the plenum ceiling is provided as an air-porous or air-permeable medium; and the controllable ducts each further include a controllable valve element, which is provided as a valve or a damper and is configured to control an amount of cooled air that is permitted to flow through the duct element.