DumoLab, PennPraxis, and Penn Farm have partnered as part of the Environmental Innovation’s Initiative’s Resilience Urban Food Systems research community to prototype an outdoor classroom constructed from zero-waste materials. Aiming to demonstrate the feasibility of sustainable building techniques, the prototypes developed on-site will originate from diverse types of waste, including plant matter, landscaping debris, and food. 

Led by Ellen Neises, executive director of PennPraxis, a team of interdisciplinary experts and students will transform waste from Penn Farm, Penn Dining, and Penn Urban Parks into valuable building materials for an outdoor classroom. Beyond leveraging the experiential learning opportunity of the urban farm on campus, this research community addresses the problem of increasing landfill methane emissions by diverting waste from landfills and repurposing it to produce low energy, emission, and cost buildings. 

Penn collaborators: 

• Laia Mogas-Soldevila, assistant professor of Architecture at the Weitzman School of Design
• Elliot Bullen, project manager, Weitzman School of Design
• Lila Bhide, Emylee Fleshman, Ezra Tischler, Penn Farm
• Doris Wagner, professor of biology, School of Arts & Sciences, and director of PlantARC
• Brianna Parsons, lecturer at the School of Veterinary Medicine,
• Alain Plante, professor of earth and environmental Science, School of Art & Sciences
• Michael Carroll, assistant director of the Fisher Fine Arts Materials Library