WHYY Interviews DumoLab on turning Food Scraps into Building Materials (Susan Phillips/WHYY)
Penn researchers Yasaman Amirzehni (right) and Tom Wyburn (left) put dried material into their cart to bring to their lab to turn into building materials. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Sorghum powder made from plant matter from the Penn Farm will be combined with binders to create building materials. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Researcher Yasaman Amirzehni has kept samples of the biomaterials outside of the research lab on Penn's campus through the winter as an experiment in weathering. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Burlap is used to strengthen building materials made from sorghum and mango. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Shingles made from sorghum can grow mosses and biodegrade over time. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
In a WHYY podcast and accompanying article, journalist Susan Phillips describes research at DumoLab, led by Architecture faculty Laia Mogas-Soldevila and Señor Researcher Yasaman Amirzehni, in which food scraps such as pineapple peels, sorghum stalks, eggplant vines, and fruit rinds are being transformed into biodegradable building materials through low-energy processes involving drying, grinding, mixing with natural binders, and molding or 3D printing. This work, in partnership with Penn Dining and Penn Farm, contrasts with environmental impacts of both food waste and conventional construction materials, whose production and long-term use are associated with high carbon emissions, toxic off-gassing, microplastics, and PFAS contamination. DumoLab's bio-composites are presented as compostable and non-toxic alternatives that can safely degrade, support surface vegetation growth, or return nutrients to the soil at the end of their life cycle, while presenting unique sensory qualities, including the retention of natural textures and scents.
View Slideshow
